About Us

About ACS

Altree Custody Services ("ACS") is the custody, settlement and fiduciary arm of the Altree Group of Companies.

Servicing emerging and frontier market investors worldwide, ACS delivers institutional access to structurally underdeveloped securities markets on a turn-key basis. With one of the largest proprietary sub-custody networks across the developed, emerging and frontier markets, ACS serves as global custodian for institutional clients in over 70 markets worldwide.

By delivering simplified and cost efficient access to each of the 25 securities markets across Africa, ACS leverages its competitive niche in the provision of African safekeeping, settlement and custody services. Headquartered in Bermuda, ACS maintains a global presence with offices in New York, London, Johannesburg, Malta and Hong Kong.

Key Differentiating Factors

Market Access
Investors desire wide market access, low counterparty risk and a consolidated reporting structure. ACS delivers unrestricted access to twenty-four African securities markets, through both segregated and omnibus structures. This permits managers to diversify their counterparty risk and cost-effectively add new markets as needed. By leveraging a fully integrated sub-custody network, clients are afforded access to the best provider in each market, based on independent assessments of service, cost, risk management, financial strength, technology and local footprint.

Best Price
Investors desire cost efficiency when attempting to access individual securities markets across the globe. Because investment grade banks do not presently offer a complete Pan-African custody platform, investors are exposed to layered fees and sub-standard coverage when accessing non-core markets through traditional hub and spoke networks.  ACS is uniquely positioned and freely able to negotiate best price across each of its underlying markets.

Superior Technology
Investors desire speed, transparency and control when making custody elections. Fully-automated SWIFT enabled settlement systems with straight-through-processing and low trade-failure levels are critical to successful fund management. After extensive due diligence, ACS acquired the award-winning IMSecurities^TM global custody and settlement system. IMSecurities^TM currently handles approximately 55% of all global securities market transactions, 45% of all global corporate actions and manages operational risks and improves efficiency for 17 of the 20 leading global custodians and financial markets participants.

At present, ACS is the only Pan-African custodian operating IMSecurities^TM industry-leading securities market architecture.  The system increases portfolio efficiency while reducing operational risk; by allowing investors to securely enter trades via an online SWIFT compliant gateway, access reporting, corporate actions and account information over real-time secure portals via HTML and an iPad application, and by integratingthe power of real-time surveillance; permitting ongoing counterparty risk analysis and benchmarking.

Foreign Exchange & Cash Management Solutions
Investors desire a solution which allows for net settlement in any number of individual currencies. Two of the greatest challenges faced by investors are wide FX spreads and unreliable fund transfers. From a logistical perspective, settlement remains a time-consuming and expensive proposition for investors looking to access opportunities across the region. In response, ACS has developed a wholesale foreign exchange and cash management solution which permits net local settlement in all African currencies and leverages the continent's largest local and international banking footprint.