Clearstream, Credit Suisse Asset Management, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, and Natixis Investment Managers join forces to launch FundsDLT, a blockchain-based technology platform for the investment fund industry.
Luxembourg, March 17, 2020: Clearstream, Credit Suisse Asset Management, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, and Natixis Investment Managers have announced a Series A investment in FundsDLT to develop a novel decentralised technology platform to facilitate the distribution of funds based on distributed ledger technology (DLT). This move marks a major milestone in the evolution of FundsDLT, originally initiated and incubated by the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and its affiliate Fundsquare.
FundsDLT is built using permissioned blockchain technology based on Ethereum, that ensures privacy and high performance. FundsDLT enables the reengineering of the fund distribution value chain, from front to back, covering the entire fund lifecycle. The platform allows asset managers, distributors, asset servicers, and the entire supply chain to reduce costs by removing redundant activities, while providing the opportunity to achieve necessary transparency on end investors and creating the foundation for digital fund distribution. The Series A funding will strengthen the FundsDLT platform and accelerate its commercial development.
“The launch of FundsDLT is an important step toward our shared goal of promoting the adoption of blockchain and digital assets across the financial industry. The Luxembourg Stock Exchange has played a catalyzing role in this development, and it is exciting to see the expanding ecosystem around FundsDLT,” stated Robert Scharfe, CEO of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
Joseph Pinto, Chief Global Operating Officer of Natixis Investment Managers, commented: “The digital transformation poses some of the greatest challenges and opportunities for the investment management industry today, and blockchain can play an important role. We believe it is critical for the investment management industry to increase transparency and improve operations rapidly. FundsDLT will help us achieve these objectives and will, in turn, allow us to provide an enhanced experience for investors by leveraging blockchain technology.”
Philippe Seyll, CEO of Clearstream Banking S.A., explained: “FundsDLT is an international initiative that streamlines a number of activities along the fund distribution value chain and has the potential to reduce costs for the benefit of investors across fund and investor domiciles. This investment is a critical step in our digital strategy and will complement and strengthen our current Vestima offering.”
Michel Degen, Head of Credit Suisse Asset Management Switzerland and EMEA, said: “We continuously seek to ease the access to our products for clients. As part of our digitalization journey, we consider FundsDLT as a further powerful lever to increase efficiency but also to create new distribution channels, enabling considerable benefits for both clients and asset managers.”
Olivier Portenseigne, Managing Director of Fundsquare, added: “This partnership reflects the growing demand in the market for a platform that removes barriers for accessing investment funds. FundsDLT is a project that has the potential to change fund distribution and bring substantial benefits to the entire ecosystem. We look forward to working with our partners on the rollout of this new generation of market infrastructure and invite further fund managers, distributors, and other parties in the asset management industry to join us.”
