State Street has rolled out its Fund Connect ETF portal to all clients globally, including Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, following tech upgrades.
APIs – or Application Programming Interfaces – used in Fund Connect ETF account for nearly half of North American order volumes and have been available in the US and Canada for years to facilitate the creation and redemption process for ETF shares.
The portal’s automated order routing solution provides access to ETFs in multiple currencies, supplying a direct link between authorised participants (APs), order takers, sub-advisors and sponsors.
The firm said the technology would allow global market participants to scale their businesses and capitalise on efficiency gains and reduction in risk owing to automation.
“This expansion is in response to the growing demand from our valued APs, particularly those in Europe and APAC, who have expressed a strong interest in leveraging State Street’s best-in-class connectivity,” said Lori Coakley, global business head of Fund Connect ETF at State Street.
ETF market growth has driven a “surge in demand” for increased automation within the creation and redemption framework, the firm said.
The upgrade is to APIs in State Street’s GlobalLink product suite and clients globally will now be able to “seamlessly” place orders directly with funds via their own order management systems.
“The global API connectivity is the next logical step in the continued digitisation of our ETF servicing business,” said Frank Koudelka, global head of ETF product at State Street.
