Buying funds in Europe and North America today is a fairly painless process. Retail and institutional investors alike simply choose their platforms and buy and monitor investments at the click of a mouse. Not so in Asia. Most transactions are conducted by phone and fax, both of which are prone to error and delay, and this creates an operational headache for the many European and US asset managers seeking to sell into the region.

Until now, attention to this operational weakness has been muted but the growing wealth in Asia and the accompanying demand for funds has resulted in it being brought into sharper focus. As Tom Bruno, head of transfer agency at International Financial Data Services, a subsidiary of State Street, said: "There is a voracious appetite in Asia for products."