FundsDLT has announced that it is now in production with its blockchain-based platform that aims at simplifying fund distribution and fostering financial inclusion and savings. This launch follows the granting of the necessary regulatory approvals on 2 July 2021.
The first asset manager to go live on the platform will be Azimut Investments, the Luxembourg product of the Azimut Group, the leading European independent asset manager with AUM in excess of EUR 75 billion and a global presence spanning across 17 countries. Azimut Investments will be using the FundsDLT platform to benefit from full straight-through processing and process automation, as well as real-time cash reconciliation, also enabling the activation of new distribution channels, including digital.
To assist asset managers and other fund distribution actors in their transition to a fully digital offering for investors, the FundsDLT platform is API enabled and SWIFT compatible. It can therefore interoperate with existing legacy systems and operational environments. This will ensure a smoother and a faster adoption of the blockchain technology for all actors.
FundsDLT runs on Consensys Quorum, a permissioned enterprise blockchain based on Ethereum. The company’s mission is to reconnect investors and asset managers by helping all intermediaries in the distribution supply chain to streamline fund distribution operations through a market infrastructure based on distributed technologies.
Olivier Portenseigne, CEO of FundsDLT, commenting on the launch said: “Asset and wealth managers can now be able to have a stronger relationship with and more knowledge of the final investor while reducing costs. The data and insights inherent in a DLT infrastructure will also allow our clients to propose more personalized products and services and grow their client base.”
Giorgio Medda, Co-CEO and Global Head of Asset Management of Azimut, added: “We are pleased to work with this ground-breaking platform which has great potential for opening up investment funds to a broader public. This is a further step forward in our strategy of technological innovation in a wider fintech ecosystem that is clearly the future for investment fund distribution. Simplicity and efficiency in this area are extremely important to us and FundsDLT delivers.”
Martin Dobbins, Chairman of the Board of Directors of FundsDLT, said: “We are delighted with this launch and first onboarding. Retail investors have long been under-served by the asset management industry and we offer a new solution that puts the investor in the centre of the process. Additionally, for fund distribution professionals, a shared, cross-boundary infrastructure based on DLT opens opportunities for unlocking value, efficiency gains and cost reductions”.
FundsDLT enables all actors of the investment fund distribution chain (asset managers, asset services, distributors and advisors) to sell funds through a next generation, decentralized platform, significantly reducing administration costs and the time to process transactions. It streamlines a range of repetitive fund operational activities by using blockchain to automate several processes in a secure manner.
FundsDLT is owned by Clearstream, Credit Suisse Asset Management, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and Natixis Investment Managers. The shareholding composition reflects the strategic objective to deliver a new generation of decentralised infrastructure to the investment fund industry. By enabling the re-engineering of the investment fund distribution chain, it makes fund distribution easier, cheaper and more transparent.
www.fundsdlt.net
About Azimut
Azimut is one of Europe’s leading independent asset manager (active since 1989). The parent company Azimut Holding was listed on the Italian stock exchange on 7 July 2004 (AZM.MI) and, among others, is a member of the main Italian index FTSE MIB. The shareholder structure includes over 2,000 managers, employees and financial advisors bound by a shareholders’ agreement that controls ca. 21.8% of the company. The remaining is free float. The Group comprises various companies active in the sale, management and distribution of financial and insurance products, with Registered Offices mainly in Italy, Luxembourg, Ireland, China (Hong Kong and Shanghai), Monaco, Switzerland, Taiwan, Brazil, Egypt, Singapore, Mexico, Australia, Chile, USA, UAE and Turkey. In Italy, Azimut Capital Management SGR sells and manages Italian mutual funds, Italian alternative investment funds, as well as being active in the discretionary management of individual investment portfolios. Furthermore, Azimut Capital Management SGR distributes Group and third party products in Italy via a network of financial advisors while Azimut Libera Impresa focuses on the Alternatives business. Overseas main operations are Azimut Investments (formerly AZ Fund Management, founded in Luxembourg in 1999), which manages the multi strategy funds AZ Fund 1 and AZ Multi Asset and the Irish Azimut Life DAC, which offers life insurance products.
