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William Fry named European Legal Services Provider of the Year

November 23, 2011

Leading Irish law firm William Fry has been named European Legal Services Provider of the Year by International Custody & Fund Administration magazine at their international awards ceremony in London last night.

The award, presented to the Firm’s Asset Management & Investment Funds Unit, is the most prestigious in the securities servicing industry, recognising the best European companies providing services to global asset managers.

William Fry was chosen based on the Firm’s market leading position in investment funds in Europe.  Over the last year, the Firm has advised on leading transactions in the market including advising on the first physically backed Exchange Traded Commodities (ETCs) programme for iShares and advising a significant NASDAQ listed exchange traded fund (ETF) sponsor and asset manager on its first UCITS platform in Europe.

The award recognises the Firm’s pre-eminence in the market: advising three of the top five ranked promoters/investment managers of Irish domiciled funds by assets; five of the ten largest administrators of Irish domiciled funds by assets; and six of the ten largest custodians of Irish domiciled funds by assets.  In addition, William Fry advises some of the biggest global service providers including the second and fourth largest custodians worldwide and has unrivalled expertise in ETFs, advising a significant portion of the European domiciled ETF market.

William Fry is at the forefront of product innovation and cutting edge developments having been first to the European market with products such as ETFs, money market funds, managed accounts, hybrid fund of funds / feeder funds and liability driven funds.

Receiving the award, Dan Morrissey, Head of William Fry’s Asset Management & Investment Funds Unit, said: “We are delighted to receive this award in recognition of our client service and commitment to innovation.  Despite the challenges faced by the financial services sector, the investment funds industry continues to be active as asset managers develop new and innovative products to meet the needs of their investor base.  We thank our clients for their valued support and will continue to partner with them to develop and grow their businesses.”