Cross-Border Distribution of UCITS

A CACEIS PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PUBLICATION - 2011

CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES

June 2010, Axeltis has launched a specific investment solution targeted for distributors, by set- ting up selections of funds suitable to them. Axeltis currently counts 113 distributors, 134 asset managers as counterparts and provides ac- cess to 12,800 funds. AllFunds Bank 42 Since its inception in 2000 and backed by the financial strength of Spain’s Grupo Santander and Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo Group, AllFunds has successfully launched operations in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Latin America and the UK and has achieved a leading position in the distribution of third-party funds in these markets. Its business model is based on providing clients with com- prehensive fund distribution solutions (intermediation, analysis and information). AllFunds Bank currently offers distribution services comprising 400 fund managers and over 20,000 funds, and an extensive network of more than 300 clients spread over more than 16 countries, including commercial banks, private banking institutions, fund managers, insurance companies and fund supermarkets. MFEX 43 MFEX is an investment firm licensed by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority and au- thorises to operate throughout the EU. It is an independent mutual funds wholesaler offering financial institutions and fund companies a platform enabling them to get online information on funds, tracking, computation and payment of trailer fee as well as online execution and set- tlement of funds. 374 fund companies from 18 legal domiciles have decided to distribute their mutual funds throughMFEX platform. MFEX currently distributes funds in 10 different countries: Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzer- land and France. EMX 44 EMXCo was established in 1999 to automate the European fund industry. In 2000, they launched the EMX message system, and electronic messaging solutions for automating the purchase, sale, valuation and settlement of mutual funds in the UK, by connecting fund providers with UK intermediaries and fund supermarkets. EMX routed a record 37 million messages in 2010. In January 2007, EMXCo became part of the Euroclear Group. By connecting the EMX message system to Euroclear’s settlement system, the Brussels-based ICSD recently launched Euro- clear UK & Ireland funds settlement – a fully electronic and integrated order routing and settle- ment solution for fund transactions. Calastone 45 Founded in 2007, EMX’s rival in the UK, Calastone, is an independent cross-border transac- tion network for the fund industry based in London and Luxembourg. Today its technology is used by over 200 clients around the world - fund managers, distributors and transfer agents, for which they process over 400,000 messages per month. Services provided are order routing, settlement services, reconciliation services and SWIFT BIC hosting. Calastone notably enables buyers and sellers of mutual funds and hedge funds to communicate orders electronically by providing a universal message communication and ‘translation’ service, giving its clients ac-

42 Source : AllFunds Bank, Who we are (www.allfundsbank.com), 2011 43 Source : MFEX, About MFEX (www.mfe.se), 2011 44 Source : Euroclear UK & Ireland, Services/EMX message system (www.euroclear.com), 2011 45 Source : Calastone, What we do (www.calastone.com), 2011

page 60 | Cross-border distribution of UCITS