APFI News & Events

'The Association of Professional Fund Investors (APFI) today announces changes to its board. This includes the resignation of director Roland Meerdter and the new appointment of Jon ('JB') Beckett, UK Director, to the board. These changes follow the ongoing growth of the APFI membership and the launch of the DOOR proposition. The APFI Board wishes to thank Roland for his tireless efforts to promote the APFI, professionalism in fund investing and global due diligence project, which has culminated in the successful launch of DOOR. The first truly global on-demand electronic due diligence questionnaire (E-DDQ) platform. DOOR is endorsed by the APFI, which will continue to identify and advise best practice on behalf of its members. The Board also welcomes JB, as newly appointed director, who has been a long supporter, technology advocate and UK Lead for the APFI. Read the full release here.

You are likely aware that APFI has collaborated on an initiative to save our members time in collecting and organising fund information for due diligence, using a standard questionnaire built on best practice.  Finally, the due diligence information gathering process is moving out of the age of Word and Excel documents traded through emails – the Standard Questionnaire is digital!

The due diligence platform has launched and we have secured priority access for APFI members and their teams.

Some background

After one of APFI’s regular events during which the idea of standardisation was discussed and endorsed, a group of APFI members created a working group to create a series of standard due diligence questionnaires.

The potential benefits of standardisation were clear, but there were still major limitations in the way that information is exchanged.  An obvious solution was to go digital.  But to create a platform would require investment to flourish and it needed the support of the asset management community.

Door – a digital platform for fund due diligence.

Early in 2016, Roland Meerdter, one of APFI’s founders, began working to create a digital solution.  To ensure that the platform would also benefit asset management companies and gain strong adoption, Rob Sanders, formerly Aberdeen’s Global Head of Marketing, joined with Roland to work on the process and secure necessary support.  It was recognised that the highest likelihood of success would be through collaboration across the industry.

Door collaborated with 10 fund investor firms and 12 global asset managers to streamline the due diligence process and deliver value for all stakeholders. Jauri Hakka and JB Beckett, members of the APFI leadership team, have worked as part of the collaborative group, ensuring that APFI members’ interests were represented.

Door has recently launched the first version of the digital platform. 20 global and boutique asset managers have committed to providing up to date, robust information on their funds in the standard format. 37 fund investor firms have already registered to use Door. Recognised as a much-needed driver of efficiency, this initiative has received strong support across the industry. 

Door is free for fund investors to use.

Your free access to Door

APFI is endorsing the Door initiative as a means to reduce the workload of professional fund investors allowing for more time to be spent on analysing rather than gathering basic information. As a service to members, we will register you and your fund investor colleagues for free priority access.

Door is currently onboarding fund investors in groups of 100 in order to ensure a smooth launch process – we understand that those spots are filling quickly.  If you do not wish to be registered, please let us know.  

We need your business contact information

So that Door can register you, APFI will need your business email address for identity and information security reasons. Please send this to support@profundinvestors.org. Door will contact you directly once you provide APFI with this information.

If you would like to register any colleagues, please let the Door Team know directly: mnwachuku@doorfunds.com. Please remember that Door will only provide access to professional fund investors - those involved in the research and selection of funds. We recommend that you get your team access at this early stage so that you may all benefit from the efficiencies the Door platform will provide.

Kind regards,

Mussie Kidane, Jon "JB" Beckett & Jauri Hakka

APFI

    Leading fund investors and asset managers collaborate to streamline, digitise and standardise fund due diligence processes The processes used by fund investors to gather information from asset managers has always been a time consuming exercise. But their need for transparency, speed of analysis and the ability to compare across qualitative information sets has never been greater! The industry is coming together to co-create a new solution. Supported by the Association of Professional Fund Investors to represent industry best practice, key Fund Investors from 10 leading Distributors, such as Mediolanum, Santander, EFG and Pictet Bank are collaborating with 12 major asset managers, such as Aberdeen, Columbia Threadneedle, Franklin Templeton, M&G, Nordea Asset Management, Pictet Asset Management and Schroders. They aim to solve a common problem. See the full press release here.

  Personality of the Year Awards: Switzerland: Mussie Kidane, Global Head of Fund & Manager Selection, Banque Pictet & Cie Nordics: Jauri Häkkä, Managing Director, Widhaby Advisors UK: JB Beckett, Author of New Fund Order, Scottish Widows and the Association of Professional Fund Investors Read the full piece on Investment Europe: Fund Manager of the Year Awards – Winners!

In the Investment Quorum piece Taking the P? Sending up ‘Price’ in Fund Selection Jon ‘JB’ Beckett discusses the 200 pages that make up the FCA Interim Market Study Report (MS15/2.2). Questions as to the effectiveness of investment consulting; selecting active managers and negotiating costs have arisen.  Buried deep in its report, in chapter 8 (from page 180), the FCA critiques the Multi-P (‘X-P’) approach used by many fund rating agencies and investment consultants. Why do fund buyers, consultants and agencies use a X-P approach and how does embedding Price into that process impact the findings of the FCA? To read the full piece: Taking the P? Sending up ‘Price’ in Fund Selection

APFI has been invited by Tell Media Group to hold another APFI Nordic Summit this year exploring the implications of digitalization on the role and function of professional fund investors. This event coincides with the seventh annual Nordic Fund Selection Awards in Stockholm on November 10. We will debate:

• Striking a balance – is there a role for robo-selectors and where does that leave humans?
• Exploring the potential efficiencies of a digital standard for due diligence information gathering.
• Is the rise of passive investing a natural outcome of digitalisation and what are its limits?

In the Citywire piece 'Meerdter: how to strike a balance between art & science in selection' Roland Meerdter reveals how asset allocators can avoid wasted man hours on the hunt for top managers. This is part two of a two part series. To see part one: Time-saving tactics: how fund selectors can avoid wasted work. Roland Meerdter writes: "The greatest threat to the future role of professional fund investors is not robots or regulators; it is information overload. There are tens of thousands of unique funds available for investment..."

In the Citywire piece 'Time-saving tactics: how fund selectors can avoid wasted work' Roland Meerdter reveals how asset allocators can avoid wasted man hours on the hunt for top managers. This is part one of a two part series. To see part two: Meerdter: how to strike a balance between art & science in selection. Roland Meerdter writes: "Professional fund investors are spending too much time gathering and organising basic due diligence information on funds and not enough on analysis and decision-making. The problem is that the job is becoming more demanding in all the wrong ways..."