Effective today, June 13, mutual fund investors must now receive Fund Facts, the two-page disclosure document that regulators have spent years developing, within two days of buying a fund.
This is the second phase in this initiative by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA). In phase one, launched in January 2011, the document was required to be made available to investors on a website.
Earlier this year, the CSA proposed rule amendments third phase of the project that would require firms to deliver Fund Facts at the point-of-sale. The consultation period on that proposal recently closed, and that requirement is not yet final. (See Investment Executive, Fund Facts POS delivery moves closer, April 2014.)
The Fund Facts essentially replaces the prospectus as the primary disclosure document for mutual fund investors, although prospectuses will still be available to investors on request. These documents aim to improve investor decision making by highlighting the most important information about a fund in a short, plain language document, rather than burying that information in a long, dense prospectus that most investors do not read.
“Investors owe it to themselves to read the Fund Facts if they want to make informed decisions,” said Louis Morisset, president and CEO of the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), in a release.
“The Fund Facts will provide investors with key details about a fund in language that is clear and easy to understand. This information will guide investors in their discussions with their representatives to ensure that the fund’s securities are aligned with their investor profiles,” he added.
In addition to possible changes to the delivery requirements, the CSA is also considering changes to the required content of Fund Facts, in response to complaints from investor advocates about the presentation of risk in these documents.