Cofunds, the UK investment platform, has signed up to Calastone and Barclays' managed fund settlement service, the final phase of the automated net settlement service offered by the latter two firms.

Calastone has rolled out a settlement service to standardise and improve settlement automation, building a managed net settlement service through a partnership with Barclays.

The deal with Cofunds is significant as that firm makes up 26 per cent of the UK platform market.

The firms say that a full managed fund settlement service cuts counter-party and liquidity risk across the market, as well as cash exposures.