Since the fast and comprehensive supply of mutual fund data is getting more and more important especially for the sales departments of investment companies, the unification of data exchange within and among investment companies is a welcome development.

Not only do the sales departments benefit from the harmonisation of the data exchange, the IT-departments of the companies concerned take many advantages of this development as well. During the past years a variety of inhomogeneous systems was developed parallelly, of which only some were connected by the most different interfaces. Concentrating on one single interface and successively displacing existing interfaces offers the chance to reduce the maintenance effort and consequently reduce the time and money spent. Installation and distribution is much easier compared to existing solutions since leading software companies offer extensive support for the implementation of XML interfaces in current computer languages. As a result, existing data bases can be used furthermore, since modern development environments offer tools supporting the implementation. Future add-ons thus have not to be carried out at each interface but only at one single interface. Consequently consumer solutions can be implemented faster and easier.

By transferirng historic fund data into XML this data can be used easier for automatic further processing in the future. A faster access therefore is made possible. For consumers and rating agencies the consistent standard and fast access to data via the internet offers a potentially higher transparency compared to the handling in the past. The fund data can be aggregated at the computer via the internet fast and do not have to be compiled from brochures that are in some cases published only once a year any longer.

Especially smaller investment companies are sceptical about the new standard at present, since the integration of FundsXML takes some effort. As FundsXML is an open and free project this offers the chances to benefit from the large companies‘ experience and knowledge. With regard to the electronic supply of fund data to federal authorities basics were provided.

FundsXML is an open standard, allowing interested parties not only to have free access to the data definitions but also to influence further developments. All information about the project is available at www.fundsxml.org. Furthermore the original members developed examples and tutorials for the technical implementation. To complete the offer of information these examples and tutorials can be downloaded at the website.

International Transfer

As the large German investment companies are represented across Europe by their subsidiaries, it is in these companies‘ interest to establish the standard for the exchange of mutual fund data abroad as well. At present, these investment companies meet with some obstacles. Local laws and regulations diverge from their corresponding German equivalents. Therefore it is an aspiration of the FEFSI to advance the harmonisation of the laws and regulations within the European Union. This will be necessary in so far as an adjustment of the laws concerning the investment companies within the European Union is supposed to replace the local regulations in the future. The investment companies will then be asked to no longer report to their local authorities but to the higher ranking European authorities.