Retail Fund Toolkit: Setup and Operation

Owned by Pamela Totas (Deactivated), created
Last updated: Jan 23, 2024
3 min read

The Toolkit includes components that allow for different “frequency specific” workflows. Each of the three workflows (daily, monthly, and quarterly) can exist independently or in conjunction with one another. If you do not need to take advantage of any one of the workflow frequencies, you can choose to ignore it. This is achieved by simply keeping the automatic commit option disabled on the Dynamic NAV Returns report associated with the irrelevant frequency.

Each workflow follows a simple and similar pattern:

1. NAV Interface. Load fund accounting data via standard NAV interface. This is a shared step and not dependent on downstream events.

2. Dynamic NAV Returns Report. Based on your chosen workflow(s), schedule the appropriate Dynamic NAV Returns report to calculate and commit the returns and referential data associated with that workflow. For example, if you wish to deploy all three workflow frequencies, schedule each of the three following Dynamic NAV Returns reports and turn on the commit option.

  • EglDNR-DailyStdPerf. Short term returns (daily, MTD, QTD, YTD, and so on) that are typically reviewed on a daily basis. This report stores the calculated performance statistics with a ‘daily’ frequency flag.

  • EglDNR-MonthlyStdPerf. Longer term returns (1, 5 10, ITD, and so on) that are typically reviewed on a monthly basis. This report stores the calculated performance statistics with a ‘monthly’ frequency flag.

  • EglDNR-QuarterlyStdPerf. Quarterly return (et al) calculated and stored each quarter to support ’10 years of quarterly performance’ reporting. This report stores the calculated performance statistics with a ‘quarterly’ frequency flag.

Note that if any of the standard performance reports above either include data you do not wish to support or is missing information you need, the reports can be copied and modified to meet your exact needs.

3. To review performance you can either:

  • View the output of the reports noted in step 2 by navigating to the report studio results tab, or

  • Commit Journal. Use the Commit Journal to review calculated returns. The Toolkit reports commit returns as preliminary. You can either use these returns as is, or choose to enhance your workflow by instituting a process whereby returns must be finalized prior to use in downstream reports. Note that all system components can be used with preliminary returns. Finalized performance is an optional workflow that must be configured separately based on specific business requirements.

4. NAV Query Reports. If a fund has a suspect return, you can use one of the NAV Query reports to review and validate the fund accounting data loaded to the system. Just set the report to run for the fund and dates in question and scan the output for suspect data.

5. NAV Maintenance. If errant data is found in the system, the best practice is to get a new, valid fund accounting extract and reload it through the standard NAV interface. Alternatively, you can use NAV Maintenance to manually fix or reclassify data. NAV Maintenance allows you to reuse the NAV Query report (from step 4) to fetch the data you need to modify. There is also a set of query filters for quick access. The scrub journal tracks all changes over time.

6. Process Manager. Once the corrected fund accounting data is in the system, you can update stored performance. The Process Manager can be configured to automatically rerun the appropriate reports for the affected fund/dates to re-sync returns. Firms have varying policies on when, and if, returns should be restated. Therefore the Toolkit does not include a standard re-sync process. Alternatively, the reports can be resubmitted at any time for any fund/date combination on a manual basis. To do this, simply navigate to the report studio and run the report for the affected fund and dates.

7. Frequency Based Trend Analysis in Query Tool. Once performance is calculated and committed, you can do frequency based trend analysis in the Query Tool. There is one Query Tool report for each of the three underlying Dynamic NAV Returns reports noted above, as follows:

  • eglQT-MFPDailyStdPerf. Displays all daily performance statistics for a rolling 31 day period. This query can be customized to display any number of days.

  • eglQT-MFPMonthlyStdPerf. Displays all monthly performance statistics for a rolling 12 month period. Can be customized to display any number of months.

  • eglQT-MFPQuarterlyStdPerf. Displays all quarterly performance statistics for a rolling 10 year period. Can be customized to display any number of quarters.