Trading in Germany simplified

Gothaer’s alliance with JPMorgan provides the kind of technology and service that improves trading efficiency, writes Roxane McMeeken. Thousands of German intermediaries can now trade shares through a single custodian bank. Insurance giant Gothaer has signed a deal with JPMorgan that will allow 6800 distributors to trade through the US custodian. For participants, it will mean the end of the practice of using several custodians through various companies, which is inefficient and can leave intermediaries with a patchy view of their customers’ accounts. Gothaer has launched the first insurance company fund supermarket trading platform for investment funds. It is available to 2300 Gothaer agents and over 4500 brokerages. Gothaer chief executive, Bryan Hahn, said the idea was to provide agents with a “consulting tool”, which combines the investment opportunities offered by a broad range of firms such as DWA, Pioneer and Fidelity. The tool also aims to simplify processing and improve the availability of research data and portfolio information. Mr Hahn said a key benefit of the application would be that it can be deployed “offline” and therefore be used during face-to-face consulting sessions. JPMorgan is backing the platform with a three-pronged approach. Its FundsHub supermarket solution will provide the technology, which has been tweaked for the German market. JP Morgan AG, the regulated entity in Germany, will provide depositary banking services. Meanwhile, JPMorgan FundsHub will support JP Morgan in Frankfurt in the execution and settlement of subscription and redemption of investment units and related services. Mark Lund, chief executive of JPMorgan FundsHub, said the alliance marked “the increasingly important role that the maturing funds supermarket trading platforms will play as open architecture becomes the norm”.