Euroclear UK & Ireland fund service attracts more fund managers

Euroclear UK & Ireland has signed up three additional leading fund managers in the UK to its investment fund service. F&C Investments, Liontrust Fund Partners LLP and Old Mutual Global Investors have chosen to automate the full processing cycle of transactions in their funds with the UK's central securities depository, having already worked with Euroclear UK & Ireland to automate order routing.

John Trundle, Chief Executive Officer of Euroclear UK & Ireland, said: "We are seeing growing momentum in the UK fund community to reduce the risks and costs associated with fund transaction processing. The combination of automated order routing services fully integrated with delivery-versus-payment settlement, offers Euroclear UK & Ireland's clients a unique and effective means to achieve these objectives. F&C Investments, Liontrust Fund Partners and Old Mutual Global Investors are now among a growing number of fund managers, transfer agents and fund distributors benefitting from end-to-end automation in the UK fund industry."

Gary O'Brien, Head of Client Services at Old Mutual Global Investors, stated: "We expect to see real improvement in our transaction settlement, cash and fund unit balance reconciliations, re-registrations and portfolio transfers as a result of the electronic and automated features of Euroclear UK & Ireland's investment fund service. While having an automated service for order routing is important, moving to full automation across the entire transaction life cycle makes good business sense."

Andy Olding, Head of Group Fund Services at F&C Investments, commented: "Reducing risk and increasing cost efficiency for our clients is crucial for F&C. We look forward to the benefits that a fully automated, end-to-end transaction flow will bring to F&C by using Euroclear UK & Ireland's investment fund service."

Jeff Digweed, Head of Transfer Agency at Liontrust Fund Partners LLP, added: "Migrating to the Euroclear UK & Ireland (EUI) settlement service has been achieved quickly and efficiently. The teams involved, including IFDS, RBS and Euroclear all worked well together and we were ready to test and process our first transactions in record time. The system changes we have made will be invisible to our clients who choose to settle with us via EUI. They will see the benefits quickly as they will experience a more efficient settlement process for their fund subscriptions and redemptions."

F&C Asset Management plc ("F&C" or "the Group") is a diversified investment manager which traces its origins to the launch of the Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust in 1868. While many asset managers are owned by financial services conglomerates, such as banks or insurance companies, F&C is an independent business, listed on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. F&C is focused exclusively on managing money for its clients. Today the Group operates from offices in nine countries and manages £92.3 billion of assets (as at 30/06/13) for a combination of insurance clients, institutional investors, intermediaries and private individuals which collectively represent in excess of 3 million underlying savers. F&C invests across all major asset classes - equities, fixed income and property - and has specialist expertise in asset allocation, alternative investments, liability driven investments, multi-manager, private equity funds and ESG Investing. The Group includes F&C REIT, a global real estate asset manager.

This information is issued by F&C Management Ltd authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance.

The information does not constitute an offer to enter into any contract or agreement nor is it a solicitation to buy or sell any investment. The value of shares can go down as well as up and investors may not get back the original amount invested. The information is based on sources believed to be reliable but no guarantee, warranty or representation is given as to its accuracy or completeness and F&C Management Ltd accepts no liability in respect of the information or any views expressed herein which may be subject to change without notice at any time. All data is sourced from F&C Management Ltd unless otherwise stated.

Liontrust Asset Management, which was founded in 1994, is an independent fund management group whose shares are quoted on the London Stock Exchange. Liontrust manages £3 billion in UK, European and Asian equities and global credit (as of 25 March 2013).

In April 2012, Old Mutual Global Investors announced that it was to combine two of its UK asset management businesses, creating Old Mutual Global Investors - a new leading single asset management presence in the UK from which to drive future growth.

Old Mutual Global Investors has brought together the established Old Mutual Asset Managers (UK) directly invested alpha-generating capabilities, alongside Skandia Investment Group's pioneering investment solutions. Old Mutual Global Investors consists of 169 industry professionals, including a team of 41 investment professionals.

With assets under management as at 30th June 2013 of £14.6 billon, Old Mutual Global Investors has grown strongly since the completion of the merger seven months ago. Old Mutual Global Investors is the asset management division of Old Mutual Wealth. As part of Old Mutual Group it has a strong financial parent to support the activation of its business strategy.