Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Success Story: KID Implementation at Allianz Global Investors Europe
Overview
Under EU Directive 2009/65/EC (UCITS IV) –
which was adopted on June 13, 2009 –
European legislators introduced a require-
ment for publication of Key Investor
Documents (KIDs) for publicly available
investment funds.
The challenge facing IDS GmbH – Analysis
and Reporting Services was to create
a single, technically identical KID for the
European members of Allianz Global
Investors in Germany, Luxembourg, France,
Italy, the UK and Ireland (AllianzGI Europe).
IDS solved the complex problem by
installing an infrastructure allowing
management of KID content via a high-
performance database and production
of actual KIDs in accordance with fund-
specific parameters.
Success Story | KID Implementation | 2
Company Profile:
AllianzGI
With EUR 279 billion in assets under
management (as of January 1, 2012),
Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI)
is among the world’s leading invest-
ment firms and has a substantial
presence in the US, Europe and Asia.
Through the expertise provided by
an international network of invest-
ment specialists, AllianzGI offers
retail and institutional clients an
array of investment concepts and
asset classes.
When UCITS IV was introduced, AllianzGI
Europe had to find a way to have KIDs
produced that were identical from a
technical standpoint and featured the
company’s high-quality corporate design.
To accommodate the volume of roughly
850 unit classes, IDS set up a largely
automated process for KID production.
And – in line with the complex needs of
a leading global investment firm – IDS
implemented KID production via its own
proven reporting platform, which ensures
unrivalled flexibility and graphic quality.
Background
Under EU Directive 2009/65/EC (UCITS
IV) – adopted on June 13, 2009 – European
legislators introduced a requirement for
publication of Key Investor Documents
(KIDs) for publicly available investment
funds. The aim of this EU regulation is to
improve consumer protection: Prior to
the purchase of investment fund units,
private investors are to be given enough
information – in the form of a KID – to
adequately understand the implications
of the planned investment. The KID for a
fund is subject to strict guidelines with
respect to form and content. Essentially, it
provides investors with clear statements
on investment objectives, costs, risks
and historical performance. KIDs must be
updated at least once a year– more
frequently in the event of changes to
critical parameters (such as reassignment
of risk/reward classification).
30 countries with diverse local requirements, 16 languages,
850 unit classes: IDS tackled these challenges to implement
a uniform-designed, low-cost solution for KID production
in line with fund-specific guidelines.
Challenge
The challenge facing IDS was to create
a single, technically identical KID for the
European members of Allianz Global
Investors in Germany, Luxembourg, France,
Italy, the UK and Ireland (AllianzGI Europe).
The objective was to set up a centralized
system for data entry and monitoring of
the Synthetic Risk Reward Indicator (SRRI),
as well as ad hoc production of KIDs.
The KIDs to be created would have to be
available in a total of 16 languages and all
were to feature a uniform design.
Solution
IDS solved the complex problem by
installing an infrastructure allowing
management of KID content via a high-
performance database and production
of actual KIDs in accordance with fund-
specific parameters. The experience
possessed by IDS in use of the software
Actuate also proved an important asset
for the project: Since IDS had already
used Actuate for years to produce fact
sheets, it was not difficult to create an
optimum layout for texts of different
lengths with a unified, high-quality design
and high recognition value for the AllianzGI
brand. In the end, the efficient process
implemented by IDS ensured coordinated
and low-cost production of KIDs across
every part of the company.
Success Story | KID Implementation | 3
Mr. Polifke, Allianz Global Investors
Europe is one of the world’s leading
investment firms. How many countries
are your funds available in, and how
many unit classes are there with KIDs?
AllianzGI Europe funds are approved
for public distribution in more than 30
countries worldwide. Taking into account
all the countries where AllianzGI Europe
funds are marketed, 850 is the total
number of unit classes for which KIDs
must be produced.
What motivated you to seek out help
from an external partner for KID
production?
In order to offer our investors the best-
possible product information, it was
important to us from the very start to
ensure a comprehensive and efficient KID
process. It was clear even then that
production of the KIDs would encompass
An interview on
KID implementation
by IDS with Carina
Feider and Florian
Polifke from Allianz
Global Investors
an assortment of tasks from data manage-
ment to monitoring of the Synthetic Risk
Reward Indicator (SRRI), as well as uniform
production and distribution of the new
KIDs. So, we decided it would be more
efficient to tap into the expertise of an
experienced full-service provider.
And, how did you conclude that IDS
would be the right choice to handle this
complex project?
