The ASX has received final regulatory clearance from ASIC and AUSTRAC for the paperless settlement service, with mFund set to launch in April.
Speaking at a media briefing in Sydney yesterday, ASX senior manager for funds and investments performance, Marcus Christoe, said retail wealth management platforms will not be competing with mFund.
"The platforms are definitely the customers that receive the mFund service … as well as the industry funds, online brokers, full-service brokers, accountants and financial advisers," he said.
Part of the rationale behind the mFund settlement service is to tap into the self-managed superannuation sector, he added.
"We’re looking to provide an additional mechanism to reach a group of investors that haven't been reached in a way that provides a similar mechanism to how they’re used to transact," said Mr Christoe.
SMSFs are likely to be the "biggest opportunity" for the new settlement service, he said.
"For every single fund manager that we’re dealing with, it’s number one out of their five top things to do in the next couple of years," Mr Chistoe said.
The 60 'foundation members' of mFund represent one third of the retail funds management market.
"They’re very excited to be part of this because it [fits] nicely into where they would like to see their distribution grow," he said.
The development of mFund came out of ASX statistics that show around six million Australian investors currently hold direct shares and 2.1 million use managed funds, he said.
"The ASX and the fund managers saw there is a great distribution mechanism out there for shares, ETFs and government bonds that’s currently in place – and they're looking at leveraging off that current distribution," Mr Christoe said.
