Guernsey's stability, regulation and expertise were key in boutique asset manager Pearl Diver Capital choosing to establish the latest Guernsey Private Investment Fund (PIF) - bringing the total to six PIFs since the new structure was launched last November.
Pearl Diver Capital has finished investing a new $350 million collateralised loan obligation (CLO) equity fund PDC Opportunities VI.
The London-based company specialises in securitised products, offering institutional investors access to US and global corporate credit in a structured format through investments in CLO tranches.
Six of the company's seven funds have been established in Guernsey.
Pearl Diver Capital Founder, Managing Partner and CEO Neil Basu said the company took repeat business to Guernsey because the island's partnership structures were simple and worked very well for its investors.
"There are other alternatives but from a regulatory point of view, Guernsey has worked well for us historically," he said. "We didn't see any reason to change that.
"Stability and expertise are also important factors, as is the availability of accountants and legal professionals. We've always been able to find the right mix of people to deploy on our fund management company boards.
"The legal structure is similar to English law, which is important to us, operating out of London. Going to other places would involve more of a learning curve, which we are happy to do, but if it's not broken, why fix it?"
Guernsey-headquartered offshore law firm Carey Olsen advised on the Guernsey aspects of the launch, while BNP Paribas Securities Services SCA in Guernsey has been appointed as administrator of the Fund VI entities, adding to its involvement in the already existing Pearl Diver Capital fund range.
At the same time, Pearl Diver Capital also established three registered closed-ended funds, collectively known as PDC Opportunities VII. The funds are targeting commitments of $500 million to invest in a diversified portfolio of tranches of CLOs issued by European and American companies.
The funds are structured as Guernsey limited partnerships, the first of which – PDC Opportunities Fund VII A Limited Partnership (Fund VII) – held a successful first closing on 13 April. Carey Olsen, led by Partner Ben Morgan with assistance from Senior Associate Vicky La, and BNP Paribas were also both involved in Fund VII.
Advocate Morgan said of the Fund VII deal: "Carey Olsen has built a very strong track record for advising fund managers targeting debt investments over recent years, and this experience has proved invaluable to our work on this deal."
BNP Paribas Head of Relationship Management Katy Hodgetts added: "Having recently migrated Pearl Diver Capital's existing funds onto our platform, we are delighted to have been appointed as administrator to Funds VI and VII. These new funds further build upon BNP Paribas' very strong credentials as a leading administrator of debt funds."
For more information about Guernsey's finance industry please visit www.guernseyfinance.com.
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