The Barclays Fund Factsheets tool provides a wealth of detailed information on any UK retail fund (including Unit Trusts and OEICs).
The factsheets are divided into four pages:
Fund Summary
Fund Performance
Fund Holdings
Fund Manager Profile
The Performance page provides a much more in depth look at the past performance of the fund and it's parent sector
The page is divided into 6 main sections:
Performance Chart :
A performance chart for the past 5 years where available.
Percentage Growth:
Total returns performance for the fund and sector for 12 months up until the end of the last quarter and four years previous. This method of displaying data has been specified by the FSA who are keen to keep all performance information for funds consistent between fund managers. Irrespective of how frequently they produce factsheets. The table also provides fund performance relative to it's sector - showing positive or negative percentage figures above or below the sector. 'Total Returns' refers to the changing price of a fund assuming that any dividends paid are reinvested into the fund at the payment date.
Cumulative Fund Performance:
Showing Total Returns performance for a number of specified periods up until the current date. For example 3 months ago until now or 3 years ago until now. 'Total Returns' refers to the changing price of a fund assuming that any dividends paid are reinvested into the fund at the payment date.
Fund Rank Information:
Here we have a graphical representation of a funds quartile rank - the top box being blue indicates that the fund is in quartile 1 for the selected period and the bottom box would indicate quartile 4. Quartile ranking describes where a fund sits within it's parent sector in terms of performance over a given period. For example if a fund is the number 4 fund within a sector containing 100 funds it would sit within the top quartile (quartile 1).
This table also shows rank within sector - this rank is made up of two numbers firstly the rank (top performer, worst performer etc) then the number of funds within the sector (e.g. 40). For example a fund could have 12 / 40 which would show that the fund was the 12th best performing fund within a sector containing 40 funds.
Scatterchart:
Factsheets contain a compact version of the full Scatterchart tool. For more details on how Scattercharts work please click here.
Ratios and Ratings:
This section provides the following technical analysis of a fund:
1. Alpha
Alpha is a measure of expected return when the benchmark produces no movement. Alpha should be positive, and the higher the better.
2. Beta
Beta is the amount a fund is expected to gain or lose when the benchmark moves by one unit. It takes account of the relative risk of the fund as well as the correlation of movements between the fund and the benchmark.
3. Sharpe Ratio
Sharpe Ratio is a measure to access whether the relationship between a fund’s risk and its return is good or bad. Sharpe ratio should be positive, and the higher the better
4. R Squared
Rsquared measures the quality of the correlation between two series of data. It is the square of the correlation. One can measure the quality of the relationship between two investments, or an investment and its benchmark.
5. Volatility
Set maximum or minimum % volatility or search for funds with % volatility within a specific range. Volatility relates to the changing price of a fund over a specific period - also know as risk
Financial Express Crown Rating:
For a detailed definition of an FE Crown Rating please click here.
You can navigate to other pages within the fund factsheet by clicking one of the links at the top of the page.