Square Mile and FE fundinfo launch food label-style Fund Dashboard for advisers

Fund Dashboard combines Square Mile's qualitative fund research with FE fundinfo's quantitative analysis in a bid to deliver a "significant" amount of information and data in a simple format.

The dashboard is an interactive interface of five key fund elements that advisers consider when choosing investments, and dashboard users can click on each of the five elements to find deeper analysis and insight.

It follows on from broad industry consultation after the two firms revealed their intention to build the dashboard in December 2019, when decisions were made over which elements should be included as well as further feedback 

Below is an example of the dashboard with data relating to the Stewart Asia Pacific Leaders B Acc

The Fund Dashboard will be displayed alongside each fund in Square Mile's free-to-access Academy of Funds and with the FE Analytics platform.

The firms said the ratings are underpinned by the following five pillars:

• Opinion: A combination of a qualitative and quantitative assessment of a fund's ability to meet its objectives through Square Mile's ratings and FE fundinfo's Crown Fund ratings respectively. The Square Mile rating also indicates whether the fund has a responsible outcome or target built into its objective or mandate.
• Performance: A representation of a fund's absolute annualised return over 3 years, or since inception if the fund's history is shorter. If a primary output is income, the fund's current yield is shown instead. In addition, the fund's success is shown as a percentage of time the fund has achieved its investment objective or Square Mile's expected outcome over the stipulated time frame.
• Risk: An assessment of the risk of the fund and the asset class in which it invests as well as its Synthetic Risk and Reward Indicator (SRRI) profile. The fund's maximum drawdown during the last 3 years or 1 year if the fund has a shorter history.
• Cost: An overview of the fund's ongoing charges, its ex-ante transaction costs and the total cost of ownership. The ongoing charge and transaction costs are sourced from the European MiFID Template (EMT), provided by fund managers' data teams to FE fundinfo. The comparison as illustrated by the value-o-meter shows funds in the same peer group on a like for like basis i.e. active vs. active and passive vs. passive.
• An assessment of ESG credentials at a company and fund level based on Square Mile's ESG Integration Assessments. These are expressed by one of seven grades to reflect this level of ESG integration.

Square Mile managing director Richard Romer-Lee said: "The aim of the Fund Dashboard is to introduce greater clarity on a number of areas to support advisers in their fund selection. It is designed to be simple and intuitive, delivering a large amount of essential fund information through an easy-to-interpret digital platform.

"We have received very positive, constructive feedback on this initiative from advisers, asset managers and the IA throughout its development.  We believe the Fund Dashboard provides a comprehensive level of information on the five core elements which were identified as being the most important for advisers when considering suitable investments for their clients." 

He added: "The investment industry has a duty to make fund information more accessible and easier for advisers to interpret: the Fund Dashboard is aimed at meeting that obligation."

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