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The international fund management industry is moving closer to fully digitalising the fund value chain following an agreement between Investre, the neo-exchange for value-driven investment funds, and Aquis Technologies, the exchange software licensing arm of Aquis Exchange PLC. The partnership will allow for the trading of tokenised, actively managed funds, namely UCITS funds, with launch planned for 2022.
Investre is building an exchange where retail customers can buy and sell values-driven investment funds—either direct from the asset manager on the primary market, or by trading with other users through an auction process on the secondary market. Aquis is providing the technology to power the secondary market, by supplying a fully outsourced technology model to Investre.
This partnership is a significant milestone for Investre, the fintech behind this innovation. Founder and CEO Georges Bock explained:
“Our vision is to have tokenised funds traded online and, one day, to trade 24/7. That means that retail customers will be able to buy actively managed funds when they want, at a known price, for the first time ever. This will significantly lower the cost of investing and reduce barriers to entry.”
“To make this happen, we need a best-in-class order matching system so that the trading can take place: this is where Aquis comes in. They’ve been providing trading systems to marketplaces for 8 years now and their technology is the perfect fit for our vision. We’re delighted to be moving forward with them as a key partner for the future of Investre, and the future of asset management.”
To bring this vision to life, Aquis will be providing Investre with its award-winning Aquis Matching Engine, its Aquis Market Surveillance product, as well as ongoing operational support to the business. The duration of the contract will be three years, and the value of the contact will not be disclosed.
Adrian Ip, Director of Aquis Technologies Sales at Aquis, also welcomed the partnership:
“We are delighted to have been chosen by Investre to power its new exchange. This is a great initiative for the funds market, and we are particularly proud to be producing the first EU-regulated totally cloud native exchange for retail investors. For too long the retail market has been cut out of the loop, but Investre’s blockchain approach is a great way to bring the end user directly into the market.”
Investre’s vision goes beyond online trading. Its digital marketplace is built on the blockchain, so that assets can be fully tokenized to reduce costs and cut down on transaction fees. The marketplace will also be the only online platform where retail customers can trade sustainable funds that are aligned with their values.
