New data on standardisation and automation of fund orders in Ireland is now available
SWIFT and EFAMA continue commitment to publish updated information highlighting the industry’s progress towards greater standardisation and automation of funds processing
New report published by SWIFT and the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) highlights the progress of standardisation and automation rates of fund orders received by transfer agents (TA) in Ireland.
The report is based on a joint EFAMA-SWIFT survey covering close to 80 percent of the total Irish investment fund order volumes. In 2009, 5.9 million orders were processed by the 10 survey contributors. This represents an average monthly volume of 547,000 orders.
The following figures highlight the main results of the report:
- The total automation rate of orders processed by Irish transfer agents reached 86% in Q4 2009. This automation rate indicates a very low level of fax orders processed manually (0.9 million orders in 2009, out of a total of 5.9 million third-party funds orders).
- The percentage of automated orders using proprietary messages reached 78 percent in Q4 2009, as opposed to 8 percent of orders based on ISO messages.
- In 2009, survey contributors reported 50 new automated links relying on the ISO messages, compared to 5 new links using a proprietary file transfer links.
Peter De Proft, EFAMA Director General, notes: “Thanks to the cooperation of the Irish TA sector, we are now able to report data on the state of automation and standardisation of fund orders in the Irish cross-border investment funds industry. We are encouraged by the high automation rate of fund orders, as automation reduces operational risks and costs, as well as by the new ISO automated links, as this is the way forward to progress towards greater standardisation and lower complexity in fund processing.”
Michèle De Boe, Markets Management - Funds, SWIFT, adds: “This first report on Ireland is a very positive milestone in the adoption of the EFAMA best practice recommendations on fund order processing by the Irish transfer agent community. We look forward to actively supporting the Irish transfer agents on the wider adoption of the ISO standard and the elimination of manual order processing.
The goal of this initiative is to inform all institutions involved in fund processing, as well as the European Commission, the European Parliament and other interested stakeholders about the industry’s progress towards greater standardisation and automation.
A new report will be published in the autumn to cover the Irish cross-border fund market. From there onwards, EFAMA, with assistance from SWIFT, will report on the evolution of automation rates in the main cross-border fund distribution centres twice a year.
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