FTSE Indices
SteveC
Member
RSMR recently stopped quoting FTSE indices alongside portfolio & benchmark stats, citing advice that they need to have a licence (prohibitively expensive) to redistribute the data. After a quick bit of research this seems to relate to LSE derived data use or redistribution licences introduced in 2011. Research tools (FE/Morningstar etc.including used by the likes of RSMR) must have professional user licences to use the data feeds from LSE/FTSE; however as FTSE indices are so widely quoted (many clients associate with these being reprinted daily online/newspapers) I wondered if anyone else is familiar with the derived data use or redistribution licence, sanctions and what information we can and cannot quote in material written for clients?
Notwithstanding that none of the FTSE indices are good benchmarks for well diversified portfolios, clients are familiar with the indices quoted on their daily news programmes and some advisers still ask for the risk/return of portfolios to be shown relative to a FTSE index. If its just me that has unwittingly still been quoting FTSE indices, what other indices do others commonly use?
Notwithstanding that none of the FTSE indices are good benchmarks for well diversified portfolios, clients are familiar with the indices quoted on their daily news programmes and some advisers still ask for the risk/return of portfolios to be shown relative to a FTSE index. If its just me that has unwittingly still been quoting FTSE indices, what other indices do others commonly use?
Comments
But you are right, clients know what this is and can relate to this, so we asked what else can clients easily relate to.
We therefore use cash returns and RPI as quick comparators and if clients want more detail (which they rarely do) we can get all the relevant benchmark returns for individual funds out of FE.