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Exploring the ICAV

Exploring the ICAV

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BirdMobile-1 Exploring the ICAV

Whilst there are many structures the choose from when establishing a fund this article focuses on The Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicle (ICAV). The ICAV provides a flexible corporate structure which can be used to establish both UCITS and alternative investment funds. ICAV attracted EUR8.4bn to Irish funds in its first 12 months of existence becoming the Irish fund vehicle of choice in both the retail and professional investor sectors.

icav500-2 Exploring the ICAV
samuel-beckett-bridge Exploring the ICAV

The success of the ICAV will continue to grow.

The success of the ICAV will continue to grow as the number of investment managers, international investors, fund financing counterparties, and fund service providers become more and more comfortable with the associated variables from structuring, incorporation, management, to distribution of ICAVs. The ICAV has without doubt enhanced Ireland’s competitiveness as domicile of choice for investment funds by virtue of its attractive legal structure, ease of conversion, and critically it also represents a simpler product for US investors from a tax perspective.

The main benefits

Structure

Before the establishment of the ICAV, the only viable option for an Irish corporate fund vehicle was to set up as an ‘investment company’ which is constituted as a public limited company (PLC) under the general Irish Companies Act. PLCs are subject to a number of company law requirements which are viewed as inappropriate for investment funds in contrast the ICAV is not subject to these requirements. As such there is a range of cost and administration cutting benefits. The main differences in requirements between a PLC and the ICAV are;

  • The Central Bank of Ireland is the competent authority for the incorporation of the ICAV. It is both the registration and the supervisory authority for the ICAV.
  • An ICAV has a governing document known as an instrument of incorporation (“IOI”). Similar to the memorandum and articles of association of a plc, the IOI is the constitutional document of an ICAV.
  • No requirement to operate on the principle of risk spreading
  • No requirement to have an annual general meeting once provision of at least 60 days written notice to all of the ICAV’s shareholders.
  • No requirement to receive shareholder approval to amend the instrument of incorporation where the depositary is satisfied that such amendment is not prejudicial to shareholders and the amendment is not one which the Central Bank requires to be approved by shareholders
  • Annual financial statements are allowed to be prepared at sub-fund level

As the ICAV legislation is distinct from that governing other Irish companies, it should be “future proof” against inadvertent consequences brought about from changes in Irish and/or European company law.

Tax

ICAVs are subject to the same tax regime as other Irish funds. The key components of this regime are as follows:

  • NO Irish income tax at the fund level.
  • Access to Ireland’s extensive double taxation agreements minimising the effects of foreign withholding taxes on returns on investments.
  • 41% exit tax on distributions to Irish investors but NO Irish withholding tax/exit tax on all distributions to non-Irish investors and certain categories of Irish investors.
  • NO Irish withholding tax/exit tax on all distributions where the shares are held in a recognised clearance system.
  • NO transfer taxes on the issue, redemption or transfer of shares.
  • Exemptions from Value Added Tax for many services required by a fund (in particular fund management services).
  • NO hidden taxes (e.g. wealth taxes / net asset taxes).
KMCWeb Exploring the ICAV

“One of the main reasons that we are seeing US investors keenly adopting the ICAV is that it simplifies the US tax treatment. This is because the ICAV essentially allows taxable US investors to be regarded as if they had invested directly in the underlying investments of the ICAV.”

One of the main reasons that we are seeing US investors keenly adopting the ICAV is that it simplifies the US tax treatment. This is because the ICAV essentially allows taxable US investors to be regarded as if they had invested directly in the underlying investments of the ICAV. Thus allowing US investors access to relief under US tax treaties as well as access to tax credits pertaining to investments made by the fund. This also means that the complex US Passive Foreign Investment Company (PFIC) regime does not apply in this scenario. This management can be achieved because the ICAV is able to make an election under the US “check the box” rules to be treated as a “pass through” entity for US federal income tax purposes. Resulting in an ICAV being treated as a “partnership” (if it has more than one investor) or a “disregarded entity” (if it has only one investor) for US tax purposes. In contrast, an Irish fund established as a PLC cannot use the “check the box” option because it is deemed to be a “per se” corporation.

