“Barings has been benefiting from Calastone’s transaction network since its inception in May 2008. By extending our use of their network to reach Asia, we are able to reduce costs and risks, and increase efficiency; ultimately providing our clients with greater choice and an improved service,” said Nick LeBrun, head of mutual fund dealing at the UK asset manager.

By routing their Asian orders through Calastone, Barings becomes immediately compatible with the network’s ISO20022 message standard, the international standard for financial messaging, without requiring any technological investment. This also improves efficiency to their order routing platform.

The Asian Funds Automation Consortium has been leading the effort to drive straight-through processing initiatives in the Asia Pacific region and has encouraged the mutual fund industry to use ISO20022 messaging standards.

By connecting to Calastone’s transaction network, participants are able to send or receive instructions using their preferred means of communication in any format, relying on fully electronic processing throughout the transaction, regardless of size or technological capabilities.

Other wealth managers that connected to Calastone recently include Gartmore, Martin Currie, Brewin Dolphin and Nucleus.