The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) and Clearstream Banking, an international central securities depository owned by the Deutsche Börse Group, have signed a memorandum of understanding to link SET’s online mutual fund platform, Fund Connext, and Clearstream’s fund processing platform Vestima, according to a joint statement.
“Fund Connext can now expand to serve foreign participants and take the Thai mutual fund industry to the international level by serving as a gateway for investors in 56 countries to capture investment opportunities available in the Thai mutual fund industry with assets of THB 4.6trn ($140bn),” Pakorn Peetathawatchai, SET president, said in the statement.
The linkage is also expected to provide Thai investors access to the international fund markets in the future, the statement noted.
The two platforms were connected in response to foreign investor demand for Thai funds, according to the statement. It will facilitate order routing, asset servicing and settlement services for Thai domestic investment funds.
Fund Connext launched in Thailand in July last year, according to a separate statement from the exchange. At the time of the launch, five asset management firms joined to distribute their funds through the platform.
The firms are Aberdeen Asset Management, CIMB-Principal Asset Management, Kasikorn Asset Management, SCB Asset Management and Talis Asset Management.
SET and Clearstream did not give an expected start date for the linked platforms, but the statement said an announcement will be made in due course.
