How to read a fund factsheet

The factsheet is just one of the documents you’ll need to read before making any investment decision. The main document is the simplified prospectus that provides the most detail about an investment product.

Fund factsheets give general information on the fund and focus on things such as investment objective, sector allocation and past investment performance, although this is not a guide to what could happen in the future.

They group key information into sections and an explanation of each can be found below:

• Change on Day
  This shows how much the value of the fund has moved down or up in the last working day.
• Yield
  Where the fund pays out an income or dividend, the yield, which is displayed as a percentage, shows the current return on an annual basis. A fund may pay a yield even if the value of the fund is dropping. Remember that if you ask for any income or dividends to be paid to you, the fund will not grow as quickly as it would if you left your income in the investment.
• Unit Type
  This can be either income (it pays out any income or dividends from the fund to you) or accumulation (any income or dividends are left in the fund to help it grow) aiding capital growth.
• Crown Rating
  Financial Express provides and collates data on fund performance and risk to create an independent Crown Rating, which we use to portray a fund's past performance relative to its peer group.
  
  The Crown Ratings are designed to highlight funds that have had superior, consistent performance in relation to risk, relative to their peer groups in the different fund sectors.
  
  Crown Ratings are compiled using three key measurements of a fund's performance – alpha (how much value a fund manager has added to a fund that just tracks an index), volatility (how much a fund moves up and down) and consistency (how a fund has performed over the long term). Funds are rated using 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 crowns with 5 being the highest rating.
• Sector
  Funds are grouped into sectors based upon their objective. This helps you to choose funds that could be in a sector you may wish to invest in. Examples include, UK Smaller companies and Global Emerging Markets.
• Fund Type
  This describes the structure of the fund. There are two main types: a unit trust and an Open Ended Investment Company (OEIC). There are some underlying differences between them but the main one is that an OEIC only has one price and it is the same for buying and selling units whereas a unit trust may have two, a buy price and a sell price (with a spread - the difference between the two, which is retained as a charge by the fund's manager).
• Fund Size
  This is the value of all the investments in the fund. As a general rule the larger the fund, the more popular it is. 
• Launch Date
  A fund that has been around longer will have a demonstrable track record so you can see how it may have performed over different periods though, of course, this is not a reliable indicator of how it will perform in the future.
• Fund Objective
  This states the official aim or objective of the fund, as approved by the fund provider.
• Manager Information
  A fund manager is responsible for making the investment decisions within a fund. This involves which companies or assets to invest in and the portion of the fund to allocate to the chosen investments. You can read a little about the fund manager's history, their qualifications and other positions they may have held.
• Purchase Information
  States the standard initial charge you might pay when purchasing from a financial adviser, the effective initial charge you will pay when investing through Barclays Investments and the annual management charge that the fund manager takes for managing the fund on your behalf.
• Performance Tab
  Shows past performance of the fund in graphic and tabular formats.

• Graph
  The graph shows performance of the fund against its sector. This is not a reliable indicator of how it will perform in the future.
• Cumulative performance
  This shows the fund's percentage growth over different time periods. It also shows the performance in relation to its sector and their average against other funds in that sector.
• Discrete Past Performance
  This shows how the fund has performed throughout different one-year periods over the last five years. As with cumulative performance, this shows the fund's performance versus the fund's sector and its rank within that sector.

• Fund Holdings
  Some funds invest in hundreds of different companies. This section shows the top 10 holdings of the fund (by value) and shows the combined value of these holdings as a proportion of the overall fund.
• Asset Breakdown
  This shows in which types of asset or investment the money within the fund is invested. Examples are cash, property, bonds, equities and commodities.  
• Region Breakdown
  This shows how the money within the fund is invested by geographical region. Examples include: the UK, Europe and Japan.
• Sector Breakdown
  Whilst the asset breakdown shows in what type of assets your fund is invested the sector shows in what industries these assets are invested. Examples include: Financials, Healthcare and Telecommunications.

Next steps:

• Read the fund factsheet, the product brochure and terms and conditions for any funds you're interested in.
• View our Investment products

How to apply:

• If you know what risk you're happy to take and are comfortable making your own investment decisions without the help of a financial adviser, view our Investment products and read our brochures before applying online from just £3,000.
• If you would like assistance or are an existing Barclays customer and would like to make an application by telephone, please call 0800 445443 ¹.
• Remember: if you are unsure if an investment is right for you, please seek independent financial advice.