Paris-based asset manager TOBAM S.A.S. plans to double in size its Dublin operations by the end of 2017, The Irish Times reported Jan. 26.

The report said that the fund attributed its decision to invest in Ireland to the country's stable business environment as well as it being an established funds industry hub. The firm believed that Dublin would open an ideal English-speaking gateway between North America and Europe, the newspaper added.

The asset manager started off in Dublin in July 2016 with 10 employees, which it would take to 20 by the end of the year.

Tobam was founded in 2005 by the mathematician Yves Choueifaty, who invented the "smart beta" movement that uses exchange-traded funds and other investment strategies that use alternative index construction rules to traditional indexes. The firm, which has more than €8 billion assets under management, spun off of Lehman Brothers in 2008.