News

The investment fund industry’s first deployment of blockchain technology for the private equity market will ‘enhance Guernsey’s reputation’ as a leading private equity hub, Northern Trust has said. Fintech company Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc. and Northern Trust have announced that Emerald Technology Ventures will utilise the Broadridge Private Market Hub Ecosystem to increase visibility and reduce transaction friction to interact in real time on all Guernsey-domiciled funds.

In case you weren’t able to join us at the 2021 Guernsey Funds Forum, we’ve put together some of the key points that were discussed during a fascinating and informative session that sought to explore the future direction of the funds industry, under the central theme of “Building Tomorrow”. Is ‘corporation-zero’ a more realistic strategy than corporate transformation? The speed, impact and breadth of innovation that we will see in the next decade will be greater than in the previous history of humanity. However, most transformation projects fail and consequently, there is increased interest in ‘corporation zero’ - starting from scratch rather than trying to compete through transformation.

The Guernsey Association of Pension Providers (GAPP) is continuing its leadership in the international retirement and saving plans space by announcing plans to work on an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) framework for its members. GAPP President Stephen Ainsworth said the move was in response to indications that more members would welcome guidance on the growing emphasis on ESG issues for pension plans. Although there is no fixed timescale for its release, as GAPP wants to ensure enough time is spent getting the framework right, there is a hope that it can be published around mid-2022.

WE ARE GUERNSEY Green Finance Manager Stephanie Glover was delighted to attend COP26 in Glasgow. Along with our Strategic Adviser for Green & Sustainable Finance Josephine Bush, she was kept busy with networking and events. She talks about her week in our latest blog, which first appeared on The Wealth Net in November.

Innovation, people power, the continuing pandemic and climate change will shape the global funds industry in future. Those topics were front and centre of the discussions at the 2021 Guernsey Funds Forum. Titled Building Tomorrow, it was the first in-person, funds-focused event WE ARE GUERNSEY has staged since the pandemic began.