Increased support for electronic transfers #
The first half of 2023 saw steady growth in the number of counterparties supporting electronic transfers and asset re-registration using the TeX/UKETRG legal and open standards framework. At the end of June there were 428 live counterparties, across Adviser and D2C/direct execution platforms, Wealth Managers, Custodians and Fund Managers.
This is up from 404 at the end of 2022 and represents a 5.9% increase in the first half of 2023. The majority of the new counterparties were Fund Managers, and there are now just over 200 live, plus some additional Wealth Managers and new direct execution platforms.
Changes to the TeX legal framework #
The other major developments during the first half of 2023 relate to pension transfers. The TeX members voted to approve the changes to the legal framework to facilitate DB transfers, an important requirement for the ViaNova Working Group (Corporate Pension open standards group) to adopt the TeX/UKETRG open standards to automate the transfer of DC and now DB pension transfers from corporate schemes.
The second development was that the first corporate pension administrators went live, including one of the UK’s leading EBCs.
Market Coverage #
Here is a summary of the coverage in the main market segments:
28 Adviser Platforms, representing 99.8% of AUA, support electronic transfers.
- All the top 20 Adviser Platforms support electronic transfers.
- 18 Adviser Platforms (or 57% of AUA) use Equisoft/transfer
37 D2C Platforms and Execution Only Brokers support electronic transfers.
- All the top 10 D2C providers support electronic Transfers.
- 29 use Equisoft/transfer
95 Wealth Managers and Private Clients support electronic transfers.
- 91 use Equisoft/transfer
22 White Label/Family Office/Charities support electronic transfers.
- 17 use Equisoft/transfer
12 Custodians/Intermediate Unit Holders support electronic re-registration.
- 9 use Equisoft/transfer
201 Fund Managers support electronic re-registration.
- representing 94.3% of UK Retail and Private Clients Funds by FUM
- 44 (or 49% by FUM) use Equisoft/transfer
29 Pension Providers support open standards based electronic transfers and re-registration.
- 17 use Equisoft/transfer
Want can we expect during the second half of 2023? #
We can expect to see a continual steady growth in the number of counterparties, primarily from the Wealth Management/Private Clients market segment. We will also see vendors starting to rollout support for the number of places of settlement from 2 (UK Funds and CREST) to 30 or more. This will dramatically expand the range of asset classes that can be transferred electronically, which will improve the speed and efficiency of portfolios that include non-UK domiciled funds and foreign exchange traded assets.
