Calastone, the independent cross-border transaction network for the mutual funds industry, today announced that Cofunds, the UK’s largest independent investment platform, has fully implemented its transaction, delivery and reporting mechanism for the Cofunds Institutional custody and administration service.
Christopher James, Director of Institutional Services of Cofunds added, “Cofunds Institutional is 100 per cent committed to providing choice for our clients. By adopting an open architecture approach to industry connectivity and now connecting Calastone, we can ensure that our clients can benefit from our institutional services, irrespective of their messaging preference, including SWIFT via Calastone.”
By connecting to Calastone’s transaction network, Cofunds’ Institutional custody and administration service will provide full electronic STP throughout the transaction lifecycle including full settlement. Whatever the end client’s preferred messaging protocol, they will gain electronic connectivity through a single connection and orders and settlement instructions will be sent electronically via Calastone, which provides a universal message communication and ‘translation’ service. Connecting to Calastone removes manual order entry processing, leading to lower costs, reduced risk and increased visibility and control of the transaction flow.
Commenting on the agreement, Kevin Lee, Managing Director of Calastone said, “Cofunds have been early adopters and supporters of Calastone. In May 2008, they introduced their retail service. We believe that introducing their institutional services is testament to our claims that Calastone not only reduces costs and risks, but also helps firms improve their business processes by providing additional services. Our full settlement service via SWIFT and Euroclear will change the mutual funds landscape enabling all firms to benefit through STP helping firms enjoy greater efficiencies in these cost conscious times.”
Julia Streets / Abby Munson
Streets Consulting
+44 (0)20 7959 2235
