Securities
The system maintains a list of securities. These can be created manually or they can be imported from a Data Feed, such as FT Interactive’s Exshare service. There are various items of data associated with a security. The more important are as follows:
Code
Users can use any coding system for securities they like. The only restriction is that the code length does not exceed 12 characters. But in practice most users use SEDOL codes or ISIN codes.
SEDOLs (Stock Exchange Daily Official List) codes are 7 characters long. But in Trust Accounts they are set up with an extra leading zero. If a user adds an unlisted security manually then the leading character should be non-zero to distinguish valid SEDOL codes from unlisted securities.
ISINs (International Security Identification Numbers) codes are 12 characters long. UK ISIN codes begin “GB”. Unlisted securities can be set up in the same way as if SEDOL codes are in use, i.e. as an 8 character code with the first character being nonzero.
The type of code in use is shown in Database Parameters. If SEDOL codes are in use then the system displays “(valid SEDOL)” or “(not a valid SEDOL)” in Edit Security. ISIN codes are validated in the same way. This works because both types of code contain a check digit.
About half of Trust Accounts users use SEDOL codes and half use ISINs. The pros and cons are discussed in the next topic.
Type
There are two Type fields depending on which data feed is in use. The Exshare feed uses code 10 for Equity, 80 for British Government stock and so on. You can use these codes or set up your own if creating securities manually. Alternatively the field can be left blank. The Exshare Type field can be used for sorting reports such as the investment schedule.
The Telekurs Type field is filled in by the Telekurs data feed. But it is less useful as it cannot be used to sort the investment schedule, although it can be used by Transaction Reporter.
Industry
Some examples from Exshare are 01 British Funds, 15 Oil Integrated or 32 Alcoholic Beverages. Again, the field can be left blank if securities are being set up manually.
User Defined Sort Code
This is a code you can set up for your own reporting purposes. For instance, it could be used to indicate the level of risk on a security. Like the Type and Industry, this field can be used for sorting investment schedules.
Country of Registration and Quotation
These use 2 character ISO (International Standards Organisation) Country codes. To set up the Country of Registration and Quotation, from the Activities menu select Common/shared data, then Standard descriptions and then Country code. The Country of Registration can be used for sorting investment schedules.
Dividend and Price Currency
These use 3 character ISO Currency codes. To set up the Dividend and Price Currency, from the Activities menu select Common/shared data and then Currency Codes. It is important to enter the Price Currency as the system assumes that prices for the security are in this currency. It is also advisable to enter the Dividend currency (unless the security pays no dividends or interest).
Unit of Quotation and Precision
This can be Shares, Fixed Interest or Units:
Shares: has a Precision of 0 (i.e. you cannot buy half a share).
Fixed Interest: has a Precision of 2 (i.e. you can buy 123.45 units of a fixed interest security). Also the prices of fixed interest securities are quoted per 100 units. So if the price is 200 then 123.45 units has a market value of 246.90.
Units: used for units in unit trusts and other funds. You can specify the Precision up to 5 decimal places.
UK CGT (or Not Exempt for Irish CGT)
This checkbox is ticked if the security is liable to CGT. Currently only Fixed Interest securities should be unticked if they are exempt.
History
The Security History holds a history of corporate events involving the security. Once these have been set up or imported they can be used on any client on the system. There are two types of event. Simple events are events such a dividend or interest payment. Complex capital events involve a transfer of cost to another security.
The great majority of simple events are just payments of dividends or interest. However the system also records details of bonus issues, rights and stock dividends. This information is usually imported automatically from the Exshare feed but can be set up manually. This history can be used in several ways, by the Autopost, the Global Autopost and in reporting Missing Dividends.
Complex capital events are events that involve a transfer of cost to another security, such as takeovers and demergers. The details of complex capital events need to be set up manually as they are not supplied as part of the Exshare feed. However, once this is done the data can be used on any client using the Complex Capital Transactions Wizard.
Prices
For any date the system can hold 3 prices, the Bid, Offer and Reporting prices, together with the Price/Earnings (PE) ratio. The Exshare feed itself only supplies the bid and offer prices. The reporting price is calculated from the other two. When the Exshare feed is set up you can specify the reporting price to be the Bid, Offer, Mid or Quarter-Up price. Most users use the mid-price.
The Price/Earnings (PE) ratio is only held for information purposes and is not currently used by the system.
The reporting price is used whenever (except on the investment schedule) the system values investment holdings. The investment schedule gives you a choice of methods to use. So if prices are being entered manually then usually only the reporting price is entered.
When the system values a holding at a particular date it proceeds as follows:
- It looks up the security price on the date.
- If no price is found for that date it starts looking at earlier dates. How far back it goes is determined by the setting entered for the Pricing range on Database Parameters screen. Most users enter this field as 31 so that the system looks back up to a month for a security price. This is because the Exshare feed is received monthly.
- Finally if no price is found it gives up.
If no price is found then most reports show the value of the holding as zero. However the investment schedule gives you a choice of showing a Missing Price message. (It is also possible in Transaction Reporter to write a report of securities that have missing prices).
If a price is found its currency is indicated by the Security Price Currency. If the price is in a foreign currency it needs to be converted to the appropriate currency, usually the client currency. This is done by dividing it by the exchange rate. The method used to find the exchange rate is similar to that used to find the price and is documented in the multicurrency section.
Changes
This allows changes in the security name to be recorded, together with the date of the change. This is used on investment schedules and other reports. If the reporting period covers the date of the change then the report shows something like "XYZ plc changed from ABC plc on dd/mm/yy".