Directa to offer investment funds to Italian investors in partnership with Clearstream and CACEIS
The Italian online broker Directa has signed an agreement with Clearstream to provide Italian investors with access to Clearstream’s global funds portfolio. Via Directa’s leading trading platform and comprehensive network of financial advisors, clients can access Clearstream’s extensive funds suite with more than 190,000 international funds in 50 jurisdictions worldwide.
CACEIS Bank Italy Branch will act as Local Paying Agent (SIP, Soggetto Incaricato dei Pagamenti). Streamlining order flows, CACEIS will ensure swift and efficient communication with transfer agents via Clearstream’s Vestima platform. Clearstream will also provide Directa with fund distribution support via its Fund Centre platform.
Client onboarding will start as of Q4/2022.
Giancarlo Marino, Private Banking CEO of Directa, adds: “It is certainly reason of great satisfaction for us to announce today an agreement with such prestigious partners, who have chosen our company as a major commercial partner. We consider this partnership as a strategic step for development of our private banking project. Since the beginning we have aimed to create a distinct offer from traditional players, allowing our customers to have access to a range of products and services characterized by profiles of qualitative excellence. We believe that today’s choice goes exactly in that direction.”
Philippe Seyll, Head of Fund Services at Clearstream, says: “We are delighted to support Directa together with CACEIS to provide Italian distributors and investors with best-in-class execution, distribution and data services via our renowned Fund Centre and Vestima fund platforms. As we have long been serving institutional investors in Italy, the country has always been a key market for Clearstream, and we are excited to extend the offering now to retail investors. We are looking forward to further developing strategic partnerships in the country.”
Giorgio Solcia, Managing Director, at CACEIS Bank Italy Branch, adds: “We are proud to have been selected as Local Paying Agent by Directa SIM, a leading broker dealer in Italy, and support their growth in this new business in partnership with Clearstream. CACEIS’ optimised operating model enables our clients to seize development opportunities thanks to enhanced capabilities in our local LPA offer to support Italian retail investors combined with our global experience in fund distribution services. The support of Italian distributors is a key development area of growth for the local branch.”
About Directa
Directa Sim was founded in 1995 to allow private investors to operate directly on the markets, when the Italian Stock Exchange concentrated its trading on telematics. On November 8, 1995, the first order on the Stock Exchange starts from the Turin offices of Directa Sim, using a data connection on a telephone line via modem. In 1996 the phenomenon expanded rapidly: it was the birth of online trading as a service accessible to all and Directa Sim was the pioneer of this phenomenon. Directa Sim forever changes the history of investments in Italy.
Today, with over 50,000 open accounts, its mission is to offer everyone the freedom to invest independently through one accessible technology.
In 2022 Directa expands its activity in private banking, through innovative technological and organizational solutions. The agreement with Clearstream is one of them and represents a "milestone”.
www.directa.it
About Clearstream
As an international central securities depository (ICSD), headquartered in Luxembourg, Clearstream, which is part of Deutsche Börse Group, provides the post-trade infrastructure for the Eurobond market and services for securities from 59 domestic markets worldwide. With 16 trillion Euros in assets under custody, Clearstream is one of the world’s largest settlement and custody firms for domestic and international securities.
Clearstream delivers investment fund solutions built on asset safety and distribution efficiency. The Vestima one-stop shop for funds acts as single point of entry for orders, streamlined cash management and consolidated position reporting in a secure environment. Clearstream offers customers direct access to local domiciled funds in 50 fund jurisdictions worldwide.
Its fund distribution platform Fund Centre provides access to over 76,000 funds domiciled in 25 fund jurisdictions and connects close to 330 distributors to almost 450 fund providers of mutual funds, ETFs and alternative investment funds around the globe.
www.clearstream.com
About the CACEIS Group
CACEIS is the asset servicing banking group of Crédit Agricole and Santander dedicated to asset managers, insurance companies, pension funds, banks, private equity and real estate funds, brokers and corporate clients. Through offices across Europe, North and South America, and Asia, CACEIS offers a broad range of services covering execution, clearing, forex, securities lending, custody, depositary and fund administration, fund distribution support, middle office outsourcing and issuer services. With assets under custody of €4.6 trillion and assets under administration of €2.4 trillion, CACEIS is a European leader in asset servicing and one of the major players worldwide (figures as of 31st December 2021).
www.CACEIS.com