Investment Limited Partnership
The investment limited partnership fund structure was introduced into Ireland in July 1994 under the Investment Limited Partnerships Act, 1994. An investment limited partnership is a partnership of two or more persons having as its principal business the investment of its funds in property of all kinds and consisting of at least one general partner and at least one limited partnership. The limited partner is equivalent to the shareholder in a company while the general partner would be the equivalent of the Management Company in a unit trust.
The main advantage of a limited partnership is that the partnership does not have an independent legal existence in the way that a company does. All of the assets and liabilities belong jointly to the individual partners in the proportions agreed in the partnership deed. Similarly the profits are owned by the partners. This structure may have some tax benefits associated with it. Each partner is entitled to use any tax reliefs and allowances the partnership is entitled to as agreed between each partner, subject to any tax rules governing the allocation of the reliefs and allowances.
