To wax lyrical about asset management websites is what we love doing here at Kurtosys. Well-designed offerings which make the whole surfing experience more valuable to investors are paramount, prominently displaying company information, published content and investment insights.
However, it could become a danger to forget about the bedrock of an asset manager: the funds. These products are the crux of the business, and need to be given as much undivided attention as the most well-designed graphics of any fund website.
We’ve delved into the product centres of asset management sites to bring you the best fund explorers we could find. Here are 8 examples featuring current design trends that make browsing funds as simple as possible for potential investors.
In no particular order
SYZ Asset Management
Branded in SYZ’s white and blue, this offering is stylish with the substance of a full-scale fund explorer to display all 102 of their funds. Whilst separated across three pages, this makes it less clogged than some long-form list designs we commonly see. Its prominent search and filter function uses white space well alongside its easy ability to filter results, and reset choices at the click of a button. The appropriate search results can then be analysed by ‘overview’ or ‘performance’ at the user’s discretion.
Generali Investments
Generali also make perfect use of search ahead functionality to give investors quick access to funds by name or ISIN, and offer just 3 segmented filters by ‘fixed income’, ‘equity’ and ‘multi-asset’ classes. The list is long-form, but we are fond of the ability to collapse and expand fund information from the same page to display documentation and performance chance. Catering to Generali’s multi-language site is the ability to download a PDF of a fund’s factsheet from the main search results in a choice of 5 languages, offered by an intuitive drop-down list. Another nifty feature is the ‘watch list’ to save favourite funds, much like a shopping cart on popular e-commerce sites.
AMG Funds
This explorer from AMG Funds houses all 68 of its funds in a long-form page, but also utilises the collapsible panel to reach further fund information straight away; no need to be led to other web pages. Also with the ability to expand is the filter function at the top of the fund centre, which opens up a digestible selection of asset class choices. Investors can select or deselect these offerings to narrow down the list of appropriate funds. These choices can also be accessed from AMG’s homepage in a ‘Fund Finder’, whilst fund literature can also be stored in a shopping cart.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management
GSAM certainly like the tabular form, with its fund centre making extended use of tables. Not relying too much on the search function, this explorer is optimal for fund browsers, with its drop-down lists for share classes, Morningstar and Lipper rating etc. leading to the relevant funds in tables which reflect the company’s colour branding beautifully. Once a certain fund is found, the results show a wealth of information, which can also be expanded in-table. Whilst GSAM’s fund range is large, this certain explorer is responsive and looks (and works) just as well on mobile screens.
The Royce Funds
Whereas the above can suit the more casual fund browser, the explorer from The Royce Funds instead suits the shopper that knows what they’re looking for. The filters available cover everything from ‘market cap’ to ‘style’ to ‘volatility’, and the user can even select a fund from certain portfolio managers. The toggle bar also segments the funds pretty differently from other sites, with these options offering visual treats such as market cycle graphs and volatility indicators.
Franklin LibertyShares ETFs
The ETF subsidiary of Franklin Templeton, LibertyShares, has also opted to present its exchange-traded fund selection through the use of an intuitive fund explorer. The dominant aspect of this centre is the main toggle bar. Just below a standardised search ahead feature is a fairly idiosyncratic filter system; the user can toggle between asset classes which then narrow down the following options as to what is available when chosen. It acts as somewhat of a journey to achieve the appropriate search results, with a selection of ETF information given.
John Hancock Investments
John Hancock Investments sticks to its mantra that “we build funds based on investor needs” through its fund explorer – a gargantuan body of work with an extremely helpful top toolbar. Users can investigate the full range via the type of fund, and can access any more information about the John Hancock’s strategies with links to external pages. Each fund can be segmented further through a solid amalgamation of drop-down lists, a search function and toggle buttons. From a design perspective too, the explorer makes excellent use of company branding and white space which extends to the individual fund pages; beautifully laid out and also loaded with relevant fund information.
J P Morgan Asset Management
As one of the world’s largest asset managers, JPAM’s use of a compact explorer for its multitude of funds sounds almost impossible. However, this fund centre is beautifully designed and a necessary component to search through such a wide range of offerings. Instead of placing its filter system at the top, it instead places it in a less conspicuous side bar, where users can toggle options and limit the list that stands before them. This explorer also offers the unique ability to change the view of each fund. The collapsible window for downloadable content and graphs is also available here.
Pictet Asset Management
Pictet’s individual fund pages are a design marvel to behold, but of course to access these, one can find them in the fund discovery section of the site. Besides the search function, users can modify the selection using an advanced interactive table and choosing criteria that pertains to all of its different asset classes. Fund characteristics can also be selected to shrink the search further. One noteworthy aspect of this particular explorer is the ability to export this data as a highly presentable CSV file.
For potential investors, the ease with which to pinpoint certain funds, or to holistically browse through a wide range of asset classes both need to be embedded in the functionality of a fund explorer. By increasing UX in the presentation of an asset manager’s most pertinent products, the website’s fund explorer can be a secret weapon to keep investors coming back for more.
