It’s that time of year again, when the UCITS KIIDs need to be refreshed, republished and re-distributed, all within 35 business days of the calendar year end. It’s time to start managing the KIIDs.
It should be easy… right? Maybe not. Perhaps there’s a few hidden challenges in the process, and some processes that could be improved. Let’s take a look at the more common industry challenges and identify “best practice” solutions.
Updated data
The underlying golden source data should be updated on an on-going basis and changes should not be saved up to be a once a year update. Ideally, the primary golden source data automatically feeds through to the KIID reporting system and any changes made to the source data automatically cause the impacted KIIDs to re-render and reflect the updated data.
Consistent data – with factsheets, website, client portal etc.
The golden source data should be the central source of data for all reporting; for KIIDs, factsheets, for the website and client portal, and all other client reporting. Consistency of reporting is key, such that all reporting outputs should reflect the same values and at the same time.
Checking and sign off
Individual tick backs and checks of the completed KIIDs is extremely time-consuming and should be unnecessary if the production process is automated, flexible, reliable and accurate. The underlying data should be subject to a strict change control process, and the quality and accuracy of data should be created within the process, not checked for – after the process. The reporting template should automatically flex and adjust depending on the vehicle, fund, subfund, share-class and region/language being reported, and automatically highlight any exceptions for user review. All the completed KIIDs should automatically be created and approved. With the right systems and processes there really is no need to individually review and check each KIID report.
Automated distribution
Upon approval of the KIIDs, the system should automatically distribute the completed KIIDs to websites and the client portal, as well as to 3rd party platforms, and other parties as required. This should be a fully automated process, that is rules driven, and backed up with an audit trail of where, when and by what method, each KIID was distributed. Appropriate and dynamic meta-data should be embedded within the pdf output, to allow machine reading, filing and display. Again, no need for manual intervention. This should be a straight-through and highly automated process.
Audit trail
The entire preparation, production and distribution process should be supported by an automated and full audit trail, including details of the date and time of every step and activity in the entire and-to-end process.
If your process is not automated, or your KIIDs are unruly and out of control and worrying you, contact us and we will help tame them with our cloud based reporting system. KIIDs take circa 2-3 weeks to on-board to our solution, if you use our standard data file and data dictionary, we can have you up and running in about a week.
Learn more about Reporting as a Service, our cloud based reporting solution, at www.opus-nebula.com and email [email protected] to arrange a meeting and see a live demonstration of the system.