Inside the offshore industry

The offshore funds industry began to develop in the 1960s as an alternative to the UK's onshore funds industry. The vehicles employed onshore were the authorised unit trust and the investment trust. Unit trusts were valued on a net asset value basis (NAV) but were restricted in their range of investments and their inability to gear. Investment trusts had wider investment powers and could gear, but their shares were not valued on an NAV basis and usually traded at a discount to their NAVs. Offshore funds were valued on an NAV basis, were virtually unlimited in their range of investments a...