Updated Articles

  1. Can I generate multiple fund factsheets and graphs?

    You can generate a factsheet for a single fund by clicking on its name in the grid. You can create a graph for the fund by right-clicking over the name and choosing Graph from the pop-up menu (or by opening the fund factsheet, and then choosing th...
  2. Do you have Ethical funds on the system?

    If a fund has an ethical policy, its factsheet will include a green marker at the bottom of the first section which gives the basic details of the fund. This is illustrated and highlighted in the first screenshot. Clicking on the link in this bo...
  3. How do I import filtering from old research?

    You can re-use the filtering you’ve already created in a piece of existing research by importing it into the research you’re currently carrying out. You can also import shared research which has been created by your compliance officer. You do th...
  4. How are the ranking scores calculated?

    The ranking scores for each item are calculated by taking the values for the item (e.g. surrender values), placing them in order, and then allocating scores to each contract based on their position in the ranked list. If there are 10 contracts, the...
  5. Can I manually exclude contracts?

    As well as (or instead of) filtering the grid of contracts, you can also manually select which contracts to include. This is particularly useful for comparing a specific set of contracts rather than the whole of market – e.g. product provider compet...
  6. How do you calculate the Stochastic projection graphs?

    The stochastic projection graphs use a fund’s historic returns to estimate the probability of future returns. Synaptic Research runs 10,000 Monte Carlo projections per fund and then shows every fifth percentile return between the 5 th and 95 th...
  7. Where can I find Special offers?

    A list of all current special offers is available from the   Resource Centre. (If your firm has paid for access to the special offer data,   but not the Resource Centre, then the link to the special offers page is   instead displayed on the men...
  8. Can I sort the grid in the filtering screen?

    By default, the grid of contracts is sorted by company name and then by contract name. The field on which the grid is currently sorted is highlighted in a darker blue. You can sort the grid on a different column simply by clicking on the column...
  9. How is the returns each month graph calculated?

    The graph of returns each month simply shows the fund's percentage gain/loss each month as a series of columns. The spikiness of the graph is obviously one indicator of volatility.   You can choose to include the sector average or a stock...
  10. Can I research new and existing business?

    Synaptic has over fifteen years of experience of providing tools to financial advisers which enable them to research new business quickly and efficiently, and to document their recommendations. Synaptic Research continues to model “best practice” r...