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FundSERV Network Performance

By Michael Critchley

With the launch date of ESG v19 just around the corner, the industry UAT testing period has revved up and is moving full steam ahead.

The first customer testing phase officially began on Monday, March 30, with the Fund Setup File (FD), segregated funds functionality, and maintenance items open for testing.

As of April 7, 30 fund companies, seven distributors, four service providers, and one intermediary had begun the process, with more companies expected to follow suit before the second testing phase begins at the end of April.

FundSERV is encouraging all its customers complete the first phase of testing sooner rather than later and not leave it to the last minute, so they can concentrate on the more complicated second phase testing that officially opens on April 27. This involves testing the new functionality of one of the major components of the v19 release —
in-cash transfers for client name accounts.

Since 2007, FundSERV and the in-cash transfer working group have been working through the requirements of bringing this initiative to life. In fact, one of the main reasons ESG v19 was deferred until 2009 was because more time was required to solve all the intricacies associated with the in-cash transfer initiative.

Once ESG v19 goes live in June, in-cash transfers on T+3 daily settling funds will have the capability to be processed through N$M between fund manufacturers on client name accounts, thus eliminating the need to process and mail actual cheques, which ultimately saves time and money.

It is estimated that 90 percent of all in-cash transfer transactions for client name accounts will be captured and automated through ESG v19, with 10 percent of transactions — 'exceptions' — not captured due to certain complexities.

To gear up for the release of v19, FundSERV hosted a town hall meeting on March 26 to review the ESG v19 UAT requirements and to address any questions or concerns. Over 60 representatives from across the industry attended in person and via a conference call to hear Harry Gundy, FundSERV's senior manager of customer relations, review the requirements and details of the testing phase, including the importance of finding a testing partner to test the functionality of the new additions to the ESG release.

ESG v19 officially goes live on June 15, 2009.

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