Fund and Structured Products Research
Access Germany's leading savings bank distribution network through the platform that connects more than 140 Sparkassen institutions with comprehensive securities data, regulatory workflows and sales support infrastructure.
Transform securities distribution across Germany's most influential banking network
German savings banks control 27% of European Union fund assets and serve approximately half of all banking customers in Germany. Yet reaching this critical distribution channel has traditionally required separate data feeds, fragmented communications and manual coordination that delays product launches and creates inconsistent market presence.
Dericon, part of FE fundinfo, eliminates these barriers. The platform provides asset managers with direct access to more than 140 savings banks including nine of the top 10 and 20 of the top 25 German Sparkassen institutions. Your funds reach 4,000 customer advisers through standardised data infrastructure, automated regulatory processes and integrated sales support—all managed from one unified interface.
The collaboration between NORD/LB and Dericon (now part of FE fundinfo) launched in 2020 specifically to address securities management challenges across the savings bank sector. By 2024, the platform had onboarded more than 140 institutions and established partnerships with more than 70 strategic cooperation partners, demonstrating market validation from Germany's most important retail distribution network. In 2024, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg became another co-operator of the platform which should lead to a further respectable expansion of the savings banks network.
Comprehensive securities platform capabilities
Dericon provides savings advisers with comprehensive data across funds, structured notes, bonds and shares. Product information includes static data points, key performance figures, current pricing and complete regulatory documentation—everything advisers need for client recommendations without switching between multiple systems.
Asset managers and structured product issuer supply product data once through standardised interfaces. The platform handles distribution to all connected savings banks automatically, ensuring consistent information reaches every adviser regardless of individual institution preferences. When you update fund documentation or modify share class characteristics, changes propagate across the entire network without manual coordination.
The platform streamlines compliance workflows that traditionally consume operations team capacity. Automated equivalence checks verify that fund characteristics align with savings bank product basket requirements. Target market comparison confirms your products match investor profiles before distribution begins. The system manages product approvals through customisable workflows and maintains risk management documentation that satisfies regulatory oversight requirements.
Conducting officers at savings banks face personal responsibility for investment product compliance. Dericon provides the audit trails, approval documentation and process transparency these senior managers require to demonstrate appropriate due diligence. Your products gain credibility through systematic regulatory support rather than manual compliance coordination.
Consultant environments provide advisers with role-based access to product information, recommendation lists with current prices and key figures, sales documentation and after-sales support materials. The platform includes an in-house communication system that enables direct engagement between asset managers and savings bank distribution teams without email fragmentation.
Recommendation lists present your funds alongside performance data, risk metrics and portfolio analytics. Advisers access this information within their daily workflow rather than navigating separate research platforms or waiting for monthly fund updates. The integration reduces friction between product awareness and client recommendations.
Dericon incorporates fund manager commentary, investment strategy analysis and factsheets directly alongside product data. Your thought leadership content reaches advisers in the context where investment decisions occur rather than competing for attention through separate marketing channels.
FondsConsult research integration provides independent analysis of cooperation partner funds. Advisers access professional buy/sell recommendations, portfolio composition analysis and performance attribution—third-party validation that strengthens product credibility beyond manufacturer marketing materials.
Larger savings banks require individual platform environments with fully customised configuration and branded sales documents. Dericon accommodates these requirements through flexible white-labelling capabilities that maintain your product data whilst presenting information according to institutional preferences.
The platform balances standardisation with customisation. Core product data remains consistent across all institutions, ensuring you maintain one golden source of truth.
Accelerate market penetration through partnership programmes
More than 70 asset management companies have established Dericon partnerships, gaining comprehensive platform presence that drives measurable distribution results. In 2023, fund activations by cooperation partners in savings bank product baskets increased 15.1% compared to 0.9% growth for the broader market—demonstrating the commercial value of integrated platform relationships.
The all-inclusive partnership includes premium sales support (fund manager commentary across all savings banks and users, investment strategy modules, up to five additional documents per ISIN, explicit contact person identification), technical fund support (premium platform functions including factsheets, pre-filled approval processes, audit functionalities, portfolio calculator), and ELTIF listing for alternative investment funds targeting retail distribution.
Additional partnership benefits include savings bank incentives to utilise cooperation partner products, permanent provision of all data and documents, business intelligence access showing platform usage and distribution trends, company logo and contact person prominence, 52 annual content posting opportunities, focused product management attention, and participation in the Private Banking Gipfel—Germany's premier savings bank investment event.
Sponsored product status makes your funds permanently more attractive to savings banks by eliminating platform fees that institutions otherwise pay for third-party products.
When you sponsor specific ISINs, those products become free to all savings banks using Dericon. Sponsored products receive prominent platform marking and highlighting that encourages adviser usage. Your visible investment in reducing institutional costs signals product commitment whilst creating competitive advantage over non-sponsored alternatives.
