Malta gains UK acceptance amid Dominion fund plans

Malta took a step closer to becoming a recognised home for UK retail funds this week, after Dominion Fund Management said it would be creating a Malta-domiciled global thematic fund range and selling it through UK retail platforms.

The Guernsey-based fund boutique is renaming its Dominion Chic fund as the Global Trends Consumer fund under the plans.

It is also launching a new Global Trends Strategic fund, subject to regulatory approval, to identify 14 macroeconomic investment themes that the managers believe will generate outperformance in the longer-term. It will be benchmarked to the MSCI World index.

The fledgling boutique's sales effort is now being led by UK sales director Matthew Deeprose, formerly head of sales for Skandia from 2003-2008. He said the fund would be available for sale to UK investors through all the major fund platforms.

Graham Bentley, head of proposition at Skandia, also said the fund's Maltese domicile was unlikely to deter investors, who would be looking at its performance track record rather than its offshore location.