Strategy Profile

A Strategy Profile is the basis of AthenaInvest's strategy identification of mutual funds and is comprised of equity fund’s Primary and Secondary Strategies as well as the accompanying Strategy Elements. A Strategy is the way a manager goes about analyzing, buying, and selling stocks. An Element is a specific item on which the manager focuses while implementing the equity strategy. There are 40 equity elements, four per strategy. For example, in pursuing the Competitive Position strategy, a manager might focus on the quality of the company’s management team. We do not gather information about how an element is evaluated, just that it is a consideration in the investment process.

The 10 Primary Strategies provide the least granular equity universe breakdown. A more detailed breakdown can be generated using the 90 Primary-Secondary Strategy combinations. The most comprehensive picture of a fund's strategy is the combination of its Primary and Secondary Strategies along with the Strategy Elements on which the fund focuses. The average fund focuses on 7 elements. Using the full strategy profile for each fund (an example is shown above) and ignoring funds in the same fund family, there are only 22 funds, out of roughly 2,000 US equity funds, that have identical Strategy Profiles. Thus Strategy Profiles make it possible to present the equity fund universe in aggregated or highly granular form.

The Strategy Profile and Strategy Identification

The SBI Strategy Identification process was developed over a two year period using an iterative process in which strategy information was gathered and organized and then presented to equity managers for comment. The development of the Strategy Identification process involved gathering 40,000+ pieces of fund prospectus strategy information, organizing it into 10 equity strategies, and in turn, creating the Strategy Profiles for active equity mutual funds.

On an ongoing basis, fund Strategy Profiles are initially generated by a computer algorithm. The profile is then passed through a rigorous series of quality audits to produce the final strategy profile.  AthenaInvest works with fund managers and advisors to ensure the highest quality strategy identification for mutual funds.