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.

The role of an accountant has changed considerably over the past number of years, and while a head for numbers is still important, Vincent MacMahon, a partner with the Investment Management Audit and Business Advisory Services practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dublin, says that to excel in the profession, a desire to work with other people is what is really needed.