Expertise
Matheson's Asset Management and Investment Funds Department was ranked by the Monterey Insight Ireland Fund Report, the leading independent industry survey, as Ireland's leading practice by assets under management for the ninth year in a row in 2019. The Monterey Insight report revealed that Matheson acts for 31% of Irish domiciled investment funds by assets under management as at 30 June 2019.
Our dedicated team is comprised of over 70 fund professionals, led by 13 partners.
We are experts in all aspects of UCITS including structured UCITS, UCITS ETFs, money market funds, UCITS platforms, UCITS pursuing alternative or hedge fund strategies, traditional long only equity and bond funds.
Our experience in alternative funds also sets us apart from our competitors. We have advised on alternative investment funds investing in pharmaceutical royalties, life settlements, property, currencies, commodities, bank loans, private equity, other hedge funds and on all hedge fund strategies including long/short, event driven, arbitrage, global macro, distressed debt and multi-strategy amongst others. Our market-leading expertise on AIFMD includes advising on the first AIFM authorisation in Europe and the first inward AIFMD management passport into Ireland. Our partners have advised numerous funds on transition to AIFMD.
The reputation of the Asset Management and Investment Funds Department amongst industry professionals and our involvement in the development of the industry is reflected by the appointment of managing partner Michael Jackson as chairman of the International Financial Services Centre Funds Group Legislative Committee, established by the Department of An Taoiseach (the Irish Prime Minister), and his 2009/2010 chairmanship of the Irish funds industry association (“Irish Funds”). Our partners Tara Doyle, Dualta Counihan, Shay Lydon, Anne-Marie Bohan, Liam Collins, Philip Lovegrove, Oisin McClenaghan and Michelle Ridge are all members of Irish Funds committees in the areas of hedge funds and alternative investment funds, exchange traded funds, UCITS V, client assets, private equity funds, distribution in Asia and Latin America and European Long Term Investment Funds. At European level, Shay Lydon is a member of the European Fund and Asset Management Association (“EFAMA”) UCITS Working Group and Liam Collins has been appointed as the Irish Funds representative to the EFAMA Financial Benchmarks Working Group, Philip Lovegrove is a member of the EFAMA ETFs Working Group and Tara Doyle is a member of the EFAMA ESG Standing Committee.
All of our partners are regular contributors to European and Irish consultations on the development of asset management and funds regulation. Submissions have been made by the Asset Management and Investment Funds Department towards the development of the Central Bank’s policy in a number of areas, including multi-manager funds, structured UCITS using tailored derivatives at share class level, and loan origination by qualified investor alternative investment funds.
With our team of 70 asset management legal and regulatory advisers working alongside Matheson taxation, structured finance and commercial litigation departments, we offer a comprehensive service for clients. As we are one of the few law firms in Ireland with a specialist derivatives practice, we have an unrivalled capacity to provide combined asset management, tax and derivatives advice to our clients. Our regulatory compliance and risk management team assists with authorisations of new investment managers, administrators and custodians, compliance requirements and Central Bank administrative sanctions. In addition to this, we provide a full investment funds listing services, a specialist outsourcing advisory practice and a dedicated investment funds company secretarial service, with online board-room facilities for our clients.
Our Team
Our dedicated team comprises over 50 fund professionals in total, led by 13 partners.
- Anne-Marie Bohan
- Liam Collins
- Dualta Counihan
- Tara Doyle
- Elizabeth Grace
- Michael Jackson
- Philip Lovegrove
- Shay Lydon
- Oisin McClenaghan
- Barry O’Connor
- Donal O’Byrne
- Michelle Ridge
- Catriona Cole
Representative experience of the Asset Management and Investment Funds Group includes:
- The launch of a wide range of UCITS products including traditional long only equity, bond and money market funds; alternative and structured products; ETFs; UCITS employing eligible strategies including long/short (130/30) equity, credit, currency, interest rate, volatility strategies and eligible financial indices.
- Acting for over half of Irish domiciled money market funds by AUM, with industry leading experience in innovative areas such as negative yield / reverse distribution mechanisms and T setting accumulation share classes.
- First AIFM authorised in Europe.
- First inward AIFMD management passport into Ireland.
- First to advise on bank loan funds using special purpose subsidiaries.
- First Irish domiciled pharmaceutical royalties funds.
- First Irish domiciled US life assurance policies funds.
- First Irish “China” fund, a mutual fund investing in China A shares.
- First Brazilian promoted Irish domiciled hedge fund.
- First Irish funds promoted by Dubai and Saudi Arabian financial institutions.
- First structured UCITS investment limited partnerships investing in property assets.
- Third party manager platforms (UCITS and QIAIFs).
- Liability driven investment funds.
- Insurance linked investment funds.
- Structured fund platforms.
- Shariah-compliant UCITS and AIFs.
- Bank loan funds using section 110 subsidiaries for several large international investment managers, including a hybrid fund/CLO structure.
- Hedge funds using a variety of strategies including arbitrage, macro, directional, event-driven, long/short, market neutral, directional and quantitative and permitting direct investment and investment in fund of funds and feeder fund structures.
- Irish, European and US commercial and residential property / real estate funds.
- Commodities funds.
- Renewable energy funds.
- Retail funds of hedge funds.
- Exchange traded and other index tracking funds, including physical and synthetic replication and smart beta funds.
- Private equity fund of funds and feeder funds (gaining exposure to structures in Cayman, Jersey, Bermuda, Guernsey and a number of other domiciles worldwide).
