Updated Articles

  1. How is the portfolio composition graph calculated?

    The portfolio composition graph shows how the split of investments in a portfolio changes over time as a result of each fund performing differently. It is particularly useful in helping clients to understand that asset allocations need t...
  2. Can I create a panel of products?

    Synaptic’s comprehensive   market research   can be used to establish panels and/or lists of approved products. Panels can be based on either of the following two things, or a combination of them: A manual selection of approved contracts. ...
  3. How do I use Manual fund lists?

    As described above, a manual fund list is simply an ad hoc list of funds chosen by you, rather than a list of funds which have something in common – such as unit trusts in the same sector, funds linked to a specific contract etc. You add funds to a...
  4. How is the monthly premium graph calculated?

    The monthly premium graph shows the performance of a £100 monthly investment into the fund(s) over the chosen time period. One of its uses is to demonstrate to clients the potential benefits of pound-cost averaging. Performance will obviously be...
  5. How is the portfolio value graph calculated?

    The portfolio value graph can be used for a projection of two things: either the performance of a hypothetical portfolio starting n years ago, or the historical performance of a current portfolio given its current holdings. You specify the am...
  6. Can I produce a Portfolio report?

    You can generate a report about a portfolio by viewing the portfolio settings and then clicking on the Report button at the bottom of the pop-up screen. The report about a portfolio consists of the following parts: The name of t...
  7. How is the performance vs. volatility graph calculated?

    The performance vs. volatility graph shows a plot of a fund’s annualised performance (on the X axis) versus its volatility over the same period (on the Y axis). The graph is most useful when comparing multiple funds rather than a single fund, as i...
  8. What fund reports can I produce?

    You can generate suitability reports for fund research in exactly the   same way as for product research: you use the   Report   link on the menu bar of either the filtering screen or the ranking screen. As ever, it is worth bearing in mind that...
  9. What is the difference between Quick reports and Suitability reports?

    The final stage in the client-focused research process is to generate documentation for the client explaining which contract you are recommending, and why.   N.B. Don’t forget that the system can be used to generate many other types of “repor...
  10. How do I start fund research?

    You start fund research by choosing one of the types from the  Fund Data  section on the  Investments  tab of the Home page. The screenshot below shows this tab with the fund section highlighted.  You then have the option...