Equity specialist fund manager Ausbil Dexia has signed an agreement to commence transacting managed funds over the Calastone Transaction Network.
Calastone joint founder, Kevin Lee, said the move represented a big opportunity for other fund managers, as Ausbil outsources its registry to one of Australia’s biggest asset servicing companies.
"Ausbil has shown real leadership in insisting its registry provider connect to Calastone, paving the way for others to follow its lead," he said.
"Since we launched in January, the leaders of the Australian managed fund industry have been very proactive in embracing the benefits of automation – benefits that have been enjoyed by other industries, such as securities markets, for decades.
"Connecting a member of one of the country’s biggest registry providers is a great step forward for automation in the fund management industry."
Lee says in terms of electronic transactions, Australia had been lagging its global counterparts in the fund management industry, but had recently begun to embrace the global automation trend.
"Calastone – and fund automation generally – has been established internationally for many years, offering its users risk management and operational control benefits, as well as significant reductions in processing costs. I’m pleased to see the Australian market rising to meet international benchmarks."
Mark Reilly, Ausbil’s COO, added that the firm had been aggressive in pursuing connection to Calastone and the benefits it brings to investors.
"We’re very interested in new technologies that can improve the ways we do business," he said. "Any improvements we can make will ultimately provide our investors with a better experience. Implementing Calastone technology provides straight-through processing capability and order certainty for platform providers as well as de-risking unit registry operations..
Calastone plans to launch further services for managed funds in Australia later this year.
