Mission and Objectives
Who We Are
The Irish Fund Directors Association (“IFDA”) is the autonomous representative body for professional independent non-executive directors, within the Irish Funds Industry. IFDA is governed by a Council, supported by dedicated working groups and committees, all of which function on a voluntary basis.
Our Mission
IFDA is dedicated to funds industry board governance, and our purpose is to develop and support our community of professional independent directors and to represent the interests of our members with other key stakeholders in the funds industry.
We advocate industry best practices, support peer networking and represent members’ views on regulatory and corporate governance topics impacting the investment funds industry.
We strive to be an ambassador for Ireland as a strong business jurisdiction for good governance pertaining to fund and fund service provider boards.
Objectives
Our objectives are:
- To advocate industry best practices in regulatory and corporate governance, board oversight and other topics relevant to independent non-executive directors in the Irish Funds Industry;
- To encourage continuous professional development for directors of funds and fund service providers and to represent the best interests of the membership within the Irish Funds Industry and, where appropriate, within the international Funds Industry;
- To provide ongoing support, advocacy and guidance to associate members of IFDA, who work or have worked in a regulated entity in the funds industry and are preparing to become an executive or independent director.
Membership Benefits
- Independent representation of views through IFDA to the Central Bank of Ireland and other regulatory authorities;
- Representation and association with other director representative associations in other relevant jurisdictions;
- Access to and inclusion on the dedicated IFDA director candidate database;
- Access to information and insights on best practice in fund governance;
- Opportunity for members to share experiences, broaden their networks, and participate in working groups and committees, supported by the IFDA Council;
- Engagement and participation in the Irish Funds Industry consultation processes;
- Attend seminars, panel discussions and other thought leadership events for members;
- IFDA website knowledge repository and event calendar for members;
- Provision of advocacy, advice and guidance regarding practical matters tailored to support the role of an INED.
Governance
IFDA is governed by an elected Council, who also serve as Directors of the Irish Fund Directors Association Company Limited by Guarantee. The term of the Council members, including the Chairperson, is fixed for a period of two years, and Council members are allowed to serve two terms of office. The Council Secretary also acts as the Company Secretary. The Memorandum & Articles of Association is available from the Company Secretary, upon request.
The Council is an elected body, appointed by the membership, and consists of a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 7 members. Council members must be full paid-up members of IFDA and be over 18 years of age. The Officers of the Council include the following:
- The Chairperson
- The Deputy Chairperson
- The Secretary
- The Treasurer
- And other such Officers as the Council may deem necessary.
The Council meets on a monthly basis, or on a basis that may be agreed upon to consider exceptional issues. The quorum for any meetings of the Council is 3 members. All Council meetings are minuted and shared for review before the next Council meeting. The agenda for each meeting includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- Applications for membership
- Notifications of resignations
- Matters for consideration from the membership
- Finances
- Developments within the domestic and international funds industry
The location of the Council meetings can vary and is communicated in advance by the Secretary. Voting at the Council meetings is by show of hands on a majority basis and recorded by the Secretary. In the event of a tied vote, the Chairperson shall have a second vote.
The Council has the power to set-up committees and working groups as deemed necessary, which are usually composed of non-Council members. These committees and working groups are accountable to the Council representative responsible for the committee or working group in the first instance.
History
IFDA was established in 2015, with support from the Central Bank of Ireland, by fund industry leaders and directors in the Irish Funds industry, to represent their interests and promote better collective governance standards in line with best international practices.
IFDA currently represents circa 240 members (as at March 2025), mainly serving on investment fund and fund service provider boards. The relative size of the funds’ INED community resident in Ireland is estimated to be circa 400 people. Similar fund director associations exist in other key financial centres, such as Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, Cayman and the United States of America.
Full IFDA membership is open to anyone currently approved (or previously approved) by the Central Bank of Ireland (or equivalent regulatory body), to act as a Director. IFDA also has an associate membership category for those considering becoming an executive director or INED, but who are not yet PCF approved as a Director by the Central Bank of Ireland.
