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Cyprus Investment Funds Surge Amid Robust Private Equity Growth

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

February 19, 2026

Strong Growth In Cyprus Collective Investments

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) reported continued expansion in the collective investments sector, with assets under management reaching €11.4 billion in the third quarter of 2025. The figure represents a quarterly increase of 7.5%, reflecting stronger investor activity and shifts in asset allocation across multiple sectors.

Comprehensive Sector Overview

According to CySEC’s quarterly bulletin, regulators oversaw 312 management companies and collective investment undertakings during the period, compared with 323 a year earlier. The sector includes externally managed and internally managed UCIs, as well as external fund managers. The market structure comprised 46 AIFMs, 44 sub-threshold AIFMs, two UCITS management companies and three entities operating under dual licenses.

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Asset Allocation And Investment Trends

Total assets under management were partitioned among various investment strategies: 63% by AIFMs, 17% by AIFMs and UCITS management companies jointly, 10% by UCITS management companies, 9% by sub-threshold AIFMs, and 1% from regulated UCIs managed by foreign fund managers. Within the UCITS segment, 85.8% of assets were directed toward transferable securities, while AIFs, AIFLNPs, and RAIFs notably invested 30.7% in private equity, 17% in real estate, and 14.5% in hedge funds.

Dominance Of Private Equity Investments

Private equity remains a core component of the sector’s portfolios. Multi-strategy capital accounted for 38.9% of private equity investments, followed by growth capital at 34.1% and venture capital at 16.9%. Mezzanine financing represented 0.5%. Additional exposure included equity capital, fixed income, cash and cash equivalents, infrastructure and commodities, each contributing smaller shares to overall allocations.

Regional Investment Focus And Sectoral Exposure

Approximately 69.7% of assets were held within 205 UCIs domiciled in Cyprus, including 11 UCITS, 51 AIFs, 40 AIFLNPs and 103 RAIFs. Of the 230 UCIs in operation, 165 invested at least partially in Cyprus, totaling more than €2.8 billion, or nearly one-quarter of total assets under management. Within these investments, 71.1% were directed toward private equity projects, while 12.8% were allocated to real estate.

Investor Demographics And Sector Specific Investments

Investor profiles differ across fund types. The UCITS segment remains predominantly retail-driven, with retail investors accounting for 99.2% of participants, totaling 8,727 individuals. In contrast, AIFs, AIFLNPs and RAIFs attracted a more diversified investor base, including 64.7% well-informed investors, 26% professional investors and 9.4% retail investors.

Sector-specific allocations included €471.6 million in energy, €106.9 million in fintech, €581.8 million in shipping and €97.9 million in sustainable investments.

An Evolving Landscape

The latest figures underscore a robust expansion of Cyprus’ collective investments sector. With private equity leading the charge, these developments not only emphasize strategic shifts in asset allocation but also highlight Cyprus’ growing prominence as a critical hub for global investment activities.

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Google Cloud Outage Disrupts Banking And Digital Services Across The UK

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

October 20, 2026

A power outage at a Google Cloud data centre near London disrupted services across the UK on Tuesday, affecting banks, businesses and other digital platforms. Google said the incident was caused by a power event at its cloud operations, with full recovery expected by around 1300 GMT.

The disruption began at 0608 GMT and affected Google Cloud services in the europe-west2 region, which is hosted in London. In an initial update, the company reported elevated error rates and intermittent network failures across multiple services as engineers worked to restore operations.

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Banking Services Hit By The Disruption

Revolut was among the most visibly affected companies, with customers reporting problems with ATM withdrawals, bank transfers and card top-ups. A source close to the matter linked the issues to the Google Cloud outage.

Traditional banks also reported disruptions. Lloyds said some customers were experiencing problems with its app and online banking, while HSBC confirmed difficulties accessing its services. HSBC added that it was monitoring the situation and noted that other organisations were affected as well.

Disruption Spreads Beyond Finance

Downdetector, which tracks online service disruptions, recorded hundreds of reports involving other businesses, including property website Rightmove and the Royal Mail postal service. The reports suggested that the outage was affecting multiple parts of the UK’s digital economy.

The incident highlights the risks facing businesses that depend on shared cloud infrastructure. Even a temporary failure at a single provider can disrupt services across several sectors, from banking and payments to logistics and consumer platforms.

Companies Reassure Customers

Revolut said it had been working to resolve the issue since it was identified and apologised to affected customers. The company also confirmed that customers’ money and data remained safe.

As cloud platforms underpin an increasing share of digital commerce, the outage illustrates how disruptions to critical infrastructure can spread far beyond the provider itself, affecting businesses and customers across the economy.