Conversion

Notably, established funds incorporated as ‘investment companies’ have the option of converting to ICAV status. Funds domiciled outside of Ireland can migrate into Ireland as ICAVs by continuation. An existing Irish ‘investment company’ can convert into an ICAV using a very straightforward conversion process. Conversion is by way of continuation, so that an ‘investment company’ converting into an ICAV keeps its identity and track 2 record. There will be no Irish tax on the conversion. A large number of existing Irish ‘investment companies’ will utilise the straightforward mechanism of conversion into an ICAV. To date there have only been a small number of conversions (roughly 25%), this is set to increase as a large number of UCITS managers are in the process of converting their ‘investment companies’ into an ICAV as part of the overall UCITS V implementation.

To date the ICAV has been a success. Combining the benefits of the ICAV with Ireland’s reputation as being one of the leading jurisdictions for the establishment and/or re-domiciliation of regulated investment funds, results in Ireland becoming the domicile of choice for funds looking to sell to U.S. taxable investors. Finscoms, through our chosen partners, will help you on your way to choosing a suitable structure and jurisdiction.

KEN CARMODY

kmc@finscoms.com

Mobile Marketing

Mobile Marketing

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BirdMobile-1 Mobile Marketing

Email marketing, despite its’ rather low conversion rate, has remained a staple of both communicating with and maintaining relationships with our customers. No matter how many figures we read about the daily usage of various social media platforms, the one almost universal fact is that everyone checks their email….daily, if not hourly or even every few minutes.

AAAphonewood500-1 Mobile Marketing
samuel-beckett-bridge Mobile Marketing

The one almost universal fact is that everyone checks their email.

The proliferation of smartphones has led to us all being even more contactable, as it were, so if should be no surprise to see the maintained usage of email marketing. However, many organisations have not adapted their email marketing to reflect this new method of accessing one’s email on what is essentially a much smaller screen.

The following nuggets are meant to help broaden the scope of Mobile Email Marketing:

  • Easy as you go: many consumers are multi screening when they open their email on their mobile device, hence their attention levels are not at 100%. So presenting them with an easy to read and actionable email is vital, otherwise the email will most likely be deleted upon opening, or unsubscribed to.
  • Little by little: Taking the easier mobile route when one can. It is preferable to start with a mobile design email first, and then build up to a full desktop version of that same email. It is easier to expand a mobile layout, than it is to retrofit a desktop compatible email in a smaller mobile form.
  • RSVP Response: Responsive Email Design, allowing your email designers to create different layouts that will recognise and adapt to the device’s display screen size will result in a versatile email blast that will access each recipients screen accordingly.
EMDS3 Mobile Marketing

​​The foundations: A well-designed, attractive template is vitally important, adding a video feature or widget that can play in place will add an extra dimension to the already immersive world of the mobile device.

  • Entice while you can: You must make it easy for your viewer to act, there are always barriers- loading times that are slower than usual, destination landing pages, some of which may not be mobile friendly. Engaging with the reader there and then is vital, try not to divert them to another web page. The copy and imagery of your email needs to entice them there and then.

EDWARD SIMPSON

emds@finscoms.com

Content Marketing – Worth it?

Content Marketing – Worth it?

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EMDS3 Content Marketing - Worth it?

Edward Simpson

Why consider Content Marketing? Firstly you should understand why clients, investors, referrals, those that know you and those that don’t interact with you online, more importantly understand that simply pushing out content doesnt mean your latest task is complete, the opposite a poorly composed content clogs up inboxes of your target audiences…

  • What content should you produce, over what time period? Articles, blogs, fund prospectus’, marketing materials, emails, newsletters, blogs, tweets, brochures, PR, pitch book, once a day/week/month? All in all with within the traditional and online world content marketing is a key foundation of an effective content marketing strategy, get it wrong ends up in negative branding to you and your business.
  • I believe that there are three types of content, there is the ‘product’ content for example ‘why set up a company’, the there is the ‘product updates’ once you have set up a ‘company’ you need to be kept updated with changes, and lastly then there is the ‘marketing’ content, your news, or which conference you are speaking at, new staff members, recent transactions, blogs and so forth.
  • We work with clients in managing or creating their content marketing strategies, from content rewrite for a website, to creating content for your blogs/social media assets, to a content style guide for your firm, to where the content can be distributed, to working out who will be producing your content as well as who will be in charge of editing and publishing content. Ultimately how to see the benefits, work through the analytics to present the tangibles, content marketing works only if it’s done right, move away from push marketing to pull – find out more by contacting us.
  • Keep a backup of your content, better still create a ‘content pool’ in here place all your content both past and future, manage accordingly. Websites need updating, rewriting, as do all your marketing materials, we work with clients to create a content pool and how to manage this to fully engage and implement a content marketing strategy.
  • The idea of creating all of the above mentioned types of content may be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Blog’s can easily be converted to other formats. Series of blog’s can be compiled into an article. Look for opportunities to use one piece of content in many ways, you can retweet/reblog/recycle content.

