Alternative Investment Funds
About the Group
Matheson Ormsby Prentice is a recognised market leader in alternative investment funds in Ireland and one of the first Irish law firms to have established a dedicated alternative investment funds arm. We are one of the largest hedge fund practices in Ireland and our client portfolio includes six of Europe's ten largest hedge fund managers.
We advise on all aspects of structuring, managing, servicing and distributing alternative investment funds and have established a significant range of alternative investment funds including funds investing in pharmaceutical royalties, life settlement funds, 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.
We have been awarded European Law Firm of the Year 2007 by The Hedge Fund Journal, reflecting the international recognition of our contribution to the European hedge fund sector. Our practice group is ranked as a tier one practice group by Chambers Europe, the European Legal 500 and PLC 2010.
Our reputation amongst industry professionals and our involvement with the development of the industry is reflected by the election of partner Michael Jackson to the position of chairman of the Irish Funds Industry Association (“IFIA”) and the IFSC Funds Group Legislative Committee 2009/2010. Our partners James Scanlon, Tara Doyle, Dualta Counihan, Paul Farrell and Joe Beashel are all active members of IFIA committees and sub-groups. As head of the alternative investment funds practice, Paul Farrell is a regular speaker on the alternative investments space and he represents the firm on the IFIA’s Alternative Investment Committee.
All of our partners are contributors to European consultations on investment funds and proposals relating to alternative investment managers, and we provide regular updates for our clients on the progress of the draft Alternative Investment Fund Managers’ Directive. In terms of recent Irish legislation which will be of interest to alternatives managers, our partner James Scanlon has assisted with the drafting of the Irish Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, which introduces new Irish provisions designed to facilitate the efficient and straightforward redomiciliation of corporate funds to Ireland.
Representative Experience
Representative experience of our Alternative Investment Funds practice includes advising on:
- Launch of the first Irish domiciled pharmaceutical royalties funds
- Launch of the first Irish domiciled US life assurance policies funds
- Launch of third party manager platforms (UCITS and QIFs) for four separate global financial institutions
- Launch of the first Brazilian promoted Irish domiciled hedge fund
- Launch of liability driven investment funds
- Launch of an insurance linked investment fund
- Launch of bank loan funds using section 110 subsidiaries for several large international investment managers, including a hybrid fund/CLO structure
- Launch of professional investor and qualifying investor 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
- Launch of property funds
- Launch of commodities funds
- Establishment of retail funds of hedge funds
- Listing of Irish and non-Irish domiciled funds on the Irish Stock Exchange
- Establishment of investment management companies in Ireland
- Negotiation of contracts on behalf of a number of administrators, custodians and prime brokers
Links to Recent Publications and Client Updates
For access to our recent publications and client updates, please click here.
Key Contacts
For further information please contact Michael Jackson, James Scanlon, Tara Doyle, Joe Beashel, Dualta Counihan, Barry Lynch, Anne-Marie Bohan, Shay Lydon or Elizabeth Grace.
What Others Say About Us
CHAMBERS AND PARTNERS
- Clients praise the team's “excellent subject-matter expertise, great strength in depth, and responsive, commercially oriented approach.”
Investment Funds: Chambers Europe 2010 - Clients say "the lawyers are flexible and commercially oriented – there’s nothing you can ask them that they can’t do.”
Investment Funds: Chambers Europe 2009 - Clients say that James Scanlon “keeps us aware of all the developments we need to know about.”
Investment Funds: Chambers Europe 2009 - This “proactive team offers exceptionally good service”. “The lawyers display a strong commercial awareness in all aspects of their dealings and are very good at making sure things close.”
Banking and Finance: Chambers Europe 2008 - Paul Farrell is "accessible, direct, commercial and timely - everything you could want in a lawyer."
Capital Markets: Chambers Europe 2008 - Tara Doyle is “flexible and responsive, and if you have a problem she will come up with a solution.”
Capital Markets: Chambers Europe 2008 - James Scanlon is “responsive, commercial and easy to talk to - not full of legal jargon.”
Investment Funds: Chambers Global 2008
EUROPEAN LEGAL 500
- Matheson Ormsby Prentice is praised for the “excellent depth of its legal and regulatory knowledge”, with Michael Jackson singled out as “technically superb”, and Tara Doyle praised for her “excellent industry knowledge.”
Investment Funds: European Legal 500 2010 - The firm fields a team that has "good communication and response times" with Michael Jackson singled out as being "knowledgeable and on the ball". James Scanlon is also recommended as an "industry leader."
Investment Funds: European Legal 500 2009