It was a healthy start to the year for the offshore centre, according to Jersey Finance's quarterly industry report.

Jersey's finance industry on the whole remained steady over the first quarter of 2015, according to new figures from representative agency Jersey Finance.

As banking deposits held on the island crept up from £132.4 billion ($202.9 billion) to £137.3 billion, their highest level since last summer, the net asset value of regulated funds under administration fell 0.8 per cent to £227 billion.

Meanwhile, total funds under investment management grew slightly to £20.9 billion at the end of March. This number does not include the £1.9 billion of assets under management under the qualifying segregated managed accounts exemption. 

“Managed accounts are a growth area for Jersey and the recently introduced exemption has been a welcome regulatory development, which has been embraced by fund managers,” said Geoff Cook, chief executive at Jersey Finance.

At the end of the quarter, there were 32,861 live companies on Jersey's register.

“We are pleased to see another steady performance from the finance industry during the first quarter, representing a positive start to 2015,” said Cook.

“It was led by banking deposits, which rose by 3.7 per cent in the first three months to £137.3 billion, the result of an underlying increase of £3.4 billion and the impact of sterling weakness versus the US dollar."