Media Release: Electrum in race to help fund managers beat KII July deadline

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ELECTRUM, a leading automated documents provider, is warning fund managers that time is running out to complete the Key Investor Information Documents (KIID) for UCITS investment funds.

Says a spokesperson: “KIIDs are designed to make it easier for investors to compare funds from different providers from across the EU, by standardising and streamlining the presentation of key information.

“The EU regulation deadline for KIIDs is 1 July 2012.”

* UCITS are Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities.

The spokesperson adds: “To help fund managers meet the deadline, Electrum, whose clients include Standard Life, Schroders and Kames Capital among other market leaders, has produced a low-cost version of their ‘KiiDocs’ product: KiiDocs Lite.

“KiiDocs Lite makes it easy to gather and review the information required for the KIIDs, and turn that information into fully-branded PDFs within minutes.”

Stuart Harper, Electrum’s MD, says: “From our competitor analysis and client feedback, KiiDocs Lite typically halves the cost of producing KIID compliance documentation.

“Clients have also given us positive feedback about how quickly they can have draft KIIDs.

“KiiDocs Lite is a hosted application accessed using a web browser. It is available on an all-inclusive basis, with no set-up charges, for an annual fee that is dependent on the number of KIIDs produced.

“Since no locally-installed software is required, new clients can start using KiiDocs Lite immediately.

“The KIID information is entered using an Excel spreadsheet pre-populated with named columns for all the required pieces of information.

“A sample spreadsheet makes it easy to see what goes where. Clients simply fill out the spreadsheet using one row per fund / share class and upload to the KiiDocs system. The generated PDFs are easy to customise with logos and corporate colours.

“The system also automatically creates the requisite Synthetic Risk and Reward Indicator (SRRI) graphic and past-performance chart. KiiDocs Lite ensures that the content fits the prescribed two-page format by shrinking the font size where necessary (a warning is generated if the text becomes too small).”

The spokesperson added: “The KIIDs must be reviewed and updated at least once per year and KiiDocs Lite makes this very easy. Simply update the relevant parts of the Excel file and upload to generate new documents. KiiDocs Lite has a built in audit trail showing the complete history of each document, allowing any version of the uploaded data or the generated documents to be downloaded at any time.”

ENDS. Background information follows.

Background information on Electrum

Electrum is a Microsoft Gold Partner that specialises in automated document and reporting solutions for the financial services sector.

Electrum has clients in major financial centres in the UK, Europe and the US.
Established in 1998 at Edinburgh, Electrum has a strong history of developing first-class document automation solutions.

Electrum products include:

Automated Documents: High quality solutions for print or web ready documents in a range of formats including Office and PDF, such as:

* KiiDocs: automation of the production of Key Investor Information Documents as part of the UCITS IV directive.

* DocGen: automatically create print ready professional standard documents containing text, tables and charts from spreadsheet data

* Factua: automatic generation of print-ready fund factsheets

* Slide Library: automatically create and update branded, consistent PowerPoint presentations from a library of approved slides

* Presentation Library System: automatic generation of Microsoft PowerPoint or PDF presentations from a store of approved slides

* Proposal Template: produce compliant proposals from a library of approved content

Document management and workflow:

Solutions based on MOSS 2007 & WSS3 as standalone portals or part of a larger Microsoft based Electrum solution stack.

Examples include:

* Virtualboardroom: automatic consolidation of hosted documents into one professional print-ready pdf for board packs, consolidated reports and proposals

Microsoft Office templates and add-ins:

Ranging from simple templates and add-ins to the automatic generation of large and complex documents and PowerPoint presentations; for example:

* Smart Templates: brand-specific templates allow complex designed documents to be simply produced in-house using Word. A branding toolbar has buttons to automatically create complex branding elements such as tables, charts and side-bars. Plus document-specific business logic. Can be integrated into larger systems.

Bespoke development and consultancy:

Helping to make businesses run more efficiently, effectively and productively.

* Expert consultancy across a wide range of sectors for clients of any size, from farmers to designers.

* Bespoke development services, mainly web-based, using a variety of languages and platforms.

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Contact: Sandy Wood
Phone: 0131 4543507
Email: sandy.wood@electrum.co.uk
Website: http://www.electrum.co.uk/