Calastone Australia managing director Shannon Bernasconi, who will be speaking at the 14th annual Wraps, Platforms & Masterfunds Conference in September, said the automation of distributions would benefit “all parts of the value chain”.
“There are more than 2,700 Australian funds on the [Asia Pacific Investment Register], with an average of approximately 1,300 holdings per platform or custodian,” said Ms Bernasconi.
“Each individual holding has to have its year-end income and tax statement accounted for, involving manually keying in tax components and income data – sometimes many times over at different stages of the process,” she said.
The process costs the industry as much as $35 per holding at each year-end, which is a “huge cost”, said Ms Bernasconi.
“When you examine the process it’s easy to see why managed funds have the reputation – fairly or not – of being clunky and slow at year-end,” she said.
“Automation offers reputational benefits for the funds, and very significant cost and risk benefits for platforms and custodians.”
SMSF investors, in particular, benefit from lowered costs, she said.
Calastone’s distribution service will be available from December 2014 for income information, and tax information from March 2015.
To hear more from Shannon Bernasconi and other ‘Trailblazers’ in the software space, book your ticket now for the 14th annual Wraps, Platforms & Masterfunds Conference.
