EFAMA, the voice of the European investment management industry, in collaboration with SWIFT, has published a new report on the automation and standardisation rates of fund orders received by transfer agents (TAs) in the cross-border fund centres of Luxembourg and Ireland in 2020.
The report highlights the progress made in the increased automation of fund orders and the use of ISO standards.
Twenty-nine TAs from across Ireland and Luxembourg participated in the survey covering 80 per cent of the Irish market and 75 per cent of the Luxembourg market.
The total volume of orders processed by the 29 survey participants reached 48.7 million last year, compared to 42.2 million in 2019.
The total automation rate of orders of cross-border funds increased to 93.2 per cent in Q4 2020, from 91.8 per cent in Q4 2019, due to an increase in the use of Proprietary File Transfer Protocols by TAs in Ireland. During the same period, the use of ISO messaging standards decreased from 62.3 per cent to 59.4 per cent and the use of manual processes dropped from 8.2 per cent to 6.8 per cent.
The total automation rate of orders processed by Luxembourg TAs reached 91.2 per cent in Q4 2020, compared to 90.2 per cent in Q4 2019. The ISO automation rate increased from 76.6 per cent in Q4 2019 to 78.4 per cent in Q4 2020, while the use of manual orders dropped from 9.8 per cent to 8.8 per cent during the same period.
The total automation rate of orders processed by Irish TAs increased to 95.9 per cent in Q4 2020, from 94.6 per cent in Q4 2019. The ISO automation rate decreased from 36.6 per cent to 33.6 per cent, whereas the use of manual processes dropped from 5.4 per cent to 4.1 per cent during the same period.
Tanguy van de Werve, Director General of EFAMA, commented: “It is good to note that only 6.8 per cent of fund orders were processed manually in Q4 2020. I want to commend Europe’s cross-border fund industry for reaching a very high degree of automation of its processes, which has allowed to reduce operational costs and risks and improve the quality of the services to customers”.
Karin de Ridder, Head of Standards Development Team, SWIFT, adds: “Whilst order volumes have increased overall, the fund volumes of ISO 20022 messages on SWIFT show a slight decrease and this is, perhaps, a reflection of the unusual circumstances facing the world in 2020.”
