Australia could become an international fund management centre, attracting billions of dollars of investment, jobs and tax revenue if it follows a European model by creating a unitised share class scheme with different base currencies.

If an offshore investor could buy such funds in their own currencies with no foreign exchange risk, then the amount of funds under trusteeship could triple from the current $20 billion, says Harvey Kalman, head of corporate fiduciary and financial services at Equity Trustees Ltd.

Equity Trustees is the responsible entity for 50 fund managers.

“There is an opportunity to take an industry, create more profit, jobs and tax in Australia,” says Kalman, who adds that 40 per cent of investment into European managed funds comes from Asia.

Australia could attract money from Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo into unitised shares that otherwise might have invested in Luxembourg or Dublin-based funds.