M&G Investment Management have successfully upgraded to a fully SWIFT-integrated configuration of CAMS, announced Trace Financial, supplier of the comprehensive Corporate Actions Management System.

Inbound SWIFT event notifications now pass directly into the system for cleansing, replacing a manual input process. Notifications from multiple custodians are captured and compared automatically. Any differences between them are highlighted for user attention, allowing the ‘Golden Record’ to be created far more quickly and easily. Later in the lifecycle custodians are instructed via SWIFT messages generated by CAMS. Inbound confirmation messages are also processed automatically, with CAMS reconciling confirmed against expected proceeds.

This additional functionality supplements the coverage of the previous version at M&G, which concentrated mainly on the front-office decision support, i.e. monitoring, capturing and instructing fund manager decisions in relation to elective events.

Alan Burgess, Director of Investment Administration at M&G stated, ‘As well as vastly improving the process for the Corporate Actions team, the front-office are benefiting from more timely and accurate information and a further breadth of coverage that now includes mandatory events.’

He also commented, ‘Trace personnel worked extremely closely with the M&G project team to ensure a trouble-free implementation. It has been an excellent collaborative effort’.

Linda Letch, Director, Business Consultancy added, ‘We are delighted that M&G are now live with the SWIFT-enabled version of CAMS’.

She went on, ‘This implementation puts M&G in an excellent position to reap further benefits in the future by extending the workflow automation even more. CAMS lends itself very well to a phased implementation approach, which can be decisive for obtaining budgetary approval in the current climate.’