Calastone Ltd., the specialist messaging and translation service for managed funds, says it expects to mirror its U.K. market share of 80 per cent in Australia as the $1.3 trillion in superannuation funds seek electronic rather than manual processes.
Founded in March 2007, Calastone is a messaging hub that sits in the middle of buyers and sellers. Any organisation is able to connect into Calastone’s systems using their own technology.
Calastone has sent its joint founder Kevin Lee to Sydney. Since last year Lee has been working closely with Aberdeen Asset Management Ltd. and Schroder Investment Management Australia Ltd. to start a business in Australia that began this month with straight through processing for managed funds.
Lee says more than 80 per cent of managed fund transactions in Australia are done via fax systems with data re-keyed. An electronic system facilitating managed fund transactions as offered by Calastone, he says, can reduce risk and cost.
Asset managers pay Calastone for receiving orders from brokers or platforms, usually between $3 and $5 an order depending on volume.
Calastone has about 250 customers globally. More than 80 per cent of mutual fund participants in the U.K. use Calastone’s orders, settlement and reconciliation services.
“I’m confident we can” replicate our U.K. success in Australia, says Lee.
He says there is no other company in the world offers the same type of service as Calastone. The company may seek to hire people in Australia later this year. It employs 42 people globally.
