Hedge fund’s 250 jobs for Waterford

UP to 250 jobs will be created in Waterford over the next five years, with the opening of a major hedge fund company.

BISYS hedge fund services was officially opened in Waterford yesterday and the company said the decision to expand its Irish operation beyond Dublin was influenced by its experiences in Ireland.

BISYS president Ronan Daly said: “Our Irish team has consistently demonstrated its ability to deliver world-class standards of service to our clients.

“The experienced skill base and enabling infrastructure strengthens Ireland’s position as the leading choice for this activity.”

Mr Daly said Ireland has been identified as the premier growth centre in the fund industry in Europe, with 30% of worldwide hedge funds administered in Ireland.

BISYS also employs over 400 people in its Dublin operations, which provide administration services to an international client base. Its alternative investment business has over $200 billion (€170bn) in assets under administration, with the Dublin operation contributing $38bn (€32bn) of this total.

Enterprise, Trade and Employment Minister Micheal Martin said: “This is a very significant investment for Waterford as it is a real example of the type of highly skilled, knowledge- based activities we are seeking to attract to Ireland.

“We are seeing a growth in this type of investment throughout Ireland, which will ensure that highly skilled graduates, such as those from the Waterford Institute of Technology will be able to continue to work and live in that region.”

The Waterford office will report into the BISYS Dublin office, which handles a range of services to companies worldwide.

The BISYS Group is headquartered in New York and employs 5,200 people worldwide. Last year BISYS had annual revenues of $1,037.3 million (€880m), an increase of 11% on 2003.