EFAMA: Funds processing automation rates reach new heights

10 July 2019

EFAMA in collaboration with SWIFT, publishes a new report on the evolution of automation and standardisation rates of fund orders received by transfer agents (TAs) in the cross-border fund centres of Luxembourg and Ireland in 2018. The goal of this report is to highlight the progress made towards the increased automation of amount of fund orders and the use of ISO standards.

The key findings of the report include:

• The total volume of orders processed by the 29 survey participants reached 39 million last year.
• The total automation rate of processed orders of cross-border funds increased to 90.4% in Q4 2018, from 88% in Q4 2017. The use of ISO messaging standards rose from 55.5% to 58% during the same period, while the use of manual processes dropped from 12% to 9.6%.
• The total automation rate of orders processed by Luxembourg TAs reached 89% in Q4 2018, compared to 85.4% in Q4 2017. The ISO automation rate increased from 69.8% in Q4 2017 to 72.2% in Q4 2018, while the use of manual orders dropped from 14.6% to 11% during the same period.
• The total automation rate of orders processed by Irish TAs increased to 92.8% in Q4 2018, from 92.1% in Q4 2017. The ISO automation rate increased from 32.5% to 34.7%, whereas the use of manual processes dropped from 7.9% to 7.2% during the same period.

Tanguy van de Werve, Director General of EFAMA, notes: “Since the launch of this publication 10 years ago, we have been confident that the automation rate of the orders of cross-border funds would eventually increase above the 90% mark. And so it has.  In today’s fee-pressure environment, fund managers are keen on  improving the overall efficiency of their operations.  This trend is expected to continue. To the extent it facilitates the processing of cross-border fund orders, this increased automation is good news for the Single Market”.  

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