Cofunds will provide specialist fund dealing, settlement and sub-custodian services to the Charles Stanley Group in order to simplify the amount of in-house processing with the net effect of reducing costs and increasing administrative efficiency.

Mac Anderson, Head of Operations at Charles Stanley: "Cofunds has been excelling in this market for over six years. As the biggest player in this space, it has the size, strength and experience to offer a range of services unrivalled in the market. For us, the guaranteed net settlement and complete daily holdings files for reconciliation across our client base, coupled with its AAF accreditation, meant there could be only one choice."

Christopher James, Director, Institutional Services at Cofunds, said: "We've long recognised the importance of the institutional market and have for many years been servicing clients of the calibre of Charles Stanley. Our institutional offering provides an all-encompassing service meaning that we are able to reduce risk for Charles Stanley as well as increase processing efficiencies through our fully automated system. This is a great win for us as well as being extremely gratifying as Charles Stanley joins a growing number of leading firms that recognises our commitment and expertise to this market."