Practice Areas

Hedge Funds & QIFs

The Qualifying Investor Fund, or “QIF”, is the most popular structure for regulated European hedge funds. The QIF is an Irish non-UCITS vehicle established under domestic Irish legislation and is now the most frequently used form of non-UCITS fund available in Ireland, comprising 65% of the total number of such funds and 75% of the assets of Irish non-UCITS funds.

The general investment and borrowing restrictions imposed by the Central Bank on investment funds in Ireland are largely automatically eliminated by using the QIF structure and as such funds can pursue aggressive investment strategies they are the vehicle of choice for:

·         Hedge funds

·         Real estate funds

·         Infrastructure funds

·         Private equity funds

·         Venture capital funds.

The regulatory requirements regarding the appointment of prime brokers to QIFs have now been clarified by a specific Guidance Note issued by the Central Bank and many of the attributes of this product have been fine tuned to ensure it is extremely competitive internationally, for example the minimum subscription amount has been reduced to €100,000 and QIFs can avail of a fast-track approval process whereby eligible funds can be approved in only 24 hours.

QIFs can invest in underlying assets directly or through wholly owned special purpose vehicles. This is of special interest, for example, for real estate funds where each real estate investment can be made through a separate entity to ringfence any liability concerns relating to each project. Such structuring may also be used for tax efficiency purposes.

The QIF is largely automatically compatible with the relevant criteria for alternative funds under the AIFMD and is expected to be the vehicle of choice for asset managers wishing to take advantage of the new pan-European passport which will be available from 2013.

Related Publications

• Real Estate Funds - A Guide to using Irish Funds for International Real Estate Investments (updated January 2013)
• Hedge Funds in Ireland
• Investment Funds in Ireland Guide (Updated September 2012)
•  Ireland, the leading European hedge fund domicile, overtakes key offshore centres
• Ireland’s “Super QIF” – Authorised in one day
• Further Enhancements to Irish QIF Regime
• Irish Funds Industry Factsheet (Updated March 2012)
• RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Related News

• Investment Funds Update - April / May 2013
• Investment Funds Update - February / March 2013
• Investment Funds Update - December 2012 / January 2013
• Past Editions

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Related Publications

• Investment Funds Update - April/May 2013

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