Fund comparisons in danger of becoming meaningless

As more fund groups look to launch products with ever more flexible mandates, the IMA sector categor...

As more fund groups look to launch products with ever more flexible mandates, the IMA sector categorisation system comes under increasing pressure. The IMA sectors have become the basis for the vast majority of comparative work done on fund performance but the trade body's task is becoming more difficult. Until now, there has been a large degree of commonality between retail funds launched by groups that have tended to bring out similar funds in similar markets. The result is a high degree of commoditisation in the market which, whatever its downsides, makes fund comparison pretty easy. ...