Perhaps one of the most frequent questions that we receive from investors is how to go about finding the right mutual fund code for their investment. There is no doubt that this can be a big challenge for both investors and advisors alike. Along with there being literally thousands of mutual funds available in Canada, most have several different series or classes that are available that further complicate matters. For example, there are front end versions, low load, DSC and other sales options. Further, many companies will have versions that they offer directly and other versions which are available through discount brokers and advisors. Then there are the corporate class versions and T-Series versions and so on.
The end result is confusion because fund version that may be right for your particular circumstances may not be the one that is right for another investor with slightly different circumstances. Without knowing the specific circumstance for each investor, there is no way to know which fund code is the most appropriate.
It is for this reason that we are often reluctant to publish fund codes in our reports. When we do publish them, we will typically highlight the front end or no load version of the fund. While we would love to publish them all, there are simply too many to make it practical and would in most cases further complicate things.
Having worked in the mutual fund industry for nearly two decades, we fully understand just how daunting a task it can be for investors to find the right fund codes. But, there are some options that are available to you. Many discount brokers have search tools which will help you find the right code for the fund that is best for your situation. You can also go directly to FundSERV and access the codes there using their lookup tool which can be accessed at http://www.fundserv.com/customer-centre/fund-profiles. Codes can also be found at http://www.fundlibrary.com in the various fund cards that they offer. Simply search for the fund you are interested in, click on the link and in the General Info tab, you will find the fund codes near the bottom of the page.
While not a perfect solution, hopefully one of these solutions will make finding the right code a bit easier for you.