Dublin's International Financial Services Centre is set to become second only to Luxembourg for the management of offshore investment funds and will soon move well ahead of rival locations such as Jersey and Guernsey, according to Micropal.

In its second guide to offshore funds, Micropal editor Mr Robert Milroy says that there has been phenomenal growth in the offshore investment industry. Dublin Dublin has led the way with 30 per cent growth in the number of funds managed from the IFSC from 759 in 1995 to 985 in 1996.

The value of the funds managed from Dublin has risen by over 38 per cent from $23,3 billion to $32.3 billion at the end of 1996.

Luxembourg is far and away the biggest location for off-shore investment funds with almost 4,000 funds listed worth over $363 billion. The Cayman Islands are second with $81 billion followed Jersey with $53 billion and Dublin with $32 billion.