London-headquartered global fund transaction network Calastone is to open its first Switzerland office in Zurich.

The aim is to provide a local presence to the Swiss market, in line, the firm says, with its business model of providing support to domestic as well as cross-border funds.

As part of the Swiss market business strategy, the firm has appointed Vittorio Pujatti to the management team; he joins as director of Swiss sales and business development. He was most recently sales director at Maerki Baumann in Zurich.

With over 400 customers and 2,500 active trading links in 17 domiciles, Calastone routes over £12 billion ($18 billion) of fund transactions per month through its global network.