The financial services cluster is getting close to the €10 billion milestone.
It currently has some €9.79 billion in net asset value spread across 620 funds, 133 fiduciary licences, 28 international banks, 66 insurance operators, 26 fund administrators, and six custodians, together with 18 captives and cells.
According to the Malta Financial Services Authority, Malta’s banking sector is now truly international in nature, with 73 per cent of borrowings and deposits originating from overseas. In 2013, the finance sector supported close to 10,000 jobs in Malta, and the gross value added contribution the sector made to the economy both directly and indirectly is estimated to be moving towards 15 per cent of GDP.
Malta was recently selected as Europe’s favourite location for hedge funds, an accolade which FinanceMalta chairman Kenneth Farrugia described as being very significant.
“We are seeing substantial demand from a number of hedge fund managers who are choosing to shift their operations to Malta in response to both the rising costs of business and the growing regulatory burden in their domicile,” he said at a recent networking event.
“Malta is emerging alongside London, Geneva and Luxembourg, as another European location for fund managers keen to maintain flexible operating arrangements. Positive coverage by key media such as CNBC, Bloomberg and the Financial Times together with professional publications such as Hedge Fund Review reinforces this interest, and I cannot stress enough that our selection by industry professionals as Europe’s favourite hedge fund location is a significant milestone and achievement for the local industry, the result of several years’ hard work.
“These are the same people we meet every month, at events on the international circuit, individuals from single-manager hedge funds or ‘fund of hedge funds’ organisations and investors, such as family offices, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies and asset allocators, underlining Malta’s popularity with a broad range of hedge fund formats and professionals. We are finally making headway.”
Mr Farrugia concluded: “Malta is becoming a destination of choice for individuals, assets and business and provides one of the highest quality lifestyles in the region.
“FinanceMalta’s role going forward is to strengthen our international financial centre brand further and to highlight why so many people are choosing Malta, remember we are small and must constantly maintain our brand franchise.
“Key to this is our ability to drive our brand online and across industry events which fit our profile to build a reputation as a front-line candidate and EU domicile of choice, given Malta’s excellent value proposition, as well as the acquired reputation of having robust, flexible regulation exercised by an approachable, yet robust regulator.”