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UK Firms Collaborate To Launch Online Research Centre For Investors
The UK Association of Investment Companies has launched an online research centre as part of an initiative to give investors better access to investment data, analysis and news.
The launch of the investment company centre on www.DigitalLook.com is aimed at giving investors greater investment opportunities by increasing the availability and quality of investment company information.
Along with the Digital Look website, the AIC has partnered with investment company data provider Fundamental Data, along with other data platforms. The project has also gained the support of fund managers and investment companies which represent 132 firms within the investment management industry.
Plans to expand the profile of the investment company centre are already underway, and it will soon be available on other broking and research sites including Alliance Trust Savings, Charles Stanley Fastrade and The Share Centre.
The AIC project is a response to growing numbers of people using the internet to research investments. This trend is particularly evident in the US: according to research by the Investment Companies Institute, the AIC’s US counterpart, 58 per cent of mutual fund shareholders in the US have used the internet to obtain investment information.
Data from UK investment firms also testifies to the increasing importance of online information to investors. Aberdeen Asset Management reports that 35,000 private investors now choose to receive its monthly emails – in 2005 that figure was just 2,000.
“We can all see the increase in financial products being bought online through broker sites and advisor platforms, and the increasing use made of the web as a research tool.
“The data on which those decisions are based must be complete and useful both for individuals and for advisors,” said Chris Fletcher, head of retail investments at Edinburgh-based investment manager Baillie Gifford.
