Peridrome will offer a gateway between its Dash BPM platform and MAS.

Today, managed accounts are processed through disparate technology platforms or through manual processes, increasing the potential for errors, delays and high operational costs. DTCC's MAS will act as a centralized, automated gateway through which accounts can be opened and maintained, mitigating these risks and streamlining communications among investment managers, sponsors and service providers. The service operates on DTCC's secure SMART telecom network, which today provides connectivity to virtually all trading parties in the U.S. and which will expand access to the growing number of firms active in the managed accounts space. MAS is offered through DTCC Solutions, a subsidiary of DTCC.

"We're very pleased to add Peridrome to those firms that have shown such strong support for our efforts to launch this service," said Ann Bergin, managing director and general manager of DTCC's Wealth Management Services.

"The managed accounts industry is growing at such a dramatic rate that assets under management have already exceeded projections that were made for 2011. The industry clearly needs a solution that will bring about operational efficiencies to help support its growth and minimize risk."

Managed accounts of all kinds - including separately managed accounts, unified managed accounts and multiple-style portfolios - currently have assets under management of $1.5 trillion, according to the MMI. Research firms, such as Tiburon Strategic Advisors and Financial Research Corp., are forecasting that by 2012 assets could swell to twice that number.

"DTCC's new service represents a key part of the straight-through processing infrastructure required for the managed accounts industry to scale," said Gib Veconi, president of Peridrome.

"Peridrome is delighted to partner with DTCC, whose vision and commitment have propelled the managed accounts industry's move to electronic communications." VVeconi also co-chairs The Money Management Institute's (MMI) Operations and Communications Standards Committee, of which DTCC has been an active participant. The Committee develops message standards for use among industry participants.

Peridrome is the latest in a growing number of leading service providers that are connecting to MAS and providing middleware to their customers, thereby streamlining and expanding access to the service for industry members. These service providers include SunGard Transaction Network, Vestmark, Octavian, Inc., ITG, Thunderhead, Redi2 Technologies, SEI and Evare, LLC.

How Peridrome's platform will work with MAS Peridrome's Dash BPM platform provides automated workflow and business process management. It integrates with a firm's core portfolio accounting and trading systems to enable straight-through processing of requests to open new accounts and service existing accounts. Peridrome will provide a seamless connection to MAS, allowing its customers to receive client requests electronically through DTCC's network using standardized messages, significantly increasing operational efficiency and reducing risk.

End-to-end testing with Citi completed

In early January, DTCC announced that it had successfully completed end-to-end testing of the initial phase of MAS with two Citi businesses, Smith Barney and Global Transaction Services, both of which are charter members of the service. Smith Barney has nearly 30 percent of the managed account market, according to Cerulli Associates. Investment Administration Services, a unit of Citi's Global Transaction Services, has more than 30% of the managed account outsourcing market, and provides operations services to investment managers with over 80,000 managed accounts and $160 billion in managed accounts assets.