IFDA’s work to date has included matters such as making submissions on Central Bank of Ireland consultation papers, conducting surveys of members, and arranging seminars, panel discussions and opportunities for networking.
Meet Our Council
Aedín O’Leary has almost 30 years’ experience in investment and financial services.
She started her career at Ulster Bank Investment Managers marketing to institutional investors, before moving to Craig Gardner (now PwC) and practising as tax consultant and wealth management adviser. She continued her advisory work at L&P Financial Trustees, niche advisor to institutional clients with a responsible investment focus. From 2000-2005, she managed key institutional client relationships at Friends First Asset Management and trained brokers on investment and pensions.
In 2009, Aedín set up as an independent investment consultant, serving a variety of clients including asset managers, endowment funds, investment committees and a family office. In 2017, Aedín returned to providing investment and governance advice to charity clients, when she joined Cantor Fitzgerald.
Today, Aedín has various roles related to ESG and sustainable finance - adviser and trainer to corporate boards and executive teams; ESG lecturer at IOB and IOD; co-founding director of the Green Team Network for the funds industry. Aedín chairs the ESG Working Group at IFDA, also representing IFDA at the CBI Climate Forum.
Aedín is a PCF-2B director in the funds industry and also serves on the boards of TG4 and Charities Institute Ireland. She studied Commerce at UCD and later qualified as a tax consultant and Qualified Financial Advisor. She holds a Certificate and Diploma (with distinction) in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors.
Gerard Scully worked for the Irish Stock Exchange (now Euronext Dublin) as Director of International Primary Markets and part of the senior management team at the Exchange for 16 years until March 2020. As Director of International Primary Markets he was responsible for the Debt and Funds listing businesses at the Exchange, where he built the business to become a global leader in the listing of fixed income, investment funds and structured products. Prior to joining the Exchange Gerard carried out a number of roles with Irish licenced banks as head of legal and compliance, including a 2 year term with Maxblue (a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank) as head of legal and compliance. From 1987 to 1997 Gerard worked as legal adviser with a number of London based banks covering the legal aspects of trading activity, derivatives and capital markets including a 6 year term with Swiss Bank Corporation. He worked on the first “euro” transaction. Gerard has served on the ESMA Consultative Working Group on Corporate Finance and was formerly a member of the Board of the Irish Auditing Standards Supervisory Authority. Gerard is qualified as a solicitor in Ireland and also in England and Wales. He currently serves on a number of board as independent non executive director.
Tony Mc Poland is an experienced financial services executive with twenty five years experience, primarily in the funds, asset management and investment banking sectors. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with PWC, Mr Mc Poland worked for ICS Building Society and Goodbody Stockbrokers. He spent the last 15 years of his executive career with BW Bank Ireland plc, LBBW Bank Ireland plc and LBBW Asset Management Ireland plc, and served ten years on the Board of Directors with executive responsibility for Finance, Operations, Risk and IT.
He is a professional independent Director, and has been approved by the Central Bank of Ireland to hold PCF-2A, PCF-2B and PCF 3 roles as Director and Chair. He is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland and a Chartered Director, and is a Faculty Member of the Corporate Governance Institute, where he lectures on the Duties of a Company Director. He holds a Bachelor of Business Studies degree from Trinity College, Dublin, and a Diploma in Professional Accounting from University College Dublin. He also completed the Advanced Management Programme in INSEAD.
Brian Farrell has over twenty-five years experience in the asset management and investment funds industry and has been approved by the Central Bank of Ireland to hold Pre-approval Controlled Function roles since 2008. Brian is a Director of investment funds, AIFMs and other companies and previously acted as Interim Finance Director of a start-up fintech (2022) and Designated Person for Investment Management of a proprietary UCITS Manager (2021 to 2023).
Up to late 2020 Brian was Head of Oversight of a large third party UCITS Manager and AIFM, Link Fund Manager Solutions Ireland (now part of Waystone), and prior to that Chief Financial Officer of a boutique MiFID investment manager and start-up AIFM. During the previous ten years Brian was a Vice President in the compliance and regulatory consulting practice of Duff & Phelps (now Kroll) where he acted as Designated Person of UCITS funds, AIFs and Management Companies and also managed the firm’s financial reporting practice. Brian started his finance career with investment firms in Ireland and Australia including Ulster Bank Markets, BNY Mellon and Goldman Sachs.
