FACTS Terminology

FACTS Terminology

In common usage, Investment Accounts and Pools are sometimes called Funds. However, FIMS observes a strict distinction among these terms.

Funds

The term Funds refers to named Funds in FIMS that each have their own Fund record and General Ledger.

NOTE: Compound Funds can be tracked by linking Fund records as Master/Subordinate Funds.

Many Funds can participate in a single Investment Pool, and it is also possible for the assets from a single Fund to be invested in more than one Pool.

NOTE: Refer to the Fund Management module for more information on working with Fund records in FIMS.

Investment Pools

An Investment Pool is a group of Funds whose assets are combined in order to gain economies of scale with respect to purchasing and selling investments, administration, and fees. Each Pool generally contains the assets of at least two Funds and may be invested in one or many Investment Accounts.

NOTE: It is possible to have a Pool that only contains the assets of a single Fund. For example, when you first create a Pool, it might only contain a single Fund. Some organizations also use FACTS to reconcile statements that only contain the assets of a single Fund.

FIMS uses Investment Pool records to identify Pools. Refer to Creating Pool Records for more information.

Investment Accounts

An Investment Account is a generic FACTS term for a bank account, custodial account, investment manager, or any other investment entity. Each Investment Account provides a periodic (usually monthly) statement of activity and an account balance.

Each Pool may be invested in one or more Investment Accounts. When you are trying to determine the number of Investment Accounts you will need for a Pool, it is useful to think in terms of the number of statements you receive.

In FIMS, Investment Accounts within the Pool are identified by the Custodial / Bank Account record.

NOTE: If you plan to use the Asset Rebalancing system to help manage your portfolio, you may want to create a separate Pool for each Investment Account. Refer to Using Asset Rebalancing in the General Ledger module for more information about Asset Rebalancing in FIMS.