The Irish Fund Directors Association (“IFDA”) is the independent representative body for board members within the Irish funds industry.
IFDA is administered by a Council which is supported by dedicated working groups, and both the Council and the working groups function on a voluntary member basis.
The Irish Fund Directors Association (“IFDA”) was established in 2015 with support from the Central Bank of Ireland and from Board members in the Funds and Asset Management industry. IFDA was established by industry leaders and directors in the Irish investment funds industry to represent their interests and promote better collective standards in line with best international practice. The first IFDA Council in 2015 consisted of founding members, Fergus Sheridan, John Oppermann, Damian Keane, Fiona Mulhall and Raymond O’Neill.
IFDA already represents over 100 members currently serving on investment fund boards and management companies. The relative size of funds INED community resident in Ireland is estimated to be circa 220 people. Similar fund director associations exist in other key financial centres such as Luxembourg, Cayman and the United States of America. IFDA membership is open to anyone currently approved (or previously approved) by the Central Bank of Ireland (or an equivalent Regulator) to act as a Director of a regulated entity.
IFDA’s work to date has included matters such as: gathering members’ views on Central Bank of Ireland consultation papers (e.g. CP86, CP111, CP120) and sharing these findings with the Central Bank of Ireland; surveying members’ portfolios of directorships to obtain a clear picture of IFDA’s industry representation; and, a comprehensive program of engagement with relevant stakeholders across the investment funds industry in Ireland.
A series of what are called “Insight Sessions” for the IFDA membership also take place regularly. These take the form of short, Panel delivered information events (for circa 1 hour usually at midday) from industry experts on topics such as MIFID II, GDPR, Organisational Effectiveness, ESMA Outsourcing Guidelines, etc…..These “Insight Sessions” have proved highly popular to date.
