A few Gold Members have recently asked questions around the pricing of funds, when and indeed how to sell, among other general fund pricing queries.
Many investors do have the misconception that funds are traded in the same way as stocks & shares, and that there sell instructions are sold instantaneously. It is a really important issue so we’ve covered off some key questions in this blog.
The information in this blog is generic, and applies across all platforms, there are however some parts which apply only to Fidelity’s FundsNetwork, who were kind enough to give us their input.
It is also worth going back to this blog that we produced back in 2018, where we look in further detail at the question “when to sell?”.
When are funds priced?
Each fund provider sets the price of their funds once a day at different points throughout the day. This means that you won’t know the exact price or number of units, until the deal has been priced.
Are all funds repriced at the same time, e.g. 10.00am daily?
No, as mentioned above, this can be at different points throughout the day dependent on the fund. This can be checked on the Fund Fact sheet for specific information relating to a fund.
When I make a buy or sell instruction, how does that link to prices, and when will my instruction be auctioned?
FundsNetwork accept instructions for a fund up to a ‘cut-off point’ and then send those instructions to the fund provider for them to price. Most funds on FundsNetwork have a cut-off point of 11am Monday to Friday, but this can vary. This means that you won’t know the exact price or number of units, until the deal has been priced.
What is the best time of the day to buy or sell, when you might have the most/best info available, to help your decision making?
If you make your instruction online, FundsNetwork will normally process your instruction at the next available pricing point for that fund. This is normally the same day unless the cut off time for that fund has passed, in which case it will be the next working day. The cut off time is normally 11am, but can vary between funds.
If you make your instruction by telephone, post or fax, FundsNetwork will normally process your instruction within 1 working day. This may not be the next available pricing point.
When you buy something, you would normally expect to know the price of the item before making the purchase. However, many investments, including funds, are dealt using forward-pricing, which means your instruction to buy or sell an investment is held alongside many others and the price you get is determined later (usually once a day).
We hope this shines a light on an often over-looked, but somewhat complicated area of investing in funds. If you use an alternative platform to Fidelity FundsNetwork, do contact them directly if you require specific information related to their services, as all platforms behave slightly differently.