The number of investors that have stopped using a financial advisor over the past two years following widespread regulatory changes may now be as high as 5 million, according to a new report by ComPeer/JGFR Financial DIY.

Funds professionals have predicted that real estate and private equity asset classes will have the most growth in the coming months, according to the results of a poll held at the Jersey Finance Annual London Funds Conference last week.

Out of 400 funds professionals that were asked where they saw most growth coming from in the months ahead, 33 per cent of attendees indicated that real estate was the biggest growth area for them, while 27 per cent indicated that they saw most potential in private equity.

Attendees also said they believed most opportunities would come from outside of Europe, with 37 per cent suggesting Asia was the most interesting growth market, followed by Africa and Latin America, each with 26 per cent.

AIFMD

The  Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive was also discussed on two panel sessions.

Tajinder Singh, deputy secretary general, International Organisation of Securities Commissions, said that whilst regulatory moves like the AIFMD are complex, fund managers shouldn't be afraid of regulation and that there are solutions to suit managers’ varying requirements.

Meanwhile, Geoff Cook, chief executive of Jersey Finance, said he saw opportunities for Jersey in the face of rising reporting requirements.

“Given Jersey’s specialist expertise in fund governance, we see real opportunities for managers to draw on that and outsource their administration needs to Jersey, to help facilitate increasingly complex reporting requirements under the AIFMD. The response we have had from the international funds community in response to the AIFMD more widely has been really encouraging too. In the run up to the end of the implementation phase in July, we have seen a number of firms relocating to or expanding in Jersey, including Brevan Howard, CVC and Ardian,” said Cook.

“Flexibility, expertise and clarity are key for asset managers and, with its ability to offer ongoing AIFMD-compliant private placement into Europe and a non-European regime entirely outside the scope of the AIFMD, we feel Jersey is extremely well-placed to support the real state and private equity growth our audience expects,” he added.