That said, content creation still needs to play a role in your strategy. Original content – whether it’s in the form of a blog, case studies, videos, infographics, etc. – will help you define the point of view you want to convey and should help set the tone for all of your content marketing efforts. Content Marketing creates that first impression of you, your expertise, your business, creates new opportunities, increases your circle of contacts, changes the mindset and much much more.

Content Marketing is not just about creating content, its where you promote and/or distribute it enabling it to become a valuable asset for your traditional and online marketing, building online communities, driving traffic to your site who are potential and existing clients/referrers. Here are the top ways to promote your content, both on-site and off. In todays environ with social media, websites and so forth, we work with our clients to become their own publishers, why spend money to publish content?

  • Share it on social media networks. Be sure to let your Linkedin, Twitter, and Google+, followers know about your latest content. Share your content within groups on Linkedin, and only place CSR/Careers related content to Facebook.
  • Many companies today are investing into ‘private networks’ this not everything needs to be in the ‘public’ eye, but the trick to these is to encourage your contacts to join, clients are often receiving similar requests from multiple firms.
  • Send it to your mailing list (need to work on your mailing list so that it is clean and updated, the content is engaging to the recipient, and that all have opted in). By sending them valuable content it demonstrates your expertise, you’re likely to turn subscribers into customers. This is very effective for loyalty marketing, a law firm for example business’ comes from existing clients/contacts/referrers so use your content as one part of loyalty marketing.
  • Ask bloggers/contacts to get the word out. If you have built good relationships in your industry, they will be open to informing their contacts about your content.
  • Encourage others to share your content. Add to your email signature links to your content.

A good content marketing strategy requires time, an understanding of content marketing and money, but there are plenty of supplemental activities that can help justify the investment and lessen the emphasis on the daunting task of creating content. As the web becomes more and more saturated with content every day, our inboxes are crammed with ‘content marketing’ then its time to contact us, this is what we do we save you considerable time, we have the expertise to write your content or simply manage your content marketing, and save you a small fortune – this is our bread and butter.

CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS

Content Marketing Some of the most important trends in content marketing involve tools and technologies which really weren’t even in existence just a couple of years ago. It is essential for all businesses to keep up to date with the latest types of content, and use them properly to interact with potential customers. We work with clients to choose which of the ten doors to open, make the right choice, you don’t need a Rolls Royce when a Mini works just as well.

We have all heard the mantra ‘Content is King’ why churn out vast reams of content with little or no penetration, we can help you become your own publisher, building online communities around you and your practice area, not mass emailing your newsletter to all and asunder. Our inboxes are full of such content, the effort taken to produce the latest content only lends to negative branding ‘stop cluttering up my inbox – delete’ consider ‘pull’ marketing, your conversion rates with an inbound enquiry.

The following are the most popular types of content marketing:

  • Blogs – A business blog is almost a requirement for any company to be successful online, you need to create that all important first impression, that you are comfortable working in both a traditional world as well as a digital world.
  • Email Newsletters – Customers expect to receive high quality content from companies they are following, and delivering regular information via email can be very effective when done properly. 9 times out of ten newsletters are poorly put together and merely sent to contact database, ticking the box, marketing dine for another month….a newsletter can be so much more.
  • Podcasts – Podcasts or other audio content allows a company to literally speak to their customers in a way that is much more personal than an advertisement.
  • Video – Video blog is of the now, learn more how video can save you time, money, and in some cases generate new revenue streams.
  • Social Media Posts – Linkedin, Tweets, Facebook, Google+updates and many others are great ways to interact with customers. They allow for a two way conversation between the company and the customer, which really helps to develop a strong relationship.
  • Webinars
  • Events
  • Third party content distributers like mondaq.com

Quality is important – but how do you know if you’re really producing content that’s engaging your audience? Perhaps even more importantly, how are you measuring the results? Effective content marketing shows instant return on investment, it creates that all important first impression, leads to new work, however even today many websites are brochurial, content doesn’t engage the reader, it’s done merely because your peers are producing and distributing content.