Annual participation in Germany's most influential savings bank investment event provides face-to-face access to the senior managers who control product selection and distribution strategy. The 2024 event attracted 180 participants including representatives from 80 savings banks, 10 private banks and 50 asset managers, alongside financial press and tier-one speakers from academia and industry leadership.
These aren't junior operations staff—attendees include division heads for private banking, product management directors and conducting officers who bear personal regulatory responsibility for investment product oversight. Conversations at Private Banking Gipfel influence product basket decisions, distribution priorities and strategic partnerships that shape the following year's business development.
Dericon cooperation partners receive 52 annual opportunities to present investment themes, market analysis and product positioning directly to savings bank advisers through platform-hosted webinars. Recent sessions have covered capital market outlooks, ESG investment strategies, alternative asset access and portfolio construction methodologies.
Webinars provide thought leadership visibility without competing for adviser attention through external marketing channels. Participants opt in based on topic relevance, ensuring engaged audiences rather than mass distribution to contacts who may not cover the relevant investment strategies. Recording availability extends reach beyond live participation whilst maintaining lead generation and relationship development opportunities.
Technical architecture supporting efficient operations
The platform operates through comprehensive REST APIs that connect to fund administration platforms, portfolio management systems and internal data repositories. Asset managers automate data collection, validation and distribution without manual file preparation or email-based coordination.
API access supports both real-time data updates and scheduled batch processing depending on operational requirements. Your technology teams configure integration once, then the platform handles ongoing data synchronisation automatically. When fund pricing updates, performance calculations refresh or regulatory documents require distribution, information flows through to savings banks without human intervention.
Serving German savings banks requires comprehensive support for local data standards, regulatory templates and language specifications. Dericon manages translations and formatting requirements automatically, ensuring your fund data meets Sparkassen expectations across all 353 institutions in the savings bank network.
The platform supports industry-standard data formats including Openfunds, EMT and EET alongside proprietary templates required by specific savings banks or regional associations. Format transformation occurs automatically—you supply data once in your preferred structure, and the platform delivers information according to each recipient's specifications.
Dericon processes seven million static data points and seven million prices monthly across the FE fundinfo client base, demonstrating enterprise-grade capacity that supports growth without performance degradation. As you launch new products, activate additional share classes or expand into new savings bank relationships, the platform scales automatically without requiring architecture changes or additional infrastructure investment.
The system operates on ISO 27001 and ISO 9001-certified infrastructure, meeting the security and quality standards that savings banks and their regulators require for mission-critical distribution operations. FE fundinfo manages all technical operations, updates and maintenance, eliminating the burden of platform administration from your operations teams.
Why investment managers choose Dericon
Direct access to Germany's most influential distribution network
Savings banks serve 50 million customers across Germany through 353 institutions operating 9,000 branches. This retail distribution reach exceeds any other banking sector in Continental Europe's largest fund market. Dericon provides standardised access to this network without negotiating individual savings bank relationships or managing fragmented data feeds across regional associations.
The platform currently connects to more than 140 savings banks including the sector's largest and most influential institutions. As network adoption continues growing, your market access expands automatically without additional integration work or separate relationship development.
Eliminate operational overhead through unified distribution
Asset managers traditionally manage German savings bank distribution through manual coordination—separate data files for different institutions, email-based document sharing, telephone follow-ups confirming receipt and ad-hoc queries when information appears inconsistent across regional platforms. This fragmentation consumes operations capacity whilst creating errors that damage distributor relationships.
Dericon replaces disconnected processes with unified workflows. You supply product data once through standardised interfaces. The platform distributes information automatically to all connected savings banks in their preferred formats. Updates propagate across the network without manual coordination. Your operations teams focus on product development and strategic initiatives rather than administration and error correction.
Accelerate product launches through systematic onboarding
Launching funds across German savings banks traditionally requires separate onboarding processes for each institution—product documentation submission, compliance review, data integration, adviser training and marketing coordination. This sequential approach extends time to market by months and prevents simultaneous launches that maximise initial distribution momentum.
The platform streamlines launch workflows through automated processes that coordinate across all connected savings banks simultaneously. Regulatory documentation flows through systematic approval stages. Product data integrates automatically once compliance review completes. Advisers access new fund information immediately upon launch approval. What previously required 90-120 days now completes within 30-45 days, accelerating revenue generation and improving competitive positioning.
Gain distribution intelligence unavailable through traditional channels
Dericon provides business intelligence showing how savings banks engage with your products—which institutions have activated funds in their product baskets, how advisers access information, when usage patterns shift and where distribution opportunities exist. This transparency enables data-driven decisions about resource allocation, marketing investment and relationship prioritisation.
