EMX, an electronic exchange for fund information owned by Euroclear, has rapidly become the standard via which Independent Financial Advisors (IFAs) communicate with fund managers regarding units they want to buy and sell. The new module is EMX accredited and has been successfully trialled and deployed with a customer.

"A lot of IFAs will only communicate via EMX, so if fund managers want to open doors to market opportunities and compete effectively they have to support this electronic standard," said Tom Crawford, Managing Director, Financial Systems Division, Microgen. "The UK onshore market is strategically important and IFAs are the main source of growth for fund managers. It is therefore imperative that we have the correct infrastructure in place that will enable them to drive this area of their business."

The EMX module interfaces with Microgen 5Series and is underpinned by Microgen Aptitude®, a Business Process Platform, to support connections with the EMX messaging network. Messages are passed through the EMX system between intermediaries and fund providers using the standard FIX messaging protocol. Microgen's EMX module will support two key message types (message types can easily be expanded) - order input and valuation request - and replace manual processes with the straight through processing of these messages. It will also generate audit trails for reporting purposes.

"EMX is bidding to be the SWIFT of the fund world and we believe that our EMX module is a robust and well rounded solution that will enable fund managers to capitalise on the market opportunities EMX presents to their business. It is capable of handling large volumes of data and is able to scale with demand. We already have a live deployment and the customer is delighted with the immediate benefit it has had to their business," concluded Crawford.