An extension of its established portfolio of services for investment funds, FundSettle now provides automated cross-border order routing, settlement, asset servicing and reconciliation services for approximately 300 fund administrators active in hedge funds from all the major domiciles.

Ivan Nicora, Director and Head of Investment Fund Product Management at Euroclear, stated: "FundSettle is filling a gap in the processing of hedge fund transactions. Countless clients have been looking to transfer their entire fund portfolio to a single provider that can automate the processing and servicing of all their investment fund transactions, including hedge funds.
Operationally, hedge funds are very complex, which deter most providers from taking on the challenge. Euroclear Bank is now able to satisfy market demand for a service provider that offers a fully comprehensive service across all fund classes."

Norbert Cron, Head of the EuroTitres department at Natixis, commented:
"Finally, we can choose a provider that serves all of our fund transaction processing needs. Having processed conventional investment fund transactions on Euroclear Bank's FundSettle platform for years, we appreciate the added value that automation brings. By transferring our hedge fund processing requirements to FundSettle, we will further improve our back-office efficiency and reduce the operational risks associated with manual procedures."

The global hedge fund market is estimated to be worth USD 1.9 trillion (EUR
1.4 trillion), having rebounded to pre-crisis levels following recent net inflows. However, the industry remains hampered by sub-optimal levels of processing automation and market standardisation.