Here are some key quotes from my latest podcast with Ingrid Pierce, Walkers’ Global Managing Partner and head of the Cayman Investment Funds Group, on business and law in Cayman.

“When you litigate these matters, particularly if there’s been a blow up, that’s when a lot of questions really start to get examined in detail. So I loved all the aspects of that.”

“The choice of domicile is really investor driven. So if you are an investor with multiple interests in investments around the world, you want to be in a fund which is both suitable for you and also has a place which is stable. And you have to be able to have an efficient and cost-effective solution.”

“Cayman is all about providing a tax neutral platform which facilitates international capital flows. So what you really want to do is ensure that you’re not paying a second and additional layer of taxation.”

“Cayman has become the jurisdiction of choice. I would say the primary reason for that is it’s a sophisticated jurisdiction. There’s a well-developed legislative frameworks here, principally based on English laws evolved and adapted over time. And in the alternative space in particular [Cayman law provides] a mirror of certain U.S. laws, such as the LLC law.”

“All the jurisdictions in which we operate are well regulated and follow international standards. And some jurisdictions that you might not be so familiar with. maybe haven’t followed that path. But they don’t really have an asset management business.”

“Each month, probably there’s a new law or regulation that gets passed somewhere. And if you’re in the international business, you have to be well aware that you’re keeping pace not just with your own domestic regulation, but something that’s likely to be quite similar wherever you’re doing business.”

“One of the things that we’re often asked when we’re initially doing the fund formation stage is, why do I need to have a Board? And why is it separate from the manager.”

“[The advice I would give new managers,] and it’s not legal advice, particularly, it’s just that things take a lot longer than people expect. They tend to cost more than people expect.”

“The ability to use [technology] tools and AI [is] going to affect how we practice in the future. And that’s something which has always been really interesting to me. I’ve seen those developments already. We use some of that in our firm. And I think those businesses that can evolve more quickly and can adapt to that technology easier will be able to have a much better time of it in five or 10 years time.”

“One of my favorites [charities] is HFC. It’s formerly Hedge Funds Care. Now its Help for Children. It’s relevant to this industry as well. It’s a global foundation. It’s focused on the prevention and treatment of child abuse. And it’s distributed over $53 million in grants to organizations which are focused on protecting children.”