Research

Research assignments undertaken by FOX provide clients with proprietary qualitative and quantitative research across a number of tailored wholesale listed and unlisted products (or strategies) as directed by client. Other research assignments are for internal purposes, such as new or emerging Fund Manager capabilities. The following wholesale strategies and/or products covered include:

• Unlisted Funds - Proprietary research across Australian and International Shares, Property, Alternative Growth strategies (Commodities , Infrastructure and Managed Futures), Fixed Interest, Cash and Alternative Defensive strategies such as Hedge Funds and Hybrid Debt
• Listed Funds - Such as Exchange Traded Funds (ETF's)
• SMSF & IMA/SMA Strategies
• Concentrated Alpha strategies involving direst shares
• Structured Products - Derivative and Synthetic exposures

An example of how a listed Fund Manager product, such as an ETF, would be researched and an internal assessment determined:

From the weighted score achieved in the assessment, following the ranking of the underlying categories, the product is assigned a rating based on the aggregate final score achieved. Scores for each sub-category are based on 1 to 5 with 1 being poor and 5 being outstanding. In the above example, the Fund would have a "Well Regarded" rating and being above Investment Grade, would be suitable for inclusion in an Approved Product List (APL) from which Model Portfolio products are typically chosen for each asset class. The higher the rating, the stronger the conviction behind the choice.

Rating the Scores

The rating score card is the basis for determining the internal Product rating. The product above scored a weighted score of 83% which falls between 75% and 84% therefore the product rating would be "Well Regarded". The scores are assessed as follows:

Note: Fund Managers are researched directly and the research reports generated are confidential. Fund Managers and associated products have to achieve an internal 'highly regarded" score in order to be included in the selection process for any of the underlying strategies discussed.

Listed Securities (Shares & Hybrids)

For listed securities, such as company shares or debt, external research is utilised from a panel of Stock Brokers. In most cases, the Broker Rating would need to be at least "hold" for existing positions in a clients portfolio and "buy" for any new positions to be added. Hybrids would need to be rated at least Investment Grade (AA- depending on the short and/or long term rating of the parent company) before being considered. In Australia, Brokers and associated Research Houses do not rate the Security, only the parent company. Each hybrid offer can vary substantially so care needs to be taken when considering such securities for inclusion in any portfolio. FOX does not rate Hybrid Securities or Direct Shares.