Ireland has renewed its ambition to remain one of the leading international centres for financial services.

The Government’s updated Ireland for Finance Vision 2030 strategy places competitiveness, innovation and digital transformation at the centre of the next phase of development.

For the investment funds and asset management industry, the strategy is particularly significant.

Funds and asset management have been identified as a high-impact area, with ETFs, private assets and tokenisation highlighted among the opportunities expected to shape future growth.

The important question now is how those ambitions translate into practical developments for fund managers, management companies, administrators and professional service providers operating in Ireland.

Why funds remain important to Ireland

Ireland has developed into one of the major global locations for investment funds and fund servicing.

Its ecosystem extends well beyond fund domicile.

It includes investment managers, management companies, fund administrators, depositaries, transfer agents, auditors, tax advisers, accountants, legal advisers and technology providers.

This breadth is an important competitive advantage.

The Government’s Funds Sector 2030 review was designed to ensure that Ireland’s framework remains resilient, internationally competitive and capable of adapting to changes in markets and technology.

Ireland for Finance Vision 2030 takes that work further by placing financial-services competitiveness within a broader national strategy.

Tokenisation moves higher on the agenda

One of the clearest themes is tokenisation.

Financial institutions around the world are experimenting with distributed ledger technology to change how assets are issued, recorded, transferred and settled.

Irish Funds has welcomed the Government’s commitment to progress legislative changes needed to support tokenised investment funds.

Potential reforms include changes to the ICAV and Companies Acts, helping provide a clearer legal foundation for digital fund structures.

This could prove important.

For asset managers considering tokenised share classes or other digital structures, legal certainty is just as important as technological capability.

Ireland will therefore need legislation, regulation and industry infrastructure to evolve together if it is to become a leading location for regulated tokenised funds.

Ireland’s ETF opportunity

ETFs are another important area.

Ireland is already a major European ETF domicile.

PwC estimates that approximately 75% of Europe’s ETF market is domiciled in Ireland, demonstrating the scale of the country’s existing position.

The challenge is to maintain that position as ETFs themselves evolve.

The market is seeing growth in active ETFs, increasingly sophisticated distribution channels and greater use of technology throughout trading and administration.

Tokenisation may eventually influence ETFs as well.

For Irish service providers, continued ETF growth means demand for scalable administration, reporting, accounting and operational support is likely to remain important.

Building Ireland’s private assets sector

Private assets are also a major strategic opportunity.

Investors have increasingly allocated capital to areas such as private equity, private credit, infrastructure and real assets.

For Ireland, attracting more private-market structures requires an appropriate legal and regulatory framework.

Irish Funds has highlighted the proposed modernisation of the 1907 Limited Partnership Act as an important element of this development.

Updating structures used by private funds could improve Ireland’s competitiveness against other major fund jurisdictions.

However, private assets also create different accounting and operational requirements from traditional liquid funds.

Valuation, capital calls, distributions, investor reporting and complex ownership structures can all require specialist expertise.

Growth in private assets therefore creates opportunities not only for asset managers but also for the wider professional-services ecosystem.

Retail investment is becoming part of the strategy

Ireland’s future fund strategy is no longer focused only on international institutional investors.

Domestic retail investment is becoming increasingly important.

The introduction of the Irish Investment Account from July 2027 is one example.

The Government has also been examining broader reforms to the taxation of savings and investments, building on recommendations from the Funds Sector 2030 review.

Irish Funds has argued that reducing barriers to investment and reconsidering areas such as deemed disposal could help increase participation in capital markets.

Greater retail participation could gradually strengthen the connection between Ireland’s internationally successful asset management sector and Irish households.

Strategy is only the beginning

A financial-services strategy can identify opportunities, but execution will determine whether those opportunities are realised.

Ireland faces competition from other major European and international financial centres.

Asset managers consider issues such as regulation, tax, operational costs, availability of skilled staff, market access and speed of authorisation when deciding where to establish and operate funds.

Ireland therefore needs to combine innovation with predictability.

Firms need confidence that regulatory and legal frameworks can evolve without creating unnecessary uncertainty.

Governance is equally important.

Irish Funds has welcomed the Vision 2030 strategy’s emphasis on accountability and measurable outcomes.

That focus will become increasingly significant as new technologies and investment structures create different types of operational and regulatory risk.

What should firms be considering?

Asset managers and service providers do not necessarily need to transform their business models immediately.

However, they should be considering how the direction of policy may affect future requirements.

Technology infrastructure may need to support tokenised assets.

Private-market capabilities may need to expand.

ETF servicing may require greater automation.

Tax and reporting systems may need to respond to further changes in Ireland’s investment framework.

Staff will also need to develop skills that bridge traditional fund operations with digital finance.

The firms best positioned for Ireland’s next phase of growth may therefore be those that can combine strong traditional fund expertise with the ability to adapt to new products and technology.

Ireland’s next stage as a funds centre

Ireland has built a significant investment-funds industry over several decades.

Vision 2030 is about protecting that position while preparing for what comes next.

ETFs, private assets and tokenisation are different markets, but they share an important theme: each requires the fund ecosystem to evolve.

Investment structures are changing.

Distribution is changing.

Investor expectations are changing.

Technology is changing.

For Ireland, maintaining competitiveness will require regulation, legislation and professional services to evolve alongside those developments.

If the strategy is implemented effectively, Ireland has an opportunity not simply to remain an important fund domicile, but to strengthen its role in shaping the future of European asset management.

How William Nguyen Co Ltd can help

William Nguyen Co Ltd provides accounting and consulting services across areas including Fund Accounting Services, Asset Management and Investment Funds, Tax and Business Advisory.

For firms operating in a changing investment environment, strong financial reporting, accounting processes and tax support remain essential foundations for growth.