What is an assessment of value (aov)?

A report in which the board of BNY Mellon Fund Managers Ltd. aim to do exactly that – assess value. More explicitly, assess the value our funds have delivered to investors over the review period.

Why?

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – a governing body over UK financial services – requires all UK authorised fund managers to assess the value offered by each of their funds. A public report must be produced and published annually.

How?

This report sees our board scrutinise each fund by assessing them across the seven criteria set out by the FCA. These include performance, quality of service, cost and the fair treatment of our investors. If it’s found that a fund does not offer good value, corrective action should be taken.

We provide more detail on the seven criteria and our process on this landing page.

How to read this report

If you have..

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Mins

Focus on the results of your specific fund. Jump to your fund page (listed below) where you will find performance stats and an overall rating summary.

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Mins

For more context you might want to refresh yourself on the 2023 results and the actions taken.

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Mins

For a better understanding on how we assess our funds across seven criteria, read our in-depth explanation here.

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Mins

Alongside reading about our methodology, and your fund’s 2023 and 2024 results, a deeper analysis of our overall findings can be found here.

List of Funds

MEET THE BOARD

Carole Judd

Independent Board Chair Carole has over 35 years’ experience in asset management and investment consulting.

Sarah Cox

Executive Director Sarah has 25 years’ in the financial services industry and is head of UK fund governance, operations and client services at BNY Investments EMEA and is chief executive officer for the board.

Marc Saluzzi

Independent Director Marc, retired from PwC Luxembourg in 2015, and has more than 35 years of experience in the asset management industry across both the US and Luxembourg.

Caylie Stallard

Executive Director Caylie, who has worked in financial services for over 16 years, is head of product development & management EMEA for BNY Investments.

Sandeep Sumal

Group Non-Executive Director Sandeep is the director of governance at BNY Investments with over 20 years’ experience in the financial services industry.

Our AOV review process

A complex review process using multiple sets of data, across seven criteria analysed on a fund by fund basis, the board of BNY Mellon Fund Managers Ltd has honed its methodology since the Assessment of Value was introduced. Here is a simplified flow chart outlining our process.

Client complaints log
Investment Management Oversight Committee summary
Prospectus for trustee fees
Transaction charges
Audit benchmarking
Financial reports for the funds
European MIFID Template (EMT) report
Client holding and fee database

Performance: Lipper IM
FITZ Partners Board Reporting & Investment Advisory Fee Benchmarking Report
MJ Hudson Amaces CMS Fund Accounting Report & CMS Custody and Treasury Report
NatWest Trustee and Depository Services Fund Accounting Benchmarking Report, Custody Benchmarking Report, Custodian Oversight Pack & Quarterly Report

2024 Methodology

Our assessment follows the seven-factor criteria outlined by the UK regulator, the FCA. We used a variety of internal data to examine the individual funds within each of these areas. This data included that provided by external, independent consultants.

Further details on the seven criteria:

	FCA definition	Our assessment
Performance	The performance of the scheme, after deduction of all payments out of scheme property* as set out in the prospectus. Performance should be considered over an appropriate timescale having regard to the scheme’s investment objectives, policy and strategy.	We assessed the performance of each share class against its stated objective. Funds – and their individual share classes – may frame objectives over a specified time frames. For instance, one may have a stated goal over three years, another over 12 months. We assessed the performance of each share class against its stated objective.
Quality of Service	The range and quality of services provided to unitholders.	We assessed the quality of the service provided to holders of the fund. Our analysis considered services provided to the fund by third parties, as well as the services investors received from BNY.
Comparable Market Rates	In relation to each service, the market rate for any comparable service provided: a) by the Authorised Fund Manager (AFM); or b) to the AFM or on its behalf, including by a person to which any aspect of the scheme’s management has been delegated.	We assessed the fees paid by the investors in the funds against similar competitor products.
AFM Costs – General	In relation to each charge, the cost of providing the service to which the charge relates, and when money is paid directly to associates or external parties, the cost is the amount paid to that person.	We assessed the individual costs for services provided in the fund. These included the payment to the trustee and investment manager among others. We also considered the profitability of the funds.
Comparable Services	In relation to each separate charge, the AFM’s charges and those of its associates for comparable services provided to clients, including for institutional mandates of a comparable size and having similar investment objectives and policies.	We assessed the costs of the share classes of the fund, when compared to a negotiated fee share class, or a broadly similar mandate only available to institutional investors.
Economies of Scale	Whether the AFM is able to achieve savings and benefits from economies of scale, relating to the direct and indirect costs of managing the scheme property and taking into account the value of the scheme property and whether it has grown or contracted in size as a result of the sale and redemption of units.	We assessed whether any savings achieved by the fund increasing in size were passed on to the underlying investors. If a fund decreased in size, we assessed whether the costs disproportionately increased.
Classes of Units/Shares	Whether it is appropriate for unitholders to hold units in classes subject to higher charges than those applying to other classes of the same scheme with substantially similar rights.	We examined whether the investors of the fund were in the appropriate share class. If there were many share classes for one fund, it was assessed whether all of the share classes were still fit for purpose and required.

^1. Scheme is what we would call the Fund.

^2.Scheme property is what we would call the underlying investments held by the Fund.

Glossary

For any terms you are unsure of on this page, please refer to our report glossary here.

What is an assessment of value (aov)?

Why?

How?

How to read this report