Share dealing automated at volume

The challenge: Scaling deal volumes without scaling headcount

A multi-jurisdictional fund administrator was experiencing sustained growth in dealing volumes across multiple funds and jurisdictions. As subscriptions, redemptions, and transfers increased, the operations team found themselves under increasing pressure to maintain service levels without increasing headcount.

Like many fund administrators, the business relied on a combination of legacy systems and manual operational processes. Dealing instructions arrived through multiple channels and were manually entered into the share register. Contract notes were generated and reviewed separately, while payment instructions were prepared independently and reconciled after processing.

Every stage of the dealing lifecycle required administrator intervention. None of the individual tasks were complex, but together they created a labour-intensive process that grew in direct proportion to transaction volumes.

The challenge was not processing more deals. It was breaking the relationship between transaction growth and operational effort, allowing the business to scale without continually adding resources.

Why it mattered: Operational complexity limited capacity

Rather than progressing through a single connected workflow, dealing instructions moved between multiple systems and operational stages before settlement could be completed. While individual activities were supported by varying levels of automation, administrators still spent valuable time validating transactions, managing process hand-offs, updating registers, producing correspondence, preparing payments and completing reconciliation activities.

As dealing volumes increased, so did the operational effort required to oversee the process. More time was spent progressing routine transactions through the dealing lifecycle and less time managing the exceptions where operational expertise delivered the greatest value. As new funds were launched and transaction volumes continued to grow, scaling the business increasingly depended on adding operational resource rather than improving the efficiency of the overall process.

The solution: Connected straight-through processing

Puritas implemented PureFunds to create a connected straight-through processing model across the entire dealing lifecycle. Rather than relying on separate systems to manage dealing, register updates, correspondence and payments independently, PureFunds orchestrates each stage through a single controlled workflow.

Dealing instructions are received automatically from industry platforms including Calastone, Vestima, EMX, FundSettle, CBL, NSCC, and Swift before being validated against each fund’s configured dealing rules. Transactions that satisfy those rules continue through processing automatically, while only exceptions are presented for operational review. Prices are automatically imported and matched automatically, allowing eligible transactions to progress to an approved state without unnecessary intervention.

Once authorised, PureFunds executes the remaining stages of the dealing process as part of the same workflow. Share registers are updated, contract notes generated and distributed, investor records synchronised and payment instructions prepared for execution through SWIFT and integrated banking interfaces. With 99% of transactions processed through straight-through processing (STP), administrators no longer need to coordinate multiple systems and operational hand-offs, allowing them to focus their expertise on the small number of transactions that genuinely require investigation or judgement.

“The challenge wasn’t handling higher volumes. It was ensuring operational effort didn’t grow at the same pace. By connecting the entire dealing lifecycle into a single straight-through process and allowing teams to work by exception, fund administrators can continue increasing transaction volumes without continually increasing operational overhead.” 
Mike Feighan, Operations Director, Puritas 

The outcome: High-volume processing with minimal manual intervention

The transformation replaced a labour-intensive dealing process with a highly automated operational model capable of supporting continued business growth without proportional increases in administration effort.

Administrators no longer spend their day manually processing routine transactions. Instead, transactions that satisfy the fund’s configured dealing rules progress automatically through the lifecycle, while operational teams focus on managing the small number of exceptions that require judgement or investigation.

The vast majority of routine dealing instructions now progress automatically through the dealing lifecycle, with administrators focusing their time on the small number of exceptions that genuinely require investigation or judgement.

The firm now operates an automated dealing process that supports continued business growth, reduces operational risk and enables significantly higher transaction volumes without increasing operational overhead.

Want results like this?

See how Puritas can automate your dealing lifecycle so your team works by exception.