Report: Mutual Funds Could Save Billions With Blockchain

A new report argues that switching to a distributed, blockchain-based infrastructure could bring significant financial benefits to the asset management industry.

The release from Calastone, a transaction network for the mutual funds industry, predicts that such a move could slash costs for the global mutual funds market by over $2.5 billion a year.

According to an FT report, Calastone's deputy chief executive, Ken Tregidgo, said that using a distributed market infrastructure would avoid different companies having to input the same data, thus saving time and reducing errors.

For the research, Calastone used data from a 2016 Deloitte study and calculated the potential basis point (BPS) savings in key global markets including the UK, Ireland, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Australia.

Julien Hammerson, Calastone's CEO, said the results highlight the benefits of using blockchain to automate the full life-cycle of mutual fund transactions, from order placement through to the settlement and payment process.

Work in bringing mutual fund transactions onto a blockchain is already underway. As far back as 2016, five major U.K. mutual fund operators partnered to explore blockchain technology's cost-saving potential in trading systems.

And, in September 2017, Nasdaq and Sweden's SEB bank revealed that they were testing a distributed ledger platform aimed at allowing participants to trade in real-time, thus simplifying the market's complex, paper-based transactions.

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