UK fund provider M&G Investments has agreed to offer its funds via the Calastone transaction network.

Calastone’s network will provide M&G Investments with connectivity to a range of global fund distributors and aggregators. Since the firm’s third-party administrator - International Financial Data Services - is connected to Calastone, M&G will benefit from efficiencies in straight through processing throughout the tranaction lifecycle, Calastone said in a statement.

According to Calastone, fund providers using the network are able to lower costs, gain control and visibility of their order flow, and enhance their ability to react to exceptions quickly and efficiently. Firms can also use their preferred messaging protocol as the network features a universal message communication and translation service.

“We are delighted to see another fund provider benefiting from the Calastone mutual fund service. M&G will benefit by receiving orders electronically from a growing number of distributors and aggregators globally.  It doesn’t matter whether those participants use ISO 15022 or ISO 20022, they can all transact via Calastone,” said Kevin Lee, managing director of Calastone.  

Calastone, which was founded in 2007, has said it is its ultimate aim is to offer the entire mutual funds industry complete front-to-back STP regardless of participants’ incumbent technology or connectivity preference.