What a factsheet is for
A factsheet (or KIID/KID for regulated funds in Europe) summarises what a fund owns, what it costs, and how risky it has been. Providers update them regularly. Read the latest version on the fund manager's site, not a random PDF from a search engine.
Factsheets describe the product. They do not tell you whether it fits your goals, timeline, or tax situation.
Fees: OCF and transaction costs
The Ongoing Charges Figure (OCF) is the headline annual fee including management and operational costs. Lower is not everything - a cheap fund tracking the wrong index helps nobody - but for similar index trackers, OCF is a useful comparison point.
Transaction costs and performance fees may sit in separate lines. Over decades, a 0.5% fee difference compounds meaningfully. AltPath does not subtract your fund fees from historical price returns unless noted; apply OCF mentally when comparing long holds.
Holdings and benchmark
Check top ten holdings and country/sector weights. A "global" fund might be 70% US large cap. An ESG label still deserves a look at what is inside.
The benchmark index (for example FTSE All-World, S&P 500) tells you what "market" the fund tries to match or beat. Compare the fund's historical returns to that index, not to a random stock story you saw online.
Risk and past performance
Risk ratings on factsheets are simplified scales. Volatility measures how bumpy the ride was. A higher return year often came with deeper drawdowns somewhere in the chart.
Past performance tables on factsheets carry the same warning as our calculators: they describe history. Use AltPath to replay a fund ticker (many ETFs use a .L suffix on the London exchange) and see drawdowns, not just headline ten-year returns.
Practical checklist
Before you buy, skim these lines on the factsheet:
- Fund objective - index tracker vs active stock picking.
- OCF and dealing charges on your platform.
- Domicile and withholding tax (relevant for US equities).
- Distribution vs accumulation share class.
- Currency of the fund vs your spending currency.
