Mutual funds saved US$2.6 billion by blockchain

Calastone research has shown that switching to blockchain infrastructure has the possibility to save the mutual fund industry US$2.6 billion in back-office costs.

The study surveyed 234 global mutual funds and measured the economic impact of blockchain and automation. 

Calastone found that some of the key advantages were the reduction in the number of manual errors, quicker resolution time, improved processing time, greater transparency, and audit traceability.

Seventy-one per cent of respondents saw a decline in the costs of processing orders since moving to blockchain, leading to a 32 per cent average cost reduction.

Roughly a quarter of firms continue to use manual processing touch points such as fax, phones, email, and spreadsheets to process orders, despite the advantages of using automation.

Being able to connect to automated services and invest in technology to support new infrastructure is a concern for many forms and a worry for 58 per cent of Australian respondents.

Calastone has delivered more than US$641 million in cost savings for its network since kicking off the first phase of its blockchain-enabled systems, and expects its core technology will be fully migrated to blockchain by 2019.

Julien Hammerson, Calastone chief executive, said the analysis highlights the significance the benefits can be accelerated when using blockchain technology to automate the whole mutual fund transaction.