Ireland For Finance Vision 2030 - Key Implications For Funds And Asset Management

On 25 August 2026, the Department of Finance (DoF) published its Ireland for Finance Strategy Vision 2030 – Renewed and Refocussed for a Digital Age (Strategy), the successor to the Ireland for Finance strategy that has guided international financial services (IFS) policy since 2019.

The new Strategy sets out a refreshed vision for Ireland’s financial services sector and marks a significant evolution in the Irish government's ambition, governance structures and the range of policy levers being deployed. The Strategy articulates four ambitions:

1. For Ireland to remain a competitive and trusted global IFS centre.
2. To have capacity to scale and attract expertise to enable economic growth in the EU.
3. To leverage technological capability to support digital transformation.
4. To develop links with domestic businesses and citizens.

This briefing highlights the key implications of the Strategy for the funds and asset management sector.

The Strategy delivers concrete commitments across several areas of long-standing industry advocacy including a legislative pathway for the tokenisation of investment funds, modernisation of the Limited Partnerships Act 1907 (1907 Act) and a suite of measures designed to enhance Ireland’s private markets offering. The Strategy also signals a more structured and accountable governance architecture, with a new Cabinet Sub-Group on IFS ensuring that financial services policy has direct senior ministerial oversight.

A notable feature of the Strategy is its introduction of 36 key performance indicators (KPIs), including funds-specific metrics such as assets under management (AUM) across UCITS, exchange traded funds (ETFs) and alternative investment funds, the number of European Long-Term Investment Funds (ELTIFs) and the number of Investment Limited Partnerships (ILPs). This represents a marked departure from previous strategies, which measured success primarily by reference to employment figures. The new KPI framework signals both ambition and accountability.

Taken together, the Strategy provides a credible and detailed roadmap for the continued development of Ireland as a leading global funds and asset management domicile.

Tokenisation

The Strategy designates the development of tokenisation of funds as a “High Priority” action area with the government committing to supporting legislative change (Action 2). An examination of relevant domestic legislation has already begun, including the ICAV Act and Companies legislation, “with a view to the modernisation of the legislation where needed.” This is a significant development. The Strategy expressly states that “Ireland will take decisive action to support the growth of digital assets including legislative change, supported and informed by industry expertise.” The Strategy notes that the global tokenised asset market currently stands at approximately US$17bn, with projections of US$5.5–14tn by 2030. Major institutions with Irish operations — including JP Morgan, BlackRock, Fidelity, and State Street — are already adopting tokenised models.

The DoF will establish a Digital Assets Industry Group as a thematic working group, with periodic specific roundtables including key international stakeholders (Action 10, High Priority). This group will sit alongside the broader governance architecture of the Strategy and will serve as the principal mechanism for industry engagement on tokenisation policy.

The Strategy should be read in the context of the Central Bank of Ireland (Central Bank) Discussion Paper 12 (March 2026), on the opportunities and risks associated with tokenised financial assets and fund structures. The DoF will also liaise with other departments on public sector use cases for digital assets (Action 11).

Private assets

The Strategy confirms the Government’s commitment to growing Ireland’s private assets offering, building on recommendations progressed in the DoF's Funds Sector Review 2030 (Funds Review). The Strategy targets material growth in the AUM of regulated investment funds through growth in public and private markets. European private markets are forecast to exceed €5tn AUM by 2030, and the Strategy positions Ireland to capture a meaningful share of that growth.

A number of policy measures are being progressed to support growth in Ireland’s market for private assets: including legislative and regulatory changes implemented in 2026 in line with the Funds Review recommendations, as well as the modernisation of the 1907 Act (as further detailed below) and greater coordination of pension and institutional investors. Recent years have seen a number of significant changes to elements of the tax system, including the introduction of a participation exemption for foreign dividends and a dividend withholding tax exemption for Investment Limited Partnerships.

The Strategy identifies that growth can also be enabled through focus on the benefits of these investment opportunities for institutional, pension and high net worth/family offices, while also playing a role to address wider societal needs like decarbonisation. Developments to support the growth of private asset funds, specifically ELTIFs are referenced as a positive vehicle for sustainable finance promotion. The DoF commits to undertaking a review of how structured finance in Ireland could support blended climate and sustainable finance initiatives.

The Strategy draws an explicit link between the growth in private asset structures and the availability of capital for the real economy. It notes that enabling growth of private asset structures can:

• Deepen capital availability for businesses, SMEs, infrastructure, and scale-ups.
• Expand access to private equity, venture capital, private credit, real estate, and infrastructure investment.
• Channel capital toward housing, infrastructure, renewable energy, and indigenous enterprise growth.
• Attract interest from a broader investor base, including retail investors and pension/institutional investors.

1907 Act

The government has committed to the modernisation of the 1907 Act to support growth in private assets, particularly investment in venture capital (Action 3, High Priority). This is a long-standing industry priority and a welcome development.

In July 2026, the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE) launched a public consultation on reform of the limited partnership framework, as detailed in our recent advisory. DETE will develop an Issues Paper examining barriers to investment in scaling equity funds, with a view to identifying policy actions to enhance investment in scaling companies.