Traditional distribution relationships provide limited visibility. You know which institutions distribute your funds but lack insight into adviser engagement, product basket changes or emerging opportunities at institutions where you lack established relationships. The platform transforms distribution from relationship-dependent opacity to systematic intelligence that improves commercial outcomes.
Get started with Germany's savings bank network
Dericon provides asset managers with comprehensive access to Germany's most influential retail distribution network through one unified platform. The infrastructure eliminates fragmented processes, reduces operational overhead and accelerates market penetration whilst maintaining the regulatory compliance and data quality standards that savings banks and their regulators require.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Dericon provides standardised technical infrastructure and regulatory workflows across more than 140 connected savings banks, eliminating the need to build separate data feeds and compliance processes for each institution. Asset managers supply product data once through the platform rather than managing individual relationships with fragmented systems, formats and approval processes across hundreds of institutions.
The platform complements rather than replaces relationship development. Your distribution teams still build connections with savings bank decision-makers, present investment strategies and negotiate commercial terms. Dericon handles the technical implementation and ongoing operations that traditionally consume capacity and create errors—data distribution, format transformation, regulatory documentation and compliance workflows.
Connected savings banks range from major institutions, nine of the top ten in terms of balance sheet, to regional Sparkassen serving local communities. The network is providing access to institutions that control significant retail distribution whilst maintaining reach across the broader market.
The platform supports comprehensive securities coverage including UCITS funds, alternative investment funds (AIFs), exchange-traded funds (ETFs), structured products, bonds and equities. Product data encompasses both mutual funds and share classes within umbrella structures, enabling complete representation of your product range through one integration.
For alternative investment funds, the platform includes specific support for ELTIFs (European Long-Term Investment Funds) targeting retail distribution.
The system handles various fund domiciles including Luxembourg UCITS, German Spezialfonds, Irish-domiciled alternatives and UK-authorised funds. As long as products hold appropriate regulatory authorisation for German distribution, Dericon provides the infrastructure for savings bank market access.
Initial platform implementation typically requires four to six weeks for data integration, format mapping and workflow configuration. Your operations teams work with FE fundinfo technical specialists to connect upstream data sources, establish validation rules and configure distribution parameters according to your product range and operational requirements.
Following technical implementation, individual savings bank onboarding depends on institution-specific compliance processes. Some savings banks activate new asset manager products within two weeks once data integration completes. Others require extended compliance review, investment committee approval or regional association coordination that extends onboarding to 30-45 days.
The platform streamlines these timelines through standardised regulatory workflows, automated documentation distribution and systematic approval processes. Compared to traditional approaches requiring separate onboarding for each savings bank, Dericon reduces aggregate implementation time by 60-70% whilst enabling simultaneous launches across multiple institutions.
Day-to-day platform usage requires minimal operations team involvement once initial implementation completes. Automated data collection connects to your fund administration platform or transfer agent, capturing pricing updates, performance data and portfolio holdings without manual intervention. The system applies validation rules automatically and alerts your team only when upstream sources fail to deliver data on schedule or when information fails quality checks.
Fund documentation updates—prospectus revisions, regulatory template changes, marketing material modifications—require uploading new versions to the platform. The system then handles distribution to all connected savings banks automatically. Depending on your product range size and regulatory complexity, documentation maintenance typically requires two to four hours weekly from operations staff.
Adviser support and relationship development remain your responsibility. Savings banks may contact your distribution team with product questions, request presentations or seek clarification on investment strategies. The platform facilitates these communications through integrated contact management but doesn't replace the relationship development that drives distribution success.
The 15.1% growth in fund activations among Dericon cooperation partners during 2023 (compared to 0.9% for the broader market) reflects three interconnected advantages: systematic visibility to savings bank decision-makers, integrated sales support reaching advisers at point of investment decision, and reduced friction for institutions activating products.
Cooperation partners receive prominent platform presence including company branding, fund manager commentary, regular content distribution and contact visibility. This sustained exposure keeps your products top-of-mind when savings banks review product baskets or advisers research solutions for client portfolios. Non-cooperation products compete for attention through external marketing channels that lack integration into daily adviser workflows.
Sponsored product status directly reduces savings bank costs for activating your funds. Institutions that might defer product basket expansion due to budget constraints face no financial barrier for sponsored products. The economic incentive accelerates activation decisions whilst your visible investment signals product commitment that builds institutional confidence.
Finally, comprehensive regulatory support—automated equivalence checks, pre-filled approval processes, systematic documentation—removes implementation friction. Savings banks activate cooperation partner products faster because compliance workflows complete efficiently. Speed advantages compound over time as your product range gains distribution breadth ahead of competitors navigating manual onboarding processes.