Fund research tools: How far can they go?

The launch of a new fund research service from City Financial has sparked a debate over the future expansion of the sector in the face of changing demands from advisers.

Increased regulation of advisers is forcing fund research services to provide more and more information in place of the traditional ratings service. Following a spate of research business launches in recent months, City Financial last week unveiled its own service, run by former Morningstar OBSR employees Peter Toogood, Gill Hutchison and Anthony McDonald. A key feature of the new service, called The Adviser Centre, is the high volume of information about how a given fund will behave and how it may complement other offerings. Toogood said: “People liked OBSR, but it only went halfw...