The Strategy confirms that modernisation measures will be kept under review in the Funds and Asset Management Steering Group, ensuring ongoing industry engagement as the reforms are implemented.

KPIs and performance metrics

The Strategy’s priority KPIs include:

• Increase total IFS employment to 70,000 (from a base of approximately 61,000 in 2025), with 25% of these positions located in the regions.
• Material growth in AUM of regulated investment funds.
• Material annual growth in financial services exports.
• Continued upskilling of the workforce.
• Timely delivery of financial services legislation.

For the first time, the Strategy includes KPIs specific to the funds sector:

• UCITS AUM (base: €4.6tn).
• ETF AUM (base: €1.9tn).
• AIF AUM (base: €0.96tn).
• Number of ELTIFs (base: 13 in 2025).
• Number of ILPs (base: 23 in 2025).
• Funds direct employment (base: 19,500).
• Funds taxes paid (base: €994m).

Other measures may also be used to assess the state of the sector from time to time. New regulatory performance metrics were also included in the Central Bank’s 2025 Annual Performance Review.

The breadth of these metrics signals that government views the funds sector not only through the lens of employment but also through the prism of AUM growth, product diversification (ELTIFs, ILPs), and revenue contribution. This is a positive development, aligning the measurement framework with the full economic contribution of the sector.

Governance and oversight

The new Sub-Group on IFS will be established within the Cabinet Committee on the Economy, Trade and Competitiveness. This is a significant development, ensuring that financial services policy has direct ministerial-level oversight at Cabinet Committee level.

The Joint Committee responsible for oversight of implementation of the Strategy will focus on three core functions, namely, assessing progress against the KPIs, horizon scanning for emerging trends and consideration of new policy proposals. The Funds and Asset Management Steering Group will inform, and be coordinated with, the Joint Committee, ensuring sector-specific input into the broader governance architecture.

The DoF will establish a Policy Delivery Forum to engage with industry on financial services legislation (Action 4, High Priority). This forum represents a new channel for direct engagement between industry and policymakers on the legislative pipeline affecting financial services.

An Annual State of the Sector report will be published by end of February each year (Action 22, High Priority). This report will track progress against the strategy’s KPIs and provide transparency on the pace and direction of reform. A rolling multi-annual legislative plan for financial services will be published (Action 5, High Priority), providing industry with greater visibility on the timing and sequencing of legislative measures.

Other relevant measures

The strategy identifies the rollout of the planned Investment Account framework, increasing penetration of ETF savings plans, and continued restructuring flows from other fund formats as key drivers of future growth in the ETF space.

The Central Bank is progressing a Simplification Roadmap promising a more streamlined regulatory interface. The roadmap includes a range of initiatives including retiring, consolidating, and updating domestic rules; enhanced authorisation processes; the establishment of a Gatekeeping Division; and a review of data collections. A new Regulatory Impact Assessment Framework is being consulted upon. This reform is intended to ensure that regulatory proposals are subject to a range of considerations, so that the decision to implement is well balanced.

A Central Bank review of the Pre-Approval Controlled Function (PCF) regime is expected with consultation anticipated in Q4 2026, as it continues to enhance the PCF assessment process to simplify and improve user experience and efficiency.

The Strategy contains a commitment to consistency in EU transposition, including avoiding the imposition of additional requirements where possible. This "minimal gold-plating” commitment is a long-standing industry priority and, if achieved, should reduce unnecessary divergence among member states which should also support ongoing competitiveness. Ireland is actively engaging in the development of the EU’s SFDR 2.0 framework, advocating for a practical product categorisation system that seeks to minimise global regulatory fragmentation.

A Savings and Investments Roadmap is to be published, setting out an intended approach to simplify and adapt the tax framework to encourage retail investment, including the development of an Investment Account framework. The first Annual Savings and Investment Forum was convened in March 2026.

A National Financial Literacy Strategy was launched in 2025, and the IOB Irish Financial Services Skills Framework was also launched in 2025. These initiatives support the pipeline of talent for the sector.

The Strategy identifies artificial intelligence as a transformative force for Ireland's IFS sector, noting our increasingly prominent position as a European base for the development and deployment of applied AI within regulated environments. The Strategy commits to a suite of supporting measures, as well as a broader range of measures in support of fintech and innovation across financial services firms.

Ireland holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU from July to December 2026, with competitiveness as a stated priority. This provides a platform for Ireland to influence the direction of EU financial services policy during a critical period.

Ireland: A jurisdiction of choice for the next era of financial services

The Strategy sets a clear and ambitious direction for the next phase of IFS development. The commitments across tokenisation, private assets (including the modernisation of the 1907 Act) and governance are particularly significant and give industry a meaningful role in shaping delivery.

That ambition is underpinned by formidable foundations. Ireland is the third-largest investment funds domicile globally, with €6.1tn of investment fund AUM and 70% of European ETFs domiciled here. The IFSC’s 40th anniversary in 2027 will offer a timely opportunity to reflect on how far Ireland has come since 1987 and, more importantly, on how it will continue to grow with the right combination of ambition, execution and collaboration as reflected in the Strategy.