They’re ba-ack! Are you prepared for year-end investment commentaries?
Year-end investment commentaries are coming. And they’ll stop for no one!
While we’re just having a little fun with the title, we do produce 1000s of commentaries every year. So, we know the pressures you face.
Investment commentaries involve content from many sources, need numerous reviews and approvals, and have non-negotiable timelines.
To make the process as streamlined as possible, it helps to compile some key information in one document – and as early in the process as possible. We recommend starting today. It will help remove a lot of the stress that comes with commentary projects.
Create a fund info list
It’s worth the time to create a reliable reference list that includes full and correct information for things that need to be precise, or that you need to check often. Over the years we’ve learned to include:
1. Fund names
Use exact names – is it Canadian Small Cap Fund or Canadian Small-Cap Fund? Be sure to update this list with any new mandates or name changes (TIP: a Simplified Prospectus is often the best place to confirm full fund names).
2. Benchmark names
Precision helps here too. These are difficult to check against external sources. Even the index providers themselves can use different names on their websites, so your company’s style should be followed.
3. Portfolio manager and sub-advisor names
Keep an exact list and update it regularly, since sub-advisors change often and companies’ legal names do as well.
4. Underlying funds
The more exact the list, the easier it will be to cross-reference your information. This becomes more important as your firm launches more fund-of-fund and managed solutions.
5. Inception date
This information will help your writers know how to position the attribution information in your commentaries. Again, if your firm is expanding its product shelf, you can avoid wasted time working on commentaries that should not have performance info.
Remember your translators
If you produce investment commentaries in more than one language, a version of this list with your company’s chosen terminologies will be invaluable for translators. This document could literally save your firm hours of work.
Next steps
Share this list with your writers, editors, reviewers – and anyone else who may need to use or check this kind of information. While everyone should be able to see this document, a much smaller group should be able to edit it.
A fund info list is powerful when it is reliable. If not, it’s about as useful as an old TV from the 80s.
Let us help you produce high-quality investment commentaries. Contact us at 416.925.1700, 844.243.1830 or info@ext-marketing.com.
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