Private Label Funds

Legal Forms

The Investment Companies Act provides for two variants of the legal structure of the investment company: the investment fund on a contractual basis and the investment company in the form of a corporation.

In the contractual form, the investment fund is an investment company in the legal form of a trust, in accordance with the Liechtenstein Persons and Companies Act. The investors are defined as settlors, and the fund management company as the trustee.

In the corporate form, an investment company can be established as a joint-stock company with variable capital (as with the Luxembourg SICAV). The statutory minimum capital is CHF 500’000. If a fund management company is used as management company as defined by law, an investment company with the statutory minimum capital of CHF 50’000 can be established.

Regardless of the legal form, investment companies require both a management and a custodian bank. The management function is discharged by the fund management company (investment company on a contractual basis) or by the board of directors (investment company on a company basis). The custodian bank must be licensed in Liechtenstein.