Isle of Man Finance

The comprehensive reform of the Island's fiscal, regulatory and legislative structures and the introduction of several innovative Government incentives (such as the inward investment grant aid programme designed to encourage continued growth of high quality finance entities wishing to migrate to the Island or establish a new presence here) have helped to increase the Island's funds under administration base to just over US $34.4 Billion (June 2009) from US $9.8 Billion in 2003. Our reputation for quality makes for a compelling business case to operate from here. The Isle of Man has a Triple 'A' sovereign rating from Standard & Poor and Moody's and has recently been affirmed by the I.M.F as an offshore Finance Centre of excellence.

The Isle of Man has developed a simple tax regime which means that for Fund Managers and Administrators that set up on the Island there are:

1. Simple tax regime which means zero tax on the corporate profits of all managers and administrators
2. No VAT charges on management or administration services for most categories of fund
3. No dual regulation on overseas funds
4. Low operating costs
5. Fast set up time for new funds

Two of the top four global administrators now present in the Isle of Man are HSBC and Fortis. Their reasons for selecting the Island were:

1. Reputation
2. Proactive & collaborative regulatory regime
3. Capacity
4. Low operating cost environment

In 2007 the Island shifted its focus to attract more Institutional business. A strategic review of the Islands fund industry resulted in the streamlining of the licensing regime for Fund Managers establishing operations and the updating of fund structures to make the Isle of Man more attractive for the domiciliation of funds. Consequently, two major new hedge fund groups were established on the Island, namely Pelham Capital and Bridge Global Asset Management bringing hedge fund managers on the Island to a total number of 6.

The Isle of Man is an investment grade viable alternative to the traditional administration centres of the Caribbean and Western Europe. We look forward to another year of dynamic growth in the Isle of Man – and welcome you to come and share in our success where you will find 'freedom to flourish'. Please contact me if you require any further information.

Brian Donegan,

• Mind and Management Proposition (100 kb)

  Format:Acrobat PDF File

  An article based upon the Island's Mind and Management Proposition