Interview with Paolo Bucci, Euroclear's Country Head for the Italy region
What motivated the decision to start a rebranding and integration process with the parent company?
The acquisition of the MFEX Group, a global digital fund distribution platform, by the Euroclear Group, a market infrastructure that today has more than $3.1 trillion in assets under management, was studied and executed with conviction in 2021, as the complementarities between the two entities could bring significant added value, embodied in revenue synergies and the expansion of the service offering to customers.
The central role that Euroclear has historically played and continues to play in the global financial ecosystem, following the completion of the acquisition of the MFEX Group, logically set in motion a rebranding path that would allow us to present ourselves as a single cohesive entity, an open architecture that encompasses everything inherent to investment in financial instruments and post-trade services: from equities and fixed income to mutual funds, alternative funds, ETFs and private markets.
What specific changes can we see at MFEX as it becomes more integrated with Euroclear?
It is not a question of substantial changes, but of offering – through a single access – a multiplicity of services. Euroclear targets institutional clients through a One-Stop 'Fund' – Shop Solution platform, i.e. what we like to translate as fund supermarket. Thus, the services offered can be purchased individually, choosing the different investment strategies (not only funds, but also ETFs and Private Markets, for example) or the type of direct debit. All this through a single access channel.
Would you describe Euroclear's vision as an open-architecture market infrastructure?
We believe it is crucial to underline this aspect because it is at the heart of Euroclear's vision. The idea behind our strategy was to integrate the trading part of funds within the group, with the intention of generating and managing – through an open architecture – everything that is inherent to investing in financial instruments and post-trade services. More than 2,500 distributors and 3,000 product companies, a transparent and independent structure that does not penalize any of the counterparties involved, allowing the end customer to access a wide and complete offer as complete as possible.
What advantages will this new configuration offer investors and specialized entities compared to the previous structure?
The advantages are easy to see: not only greater operability in access to services, but also a reduction in costs. Today, in fact, it makes sense, for reasons of scalability and cost-effectiveness, to have fewer providers to interact with, thus integrating services, or to look for a provider that can offer as many as possible at once.
Find the whole interview here.
