Calastone Limited, the independent cross-border transaction network for the mutual funds industry, announced today that wrap service Transact has signed an agreement to become a member of Calastone’s transaction network.
By connecting to Calastone’s transaction network, Transact will benefit from fully electronic STP throughout the transaction lifecycle, with their preferred messaging protocol. They will gain electronic connectivity to fund providers through a single connection and orders will be sent electronically via Calastone, which provides a universal message communication and ‘translation’ service. By connecting to Calastone, distributors are able to remove manual order entry processing, leading to lower costs, reduced risk and increased visibility and control of their order flow.
Distributors and platforms can connect directly from their existing Order Management Systems or use Calastone’s Execution Management System (EMS), providing a consolidated view of all their order flow. This enables them to react to exceptions quickly and efficiently and deliver a better service to their clients.
Commenting on the agreement, Kevin Lee, Managing Director of Calastone said, “We are delighted to see another major client benefiting from the Calastone mutual fund service. Calastone’s service reduces cost, improves efficiency and removes risk for all our clients, which is why our offering is proving increasingly attractive to the industry in these challenging economic times. As Calastone continues to expand, Transact will benefit from the ability to send orders electronically to a growing number of fund providers. It is our ultimate aim to offer the mutual funds industry complete front-to-back STP regardless of the incumbent technology or connectivity chosen by each participant.”
Mark Links, Head of Operations at Transact, added, “We are always on the lookout for opportunities to realise the benefits of STP and we look forward to working with Kevin and his team to provide connectivity to those counterparties who may not already have the technology or the budgets to do business electronically by other means”.
Julia Streets / Abby Munson
Streets Consulting
+44 (0)20 7959 2235
