Author: Karl Kauc

  • The FundsXML Handbook — Your Complete Guide to the European Fund Data Standard

    The FundsXML Handbook — Your Complete Guide to the European Fund Data Standard

    We’re pleased to share the FundsXML Handbook – a practical, end-to-end guide to FundsXML, the European standard for fund data exchange. Whether you are integrating FundsXML for the first time or deepening your understanding of the schema, the handbook walks you through it all.

    Built around FundsXML Schema 4.2.x, it takes you from the “why” of a common data standard all the way to hands-on implementation – in one consistent, freely available reference.

    What’s inside

    • Foundations – the challenges of fund data exchange, the essentials of XML and XSD, and a clear overview of FundsXML.
    • FundsXML in Detail – a deep dive into the data domains: metadata structures, fund and share-class definitions, portfolio positions, transactions and orders, regulatory modules, and the more advanced areas of the schema.
    • Implementation & Practice – quality assurance, software tooling, system integration, and guidance drawn from real-world projects.
    • Outlook & Reference – where the standard is heading, plus a glossary, XML reference, schema overview, example files and a full index.

    Who should read it

    The handbook is written for everyone working with fund data – asset managers, administrators, distributors, custodians, data vendors and software providers. It serves business readers who need the big picture just as well as developers implementing the schema in production.

    Read it online or download the PDF

    Like everything we publish, the FundsXML Handbook is free to use under the open FundsXML licence. Read it in your browser or take the full PDF with you.

  • Whitepaper: European Fund Data Standards and Regulatory Reporting – Outlook 2025–2030

    Whitepaper: European Fund Data Standards and Regulatory Reporting – Outlook 2025–2030

    New Whitepaper: European Fund Data Standards and Regulatory Reporting – Outlook 2025–2030

    We are pleased to share our latest whitepaper on the evolving landscape of European fund data standards and regulatory reporting.

    The paper examines how converging forces — regulatory divergence between the EU and UK, the rollout of ESAP, and the accelerating adoption of AI in reporting workflows — are reshaping data infrastructure requirements for asset managers across Europe. It provides a detailed analysis of the three dominant data standards (FinDatEx, openfunds, and FundsXML), their latest versions, and how they interact to support compliance with MiFID II, SFDR, PRIIPs, and the UK Consumer Duty.

    Key topics covered include the EU Retail Investment Strategy and “Value for Money” benchmarking, the PRIIPs divergence post-Brexit, ESAP’s technical requirements and implementation timeline, and practical recommendations for building a future-proof data architecture.

    The whitepaper was authored by Karl Kauc (Erste Asset Management), Dragan Mircov (SIX Financial Information / openfunds Board), and Carsten Haderer (VÖIG), all members of the FundsXML Standards Committee.