mFund

mFund products must be issued by an approved product issuer under the AQUA Rules. Typically, an mFund issuer will be a responsible entity that holds an AFSL authorising it to act as a responsible entity of a registered managed investment scheme. mFund product issuers will also need to demonstrate to ASX that they have adequate facilities, expertise, procedures, personnel and financial resources.

• Each fund must have a unit registry and appoint an ASX accredited Product Issuer Settlement Participant (PISP), which is typically the same entity as the fund's unit registry.
• A PISP interfaces directly with CHESS to respond to application and redemption order, participate in batch settlement and report to CHESS.
• ASX maintains a list of accredited PISPs. If the AQUA Product Issuer wishes to use a PISP that is not accredited, there is a separate on-boarding process that requires testing, connectivity and accreditation.

An unlisted fund applying for admission to the mFund service must be either:

• A ‘simple managed investment scheme’ (as defined in the Corporations Regulations) that issues a shorter PDS, or
• A managed investment scheme which is priced daily, redeemable generally within 10 business days, 80% invested in liquid assets, and that has not suspended or cancelled investors’ right to withdraw in the last two years.

The mFund issuer generally does not need to create a new unit class for the fund to be admitted to the mFund service. The mFund issuer is able to admit an existing fund with an existing APIR code for settlement through the mFund service.

The mFund issuer will be required to ensure the PDS for the proposed fund describes the ability for investors to apply and redeem units in the fund via the mFund Settlement Service and the additional risks that may be involved. If there are different classes of units of the fund, the issuer needs to determine which class will be admitted.

For full details, see links below or contact the ASX Investment Products team.

• ASX Operating Rules Schedule 10A (AQUA Rules)
• Procedure to Schedule 10A (AQUA Rules)
• ASX Operating Rules Section 07 (Definitions and Interpretation)