We started by taking a close look at around
ten different providers in a selection
process. There were a number of reasons
why we ultimately chose IDS: In general,
we were impressed by the managed
service approach that IDS offered. The
fact that the technology and services are
managed all-in-one guarantees us high
product and service quality. Another
decisive factor was that IDS – as a proven
service partner– has long-standing experi-
ence with the components data interfaces,
data warehousing, performance and risk
analysis, fact sheet production and data
hubs. And importantly, we were confident
that IDS would be able to handle not only
the setup of a largely automated process,
but also the need to include a total of 850
unit classes in multiple languages.
Florian Polifke
Director Legal
Allianz Global Investors
Europe GmbH
“KIDs were the first regulatory document that we
had to produce centrally for the entire European
fund range. Despite the unique legal situation
for funds marketed in Germany, IDS was able to
help us beat the deadline to create KIDs for these
funds as well.” Florian Polifke
Success Story | KID Implementation | 4
You just mentioned the comprehensive
and efficient approach of IDS – could you
give us a short description of what that
entails?
The services offered by IDS are truly
comprehensive: They range from initial
consultation and assistance in the
implementation phase to ongoing support
for KID production from experts with
an immense amount of experience in the
field. IDS also offers us and our clients
the greatest possible degree of security
through efficient data processing,
thorough plausibility and consistency
checks and detailed status reporting.
The setup of interfaces for exchanging
quantitative and qualitative information
between IDS and the various units of the
company was also carried out in a
structured process. Now, recording and
plausibilization of data generated in day-
to-day business is largely automated, but
there is also support for text entries by
users with the help of suitable systems.
This type of all-in-one project management
offers us complete transparency in every
step of the process, right up to final quality
control and release of the documents.
Ms. Feider, as an asset manager that
operates worldwide, AllianzGI obviously
requires KIDs in multiple languages –
how did you tackle this challenge?
The KIDs are produced in 16 different
languages. There are also a number of local
requirements (e.g. Switzerland KIDs with
expanded content) that we must comply
with. Another complicating factor was
that the required form of a KID limits the
number of pages to 2 (or 3 for structured
funds) and addresses a set of items in a
precisely defined order. With the aim
of achieving a uniform KID design for all
AllianzGI Europe funds, the greatest
challenge was to adequately cover all of
the required content without deviating
from the design guidelines.
But with the help of a high-performance
database setup specifically for our needs,
IDS found a solution to allow optimum
adherence of graphics and texts with
differing lengths to the legal requirements.
For graphic creation of the KIDs, IDS used
the Actuate system, a specific software,
which now gives us a great degree of
flexibility and graphic quality in the end
product. The long-standing experience
boasted by IDS in production of fact sheets
proved to be an important asset when it
came to creating an optimum layout for the
different text lengths.
“We view our ongoing relationship with IDS for
production of our KIDs as a complete success. We
were able to use existing data and workstations
for coordinated execution – integrating a process
of data evaluation – of the KID production
process.” Carina Feider
Carina Feider
Assistant Vice President
IDO Luxembourg – Products
AllianzGI Luxembourg S.A.
Success Story | KID Implementation | 5
And, were there any more hurdles to
overcome?
The assessment of risk classification that
must be performed at least once weekly
required a procedure that links automated
calculation of the SRRI with a rule-based,
automatic updating of the KIDs. This had
to cover all fund types under the SRRI
classification: Roughly 89% are Market
Funds, 4% are Total Return Funds, and the
remaining 7% comprises Absolute Return
Funds, Life Cycle Funds and Structured
Funds. SRRI calculation for structured
products was particularly tricky, but IDS
handled that in short order using a Monte
Carlo simulation.
To sum up: How successful was the
process of KID introduction throughout
AllianzGI?
Extremely successful. Right on target,
the KID production went live on July 1, 2011
for around 600 unit classes from our
companies in Germany, Luxembourg and
Ireland covering all SRRI fund classifica-
tions. Thus, we were able to comply with
the regulatory requirements for KIDs
starting on July 1, 2011 for funds marketed
in Germany. At the same time, early
participation in the project made AllianzGI
units in Luxembourg and Ireland pioneers
when it comes to implementation of the
uniform, pan-European KID – a process that
was successfully brought to conclusion
with inclusion of the funds from the UK,
France and Italy units on June 30, 2012.
Contact
Marianna Regecová
Tel. +49.69.2443 15607
Markus Schwank
Tel. +49.89.3800 15145
IDS GmbH – Analysis and Reporting Services
Koeniginstrasse 28, 80802 Munich, Germany
The IDS managed service approach
enabled AllianzGI Europe to set up
a uniform KID production in 16
different languages for a total of
850 unit classes in over 30 countries.
”Alongside the existing processes, IDS also installed
new tools and functionalities, and KID production went live
according to plan.“ Carina Feider
2013
-07_
EN_S
Stor
y_KI
D
