ISINs

retrea

Please help me understand investments which have the same name but appear in a number of different versions with unique ISINs. For example, the investment AXA WF Optimal Income appears as
ISIN Code Share A EUR: C: LU0179866438
LU0179866354

ISIN Code Share E EUR: C: LU0184634821

ISIN Code Share F EUR: C: LU0179866867
LU0179866602

ISIN Code Share I EUR: C: LU0184635471

ISIN Code Share R GBP: LU0231408021
That’s 7 uniquely identified securities, yet AXA WF Optimal Income is referred to as a fund, singular. Do each of these different ISINs refer to different portfolios for the fund?

Lokolo

http://moneyterms.co.uk/isin/

explains what ISIN means and what it is made out of.

barak

retrea wrote: »

.....
ISIN Code Share R GBP: LU0231408021
That’s 7 uniquely identified securities, yet AXA WF Optimal Income is referred to as a fund, singular. Do each of these different ISINs refer to different portfolios for the fund?

I think you will find that these are different 'classes' of share in the same underlying fund.

This 'R' class looks to be the only one priced in sterling - GBP. There are several apparently priced in euros - EUR. The different classes will have different features such as higher minimum investments of (say) 10,000 euros, 100,000 euros or more, may have different front end and annual charges and only be available through certain channels.

The fund you mention is a SICAV which is the continental name for a collective open-ended investment fund. I have one UK OEIC holding in a fund with three classes of share. Mine is in a class which doesn't pay any renewal (trail) commission, but has a half percent lower annual management charge than the main retail class. The shares are in the same fund as the other classes, but are separately priced and perform slightly better as a result.

I can see your problem as it's quite hard to find the details. You probably need to contact the managers.

munk

As mentioned already the different ISINs refer to different shareclass/distribution type combinations (ie class C income vs class C accumulation vs class D income etc).

You can see the various combinations of shareclass/dist type for that fund on trustnet's site:

http://www.trustnet.com/os/funds/?fund=68273

'Shareclass' is usually used to differentiate between different administration setups for the same fund - some typical shareclasses used are:

class A (a basic fund set up for any investor, typical initial charges, typical minimum lump sum investment)
class I (a fund set up for Institutional investors - usually the initial charge will be a lot lower on this shareclass but the minimum lump sum investment is a lot higher, ie in £100,000s of pounds)
class R (a fund set up for Retail investors - ie you and me wanting to invest a few thousand pounds here and there, again, typical IC and init lump sum)

There are no hard and fast rules for shareclass naming afaik. The I vs R shareclass distinction seems to be used a lot though. Also though I've noticed on Hargreaves Lansdown their M&G funds are all 'class X' which is for institutional investors(?)... so presumably HL offer class X to their retail investors because they know they can get together enough money on a regular basis to receive the benefits of investing at an institutional level (ie low or no initial charges).