Competition heats up

Fiercecompetition has developed between players seeking to launch the first product that incorporates the standards of the Investments and Financial Services Association’s (IFSA) MFundEC project.

InvestorWeb, InvestmentLink, Ausmaq and the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) are all confident they will develop the products in line with the MfundEC standards, which were developed by IFSA to improve the efficiency of the Australian managed funds system.

“There has got to be one product, and we’ll be coming from that level. We are definitely further down the track than the other parties,” InvestorWeb managing director Otto Buttula says.

InvestmentLink chief executive Peter Philip says his group is also progressing well in its product development.

“In two years there will only be one provider in the retail space and I can’t see anyone coming to market to surpass what we’ve done,” he says.

While both players say their focus has been on developing the technology and achieving wide scale adoption in the retail space, Buttula says it makes sense to explore the possibility of working in partnership with the other contenders.

Ausmaq general manager business development Chris Donohoe says while they are willing to talk to other players in the market, he does not believe there is room for more than one player.

ASX executive general manger clearing and settlement Chris Hamilton says while the ASX is hopeful of launching something at the end of the year, it has not ruled out working in partnership with another provider. He says the key to the success of such projects will be gaining customer acceptance.