The fund domicile landscape around the globe is constantly developing at a high pace because the domicile centres of the world are enhancing their competitive advantage by being innovative, digital, and highly regulated. In different jurisdictions, good legal systems, taxation and policies that are business friendly contribute to the appeal of such hubs. With fund accounting, fund reconciliation, high-quality investor services, and highly competent fund administrator ecosystem growing more mission-critical, countries are in competition with each other to improve fund accounting, fund reconciliation, fund manager services to the investor and the highly skilled fund administrator ecosystem, that supports the investor as well as the contemporary fund manager.

Leading Global Fund Hubs in 2025

Cayman Islands

Related Read: Global Fund Administration Business: An Overview

The Cayman Islands have continued to dominate the international position of small funds, especially hedge funds. Cayman controls over a third of the assets of privately regulated funds in the SEC (more than 30,000 registered funds, and more USD 8 trillion in assets). It is attractive due to tax neutrality, advanced fund services, and a properly developed network of lawyers and administration experts. Observations of new funds to be recorded in early 2025 also support its leadership in fund management.

Mauritius

Mauritius has played the role of strategic bridge between Asia and Africa, and it hosts more than USD 130 billion in assets worth over 1,000 funds. It has an offshore/onshore hybrid system that still attracts other investors and world fund managers.

Singapore

Singapore is establishing itself as the largest onshore fund management centre in Asia with an AUM of more than SGD 6.07 trillion (USD 4.5 trillion). The stability, effective governance and highly developed fund administrator base maintain its expanding ecosystem, which is supported by VCCs, green funds, and infrastructure funds, and meets the institutional-grade fund accounting and KYC compliance requirements.

Dubai (DIFC)

The DIFC has become the most rapidly developing financial centre in MEASA with 7,700+ companies and more than 10,000 funds. Growth in hedge funds has been fueled by the 0% tax regime in the region and the availability of GCC markets (72% YoY in 2024). The simplified AML compliance, digitalization efforts, and effective investor services by the DIFC still appeal to some of the best fund managers and alternative investment platforms.

Luxembourg

Luxembourg is the closest domicile fund in Europe that manages over EUR 7.3 trillion (~ USD 8.59 trillion) in funds and issues 55% of all cross-border funds in the world. It enables it to have an advantage in regulatory reporting, ESG compliance, and advanced fund reconciliation procedures because it complies with EU rules, offers a multilingual workforce, and aligns excellently with both UCITS and AIF structures.

Ireland

Ireland has around EUR 5.9 trillion (~USD 6.94 trillion) of funds, but ETFs, private equity, and real estate AIFs are the most prevalent. Its common-law system of the English and progressive regulations makes the Irish an onshore choice to the US and EU managers in need of high-quality fund administration and fund services fully supported with robust KYC compliance standards.

GIFT City, India

The GIFT City is the most rapidly emerging international financial centre in India. As of mid 2025, it has 177 registered fund management entities and 272 funds with AUM USD 23.5 billion. Its tax light ecosystem, reduced approvals, and digital first infrastructure makes it a perfect alternative investment, digital asset funds and new age investor services with the support of modern fund administrators.

Digital Revolution: The Future of Fund Administration

The digital revolution is redefining the operation, monitoring, and service of funds and making technology the centre of efficiency, compliance, and transparency.

Artificial Intelligence, Robotization, and ML

AI reduces the time of NAV calculation, improves fund accounting, automate reporting, and increases accuracy of data. Such tools are able to save document-processing time by up to 80, enhance pricing control, and enhance AML compliance and KYC compliance with the help of automated anomaly detection.

Distributed Ledger Technology Blockchain

DLT supports tokenization of shares, 24/7 settlement, subscriptions/redemptions executed using smart contracts, and virtually zero reconciliation errors. It is estimated that 10% of the world assets will become tokenized by 2030 and blockchain will be groundbreaking in terms of fund administration and providing fund services.

Cloud & Data Platforms

The cloud-based systems consolidate data, facilitate ad hoc analytics, and remove the disjointed spreadsheets-enhancing transparency in operations, regulatory reporting, and internal fund reconciliation.

RegTech

RegTech automates AML/KYC operations, sanction screening, FATCA/CRS reports and audit trails- reducing manual burden and enhancing compliance frameworks essential to modern fund administrators and fund managers.

Challenges Ahead

The level of cybersecurity threats that have affected 65% of financial companies in 2024 and the lack of hybrid-skilled experts represents a constant challenge. Regulators insist on the clarity of governance regarding AI as well, which prompts the companies to allocate resources to education in the fields of finance, technology, and cyber-risks.

Industry Competitiveness

The world leaders like SS&C, State Street, BNY Mellon, Citco, and JP Morgan still prevail through provision of end-to-end custody, funds administration, investor services, and multi-jurisdictional regulatory reporting.

Key Trends to Watch

Alternative Investments Growth

The growth of the need in special fund accounting and fund services will be further fueled by private equity, venture capital, infrastructure, and private credit (which is projected to hit USD 2 trillion in 2028), as well as digital assets.

Onshore Shift & Regulation

The quest to have ESG, tax transparency and investor protection is driving the shift to highly regulated hubs such as Singapore, Luxembourg, Ireland and DIFC.

Technology as a Differentiator

Technology will still be the focus of providing real time data, cost efficiency, and better fund management operations as half of the firms in 2025 consider further investment in technologies (77%).

ESG & Impact Investing

The role of fund administrators is increased by mandatory ESG frameworks (SFDR, CSRD, TCFD, TNFD) where the ESG data is auditable and becomes the basis of investment decisions.

Global Talent Competition

The need for the talents of specialists in finance, data analytics, cybersecurity, and digital operations is growing.

Conclusion

Fund administration has become more of a bookkeeping role to a core component of world investing. The top-ranked centres include the Cayman Islands, Mauritius, Singapore, Dubai (DIFC), Luxembourg, Ireland and GIFT City which provide the best legal, tax and business solutions and are supported by highly qualified fund administrators and innovated investor services.

With AI, blockchain, cloud solutions as well as RegTech still reshaping the industry, the future will reward jurisdictions and service providers who bring accuracy, speed, compliance and innovation. As the world becomes highly demanding on ESG, alternative investments and dealing with the transparent management of funds, fund administrators will contribute immensely towards the future of investment excellence in the world.

Why Choose InCorp Global?

At InCorp, our dedicated on-ground team is committed to supporting your business journey at every stage. We guide you through the entire process, from incorporation to post-incorporation compliances, ensuring a smooth and efficient experience. Backed by a strong understanding of regulatory frameworks, we provide the necessary support to meet all compliance requirements seamlessly. To learn more about our Fund Services, you can write to us at info@incorpadvisory.in or WhatsApp us on (+91) 77380 66622.

Authored by:
Mitul Shah | Fund Services

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