Mercer investment funds rating service to roll out in Singapore and Asia

Global consultancy Mercer is set to roll-out a fund-rating service for investors across Asia with an initial launch in Singapore.

Focused on funds available to individual investors, the FundWatch service has been designed by the global consultancy Mercer with a forward-looking research methodology which assesses long-term performance prospects, analysing specific characteristics to determine the likelihood of a fund outperforming over the market cycle – with the research and ratings available publicly online.

The issuer-paid analysis tool is specifically aimed at individual investors and their financial advisors, providing insights that have generally only been available to institutional investors till this point. According to the firm, the service will include a simple rating system focused on the ‘exposure’ a fund provides and ‘net-of-fee’ future prospects, along with a bulletin updating subscribers on any changes affecting the ratings.

“The dynamic of the wealth landscape is changing rapidly. Individual investors are taking on greater responsibility for their long-term savings to fund their retirement years. Mercer FundWatch is intended to give those investors and their financial advisors access to high quality analysis on funds that has typically been available to institutional investors,” said Beverley Sharp, Strategy Leader - Investment Research, adding that the new service would “present an opportunity for Mercer to demonstrate our research, expertise and knowledge in this field.”

Sharp continued; “Singapore is the first market in which Mercer will be launching this service. We believe that the focus on investor education and financial literacy here makes it the perfect place for the inaugural launch.” Mercer’s Wealth Business Leader for Asia, Janet Li, added; “I am thrilled this service is launching in Singapore, where individual investors and their financial advisors are investment savvy, aware of the importance of self-funding retirement, and are looking for tools to help them with that goal.”

Initially only available to investors and financial advisors based in Singapore, where Mercer has recently been on the hunt for an experienced Manager Research specialist, Sharp told the investments and pensions journal Asia Assets Management that Mercer is exploring the potential to expand the offering further across Asia, with the firm “looking at other markets in which the service might be of use to investors and their financial advisors… We will look to roll it out where we think it would be beneficial to them.”

With further Asian offices in the global financial capitals of Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo among 14 throughout Asia and operations in some 130 countries worldwide, the US-headquartered Mercer notes that its FundWatch offering is backed by the firm’s global investment research, which has provided the foundation for the firm’s advice on $11 trillion worth of investments spanning over 20 years, including for some of the world’s largest investors.