MICAP, the leading provider of research and reporting solutions to financial advisers and wealth managers recommending tax-advantaged products, has launched a new score to rate funds on their fees and charges.
MICAP’s research tool allows the 1000+ financial advice and wealth management firms that subscribe to its platform to quickly filter the market down to a shortlist based on dozens of filters, including its proprietary scoring system.
Rather than giving each fund an overall score, MICAP scores each fund across a number of different key areas so the shortlisted funds are tailored to the individual client’s financial needs. The areas scored are: the manager, the track record of the fund, the level of diversification, the stage of companies targeted, the exit strategy, any liquidity, the manager’s HMRC procedures and the fund’s regulatory status. The new Fees & Charges score marks its ninth score.
To launch the score, MICAP captures not just the fees outlined in the fund’s marketing material, but also the fees that managers are charging to investee companies, which are typically not disclosed.
Mark O’Donnell, Head of Research at MICAP, said: “We have been thinking long and hard about how we can better support advisers struggling with the implementation of Consumer Duty into their advice process. This new score follows a number of initiatives launched this year such as our Track Record score and making fair value assessments and target market statements available on the platform.
“Assessing fees in the tax-advantaged market is notoriously difficult for a number of reasons, not least because investment managers are not obliged to publish the fees they charge to investee companies. We are immensely proud of our new Fees & Charges scores which we hope will bring increased transparency to the sector, and allow advisers to demonstrate their compliance with Consumer Duty with just a few clicks of their mouse.”
Earlier this year Defaqto, one of the UK’s most trusted sources of financial product and market intelligence, acquired MICAP to extend its reach from multi-asset, single strategy and MPS investment products into tax-advantaged products.
