A delegation of Guernsey practitioners is heading across the Atlantic to promote the Island as a major centre for investment funds business.

Peter Niven, Chief Executive of Guernsey Finance – the promotional agency for the Island's finance industry, is leading the team to New York and then Boston in the first week of June.

There will be a particular focus on promoting Guernsey's experience and expertise in catering for private equity funds business.

Mr Niven said: "During the last decade Guernsey has built a strong reputation as a leading jurisdiction for domiciling and servicing private equity funds. In that time we have seen a significant number of the major UK and European private equity houses choosing to use Guernsey and, indeed, some of those have established their own operations in the Island.

"Several US private equity managers have also chosen Guernsey and we are now seeing renewed interest from across the Atlantic in what we can offer as a gateway to the European capital markets. We are looking to capitalise on this interest by taking a team of local practitioners to meet with private equity managers and their advisers in both New York and Boston. In responding to this interest, I suspect that this will be the first in a series of visits to the US cities which are renowned private equity hubs."

Mr Niven will be joined in New York by Gavin Farrell, from law firm Mourant Ozannes and Tony Mancini from KPMG, for a series of meetings with US private equity managers and advisers, such as lawyers and accountants.

They will then head to Boston where they will be joined by Neale Jehan, also from KPMG, and Ray Page and Julian Carey, both from International Administration Group (IAG), where they will hold a further series of meetings and also exhibit at the specialist private equity conference, SuperReturn USA.

Mr Niven added: "The last time Guernsey Finance visited the US was at the outset of the global financial crisis and since then the gloomy worldwide economic conditions have depressed the markets globally. It is positive to see this potential upturn in activity and in particular, a renewed interest in Guernsey from the US.

"Our latest fund statistics also show that there were a significant number of new fund launches in the first quarter of this year in Guernsey but it is important that we do not rest on our laurels and simply rely on business coming from our traditional markets of the UK and Europe, especially with the ongoing uncertainty in the Eurozone. The US economy is slowly picking up and so it is important that we are well positioned to pick up business direct from this marketplace as a way to ensure new flows of business into the Island.

"The renewed US interest in Guernsey from a funds perspective is also reflected in what we are seeing in other parts of the industry, notably the fiduciary sector. This shows us that the US can be a source of very good business, as long as service providers are aware of and can handle the additional layers of complexity which the US authorities require for business in other jurisdictions."

Figures from the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) show that the total value of funds under management and administration in Guernsey reached £270 billion (US$ 425 billion) at the end of March 2012.

For more information about Guernsey's finance industry please visit www.guernseyfinance.com.

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