Brian is a Chartered Certified Accountant, holds the designation of Certified Investment Fund Director and is a Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment. Brian also holds a Diploma in Risk Management, Internal Audit and Compliance (with distinction) and a Diploma in Strategic Finance and Business Analytics (with distinction) from Chartered Accountants Ireland.
John Madigan has over twenty-five years financial services experience covering capital markets, debt listings, loan servicing, Mancos and investment funds. John is an Independent Non-Executive Director (INED & Chair) and Designated Person (DP) providing PCF support (risk, compliance & distribution) and advisory services for regulated firms. John’s client coverage extends across Art 6 and 8 funds, MIFID firms, SPVs and Corporates. John is currently PCF-2B & 3 (INED & Chair) and PCF-39 (Designated Person) approved by the CBI and was previously approved as PCF-14 (Risk) and PCF-15 (Compliance).
John previously served as Country Head and General Manager for the Irish branch of MDO Management Company, Luxembourg, S.A. and prior to that was Country Head for the Irish start-up of a commercial real estate and infrastructure loan servicer, Mount Street Group. John is the former General Manager and Executive Director for the Irish subsidiary of the Portuguese investment banking group Haitong Investment Bank ‘Haitong’ (formerly Espirito Santo Investment). Working concurrently with Institute of Banking (IOB) from 2012 to 2021, John was the Examiner for the Professional Certificate (APA) in Stock Broking and part-time lecturer for the Professional Certificate in International Financial Markets.
John holds an Honours Degree in Business and International Finance and a Master’s Degree (MSc) in Investment & Treasury, Legal Diploma’s in Financial Law and Corporate Governance and an Advanced Diploma in Banking Risk and Regulation. John also holds the designation of Certified Investment Fund Director (CIFD).
Simon O’Sullivan has worked in the investment management sector since 1993. From April 2002 to April 2006 he was employed in Dublin by Pioneer Alternative Investments as a product specialist. In May 2006 he left Pioneer to join his family company as financial controller and in May 2013 Simon became a partner in Maraging Funds Limited, trading as RiskSystem a specialist Fintech provider of financial risk solutions to the investment funds industry. He has also worked for Fleming Investment Management as a fund manager in London, as well as Eagle Star and Merrion Capital, both in Dublin. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Politics, a Master of Arts in Economics, a Master of Sciences in Investment & Treasury Management and a Diploma in Corporate Governance. Mr O'Sullivan is currently a non-executive director of a number of investment funds.
Valerie Bowens is an experienced Independent Director, having served on a range of boards for over the last 12 years, including public sector, regulatory bodies, and regulated financial services firms. She is currently a Chair and Independent Non-Executive Director with a number of regulated firms, and is approved by the Central Bank of Ireland as PCF2B, PCF3, PCF4 and PCF5. She is also a member of a disciplinary tribunal and a conduct committee.
Valerie has extensive senior management experience in the areas of Compliance, Risk, Governance and Regulation, with a career in financial services spanning more than 30 years. She has held leadership roles with a range of market participants, including Senior Regulator with the Central Bank of Ireland with responsibility for regulating a portfolio of fund service providers, funds and investment firms, Director of Regulatory and Compliance in a leading law firm, Managing Director with a global bank, Director of Compliance/Chief Compliance Officer and Central Bank PCF-approved roles with a range of firms – asset managers, administrators, depositary/custodian, banks and MiFID firms.
Valerie is a member of the Institute of Directors, Institute of Bankers and the Compliance Institute.
She holds a Bachelor of Commerce, Master of Business Studies, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Financial Services Law, and, recently, an Advanced Diploma in Risk Management, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Sustainability for Governance, Risk and Compliance, all from UCD, as well as an Institute of Directors’ qualification. She has just completed the Certified Investment Fund Director programme.