- Common contractual funds for multinational groups seeking tax transparent asset pooling solutions.
- Listing of Irish and non-Irish domiciled funds on the Irish Stock Exchange.
- Management company establishment.
- Negotiation of contracts on behalf of administrators, custodians and prime brokers.
Matheson not only has “great legal knowledge but the ability to apply it practically”.
European Legal 500 2019
"They have excellent technical and industry knowledge and are always welcoming."
IFLR1000 2019
"The dual partner model they run works very well to ensure coverage and expertise across a range of projects, and is relatively unique."
Chambers Europe 2018
Matheson is "a very good fund service provider with supporting regulatory expertise".
European Legal 500 2018
"Focused on giving top-quality advice".
Chambers Europe 2018
"The best firm in Dublin for this type of work: they have unrivalled knowledge and expertise, are quick to react and user-friendly."
Chambers Europe 2017
"Excellent, leaders in the field, dynamic and innovative."
IFLR1000 2017
Matheson's Asset Management and Investment Funds Department produces updates and briefing notes on the main issues affecting the Irish and European investment fund industry, together with information on Ireland as an international fund domicile and establishing investment funds in Ireland, which may be downloaded below.
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Our detailed briefing notes provide comprehensive overviews on establishing various types of investment funds, the available fund vehicles and the applicable regulatory regimes.
Asset Management and Investment Funds Brochure - Briefing Note PDF | 380.00 KB Ireland as a Fund Domicile - Briefing Note PDF | 487.00 KB Establishing a UCITS in Ireland Brochure -Briefing Note PDF | 7.00 MB Establishing a Qualifying Investor AIF in Ireland - Briefing Note PDF | 373.00 KB Establishing an Exchange Traded Fund in Ireland - Briefing Note PDF | 316.00 KB Establishing a Private Equity Fund in Ireland - Briefing Note PDF | 2.00 MB Establishing a Common Contractual Fund in Ireland - Briefing Note PDF | 6.00 MB Establishing Structured Funds in Ireland - Briefing Note PDF | 638.00 KB UCITS V Overview - Briefing Note PDF | 82.00 KB UCITS V Sanctions - Briefing Note PDF | 145.00 KB UCITS V Depositaries - Briefing Note PDF | 159.00 KB UCITS V Factsheet on Remuneration - Briefing Note PDF | 154.00 KB UCITS Organisation of Self-Managed Investment Companies - Briefing Note PDF | 1.00 MB UCITS Organisation of Management Companies - Briefing Note PDF | 2.00 MB The UCITS Marketing Passport - Briefing Note PDF | 575.00 KB Key Investor Information Document Q&A - Briefing Note PDF | 572.00 KB Irish Loan Origination Investment Funds - Briefing Note PDF | 426.00 KB ICAV Mergers - Briefing Note PDF | 91.00 KB The PRIIPs KID and Investment Funds - Briefing Note PDF | 857.00 KB View Our Full Investment Funds Publications LibraryView All
Our AIF updates provide key information on the latest legal and regulatory developments impacting alternative investment funds.
Our UCITS updates provide key information on the latest legal and regulatory developments impacting UCITS.
Central Bank of Ireland Issues Revised Guidance on the Use of Financial Indices by UCITS - October 2018 PDF | 484 KB ESMA Opinion on UCITS Share Classes - January 2017 PDF | 650 KB EU Money Market Fund Reform Regulation Finally Published - July 2017 PDF | 179 KB Central Bank of Ireland Publishes Updated UCITS Rules - June 2019 PDF | 153 KB New ESMA Guidance on UCITS KIID Disclosures - October 2019 PDF | 134 KB The Securitisation Regulation and its Impact on UCITS and AIFs - August 2018 PDF | 370 KB Central Bank of Ireland Review of Closet Indexing - July 2019 PDF | 164 KB European Commission Proposals on Sustainable Finance - July 2018 PDF | 644 KB European Commission Proposals on Asset Segregation - July 2018 PDF | 371 KB Central Bank of Ireland Consults on changes to Central Bank UCITS Regulations - April 2018 PDF | 71 KB Updated Central Bank Guidance on Financial Indices - September 2019 PDF | 105 KB Bank_Loan UCITS Could Present Future Growth Opportunity - December 2018 PDF | 239 KB Implications of Brexit for Asset Managers and Investment Funds - May 2017 PDF | 89 KBOur detailed UCITS briefing notes provide comprehensive overviews on establishing UCITS, the available fund vehicles and the applicable regulatory regime.
Establishing a UCITS in Ireland - UCITS Briefing Note PDF | 7 MB UCITS Organisation of Self-Managed Investment Companies - UCITS Briefing Note PDF | 2 MB UCITS Organisation of Management Companies - UCITS Briefing Note PDF | 2 MB UCITS V Sanctions - UCITS Briefing Note PDF | 145 KB UCITS V Overview - UCITS Briefing Note PDF | 82 KB UCITS V Factsheet on Remuneration - UCITS Briefing Note PDF | 154 KB UCITS V Depositaries - UCITS Briefing Note PDF | 159 KB The UCITS Marketing Passport - UCITS Briefing Note PDF | 575 KB The UCITS Management Company Passport - UCITS Briefing Note PDF | 529 KB Key Investor Information Document Q&A - UCITS Briefing Note PDF | 572 KB Ireland as a Fund Domicile - UCITS Briefing Note PDF | 487 KB UCITS Mergers and Master Feeder Structures - UCITS Briefing Note PDF | 153 KB