Guy Hands, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Terra Firma Capital Partners Limited, will be the keynote speaker at the Guernsey Funds Forum 2015.

The Guernsey resident and private equity specialist will top the bill for the annual event, which this year is titled 'Achieving stability in a world of change' and takes place on Thursday 14 May in London.

Dominic Wheatley, Chief Executive of Guernsey Finance - the promotional agency for the Island's finance industry, said he was delighted that Mr Hands will be speaking at the forum.

"Guy has been a huge supporter of Guernsey's fund industry for a long time now and this was given further endorsement several years ago when Terra Firma opened an office in Guernsey and he moved to the Island," he said.

"I've heard Guy speak before and he is a compelling, original thinker so I expect that many others will be joining me in really looking forward to hearing his insight into the current global environment and what it means for investment opportunities, such as private equity."

The event, which is once again expected to attract more than 350 delegates, will be moderated for the sixth successive year by ITV News anchor, Alastair Stewart OBE.

There will also be two panel sessions with speakers including Peter Denton from Starwood Capital Europe Advisers, Erik Jamieson from Hogan Lovells, James Gee from Weil, Darko Hajdukovic from the London Stock Exchange, Tim Hames from the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA), Ian Sayers from the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) and Emma Bailey from the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC).

The first panel session will look at meeting the needs of European private equity and include a focus on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), manager experiences of private placement under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) and the latest on AIFMD passporting.

The second will look at the future of investment entities including a focus on regulatory issues arising out of AIFMD and initiatives such as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), case studies on the latest Initial Public Offering (IPO) innovations and governance challenges.

Mr Wheatley added: "We have great speakers lined up to talk about the hot topics which are impacting investors, managers and intermediaries within the asset management sector. I'm also very pleased to welcome back Alastair Stewart as moderator and I expect that he'll be getting right to the heart of matters with our panellists.

"The Guernsey Funds Forum has grown during the last few years to be one of the leading industry events on the calendar and also at the same time a fantastic showcase for the Guernsey funds community which, despite the challenging external environment, continues to go from strength to strength."

Guernsey Funds Forum 2015 is taking place on Thursday 14 May at etc. venues, 155 Bishopsgate in London, starting at midday with registration and lunch and concluding with a networking drinks reception at 5pm.

It is hosted by Guernsey Finance in conjunction with the Guernsey Investment Fund Association (GIFA). The event is supported by the Alternative Investment Management Association, the BVCA, Global Custodian, HFMWeek and unquote".

For more information about Guernsey's finance industry please visit www.guernseyfinance.com.

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