As an alternative investment specialist, Ian Dillon, partner at William Fry, is still getting a lot of queries on AIFMD from clients around the world. Dillon, who has recently returned from a 7 year spell in the Cayman Islands, notes that while the format of the firm’s bi-weekly Asset Management and Investment Funds Group lunch hasn’t changed much from when he last worked in William Fry around 10 years ago, the get-together now requires a considerably bigger room.

As a senior relationship partner, and head of AIB Corporate Banking Ireland's international financial services sector, Diarmuid O'Neill has worked with corporates in a variety of sectors such as telecoms, medical device, software, food & beverage and Asia Pacific. Key to success in such a role is continuous professional development, says O'Neill, who has just graduated from the Harvard Business School Program for Leadership Development.