Contact us to find our how you can be a part of the 10% of companies that are effective in their content marketing.

 

Why Use Twitter?

Why Use Twitter?

The View

EMDS3 Why Use Twitter?

Edward Simpson

Why is Twitter important for your business?

Twitter is a great way to drive repeat business and to attract new customers. While the platform itself may not have had obvious business advantages in its’ early incarnation, namely the restrictive 140 character messaging capability, the growth in Twitter’s popularity has now put those initial doubts firmly to bed.

It may not be your favourite social media platform, but it has undeniable ability in terms of stretching the reach of your business.

Twitter simply has to be included in any social media campaign your business conducts.

Here’s why:

  • On average, 7500 thousand people join Twitter every day.
  • Twitter has 310 million users monthly, and counting……
  • Gaining a following on Twitter means that you have a group of loyal and engaged consumers actively seeking out your tweets – building online communities around you and your business
  • Therefore, if your tweets are not useful, engaging , helpful or enticing, your followers will decline!!! We can help you with engaging and enticing tweets
  • It is a great platform to market new products, simply by posting your company logo and the product details together.
  • Update followers about events, news, services you provide or products you sell
  • Sponsored tweets allow you to spread you presence across the “twittersphere”
  • Following conversations that are taking place about your company allows you to gain consumer insights in an up to date and efficient manner
  • Twitter can also be used as a speedy and efficient customer service tool
  • Discounts, and special offers… if you plan on running the, spread them through Twitter to gain further traction
  • Twitter is also a handy way of keeping an eye on your competitors, their update and their service or product offerings
  • The “ReTweet”- the sky’s the limit- tweets can be retweeted by your followers, allowing your twitter presence to swell significantly.

While Twitter can still be viewed as a micro blogging tool that is used by the “young”, there is no doubt that it is much more than that, and can genuinely help with your company’s attempts to expand their communication’s reach. Talk to us to see how to develop a social media strategy designed to create that all important first impression.

emds@finscoms.com

Manage Your Brand Correctly

Manage Your Brand Correctly

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KMCWeb Manage Your Brand Correctly

Ken Carmody

Within the congested asset management sector, brand recognition and brand equity is key. Ascertaining, defining and marketing your brand is vital in your company’s growth and success. A corporate brand identity establishes a strategic framework and creative platform upon which to market your products and services. Your brand is the first thing to be seen by your target audience, as you seek to transition a good first impression to brand loyalty. Successful branding can be a powerful way for funds to distinguish themselves from their competitors. It is your corporate face to the outside world. Here are a few rules to follow;

 

  1. Keep your brand consistent. Consistency is what builds familiarity and, in the long run, trust. Corporate branding should be uniformly presented across all marketing channels to enhance your fund’s image and reputation and bind all marketing and sales activities under one voice.

 

  1. Listen to your audience. Your audience can provide a wealth of information regarding how your brand is perceived. Reach out to them for feedback. This will also strengthen your client relationship as they will feel a part of the process.

 

  1. Make use of social media. Like it or not, social media plays an enormous part in the success or failure of every brand. Using these platforms is relatively inexpensive and is instant. It allows you to speak directly to your target audience, gauge reactions to brand strategies and get instant feedback.

 

  1. Be willing to adapt. A brand isn’t something you build once and then never revisit. You need to revise and refine it, adapting it to changes in your marketing environment in order to remain relevant.

 

  1. Protect and defend your brand. Defend your trademarks, lock up domain names, write brand usage guidelines, and enforce brand-usage rules.

 

Whether you are about to launch a fund or looking at boosting your brand equity to an existing fund, our professional branding services provide companies with a brand identity that encapsulates a company’s vision, values, personality, positioning and image. We believe in developing a corporate branding strategy as the first critical step to ensure the key components that comprise of a corporate identity meet your goals and objectives.

kmc@finscoms.com