Britain's biggest fund shop Hargreaves Lansdown has a new settlement system for its investment funds.

The UK stockbroker is using Calastone Settlements, a service designed specifically for the funds industry.

Settlement payments running through the platform are automated and are transacted net.

This results in a reduction of settlement payments of up to 52%, the firm reckons, and improvements to liquidity.

Last an estimated £158bn of settlement payments took place needlessly, according to Calastone.

“Calastone Settlements addresses several issues which challenge the funds industry today and significantly improves efficiency for our clients,” said Jon Willis, the firm’s chief commercial officer.

“As a commercial settlement system, as defined by the FCA, we are delighted to be able to offer significant liquidity improvements to firms such as Hargreaves Lansdown through the automated matching and netting of trades.”

Danny Cox, head of communications at Hargreaves Lansdown added: “Automatic matching of trades and the netting of settlement positions early in the day will improve the efficiency of our operational and treasury teams.

“Given the number of transactions that Hargreaves Lansdown processes this is of huge benefit.”