Who pays FundFX, and on what basis?
Providers pay us under written agreements. Your fund pays FundFX nothing for blind quotes or cost reviews.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Who pays us | The provider your fund chooses, under a signed agreement with FundFX |
| On what basis | A share of the revenue the provider earns on your fund's trades, and in some cases a one-off fee when your fund is onboarded |
| When | Periodically in arrears, only while your fund trades with that provider |
| What your fund pays FundFX | Nothing. Blind quotes, cost reviews and the yearly review are free to your fund |
| How it shows in your rate | It is inside the spread the provider quotes, not a separate charge on your statement |
| How to see our share | Ask us. We tell you in writing the basis on which each shortlisted provider would pay us, before you choose |
Does your fee make our rate worse?
It is part of the all-in rate a provider quotes, which is why we compare all-in rates and nothing else.
A provider pays us out of its margin. In principle a provider could widen its margin to cover our share, so the number to judge is the spread between the rate you get and the market mid at that moment. That is the number every blind quote shows and every cost review measures. Providers on the panel are pricing against each other for the same requirement, which is the best check we know on any one of them padding its quote.
If you would rather compare a provider's direct pricing, ask it. We would expect a provider's rate through FundFX to stand up against what it offers your fund directly, and we want to hear if it does not.
Why do you show us every quote, even ones that pay you less?
Because a comparison with gaps in it is worthless to you, and because the reason we match a fund with a provider has to stand on its own.
When we send your quote table we include every price we received, in order of all-in cost. Where we suggest one provider over another, we write down why in terms of your requirement: price, cut-offs, fund experience, safeguarding, onboarding time. That record is kept separately from what each provider would pay us.
How does FundFX manage conflicts of interest?
By writing them down, keeping matching reasons separate from commission, and showing you everything we were offered.
- A conflicts register, reviewed regularly, covering each provider relationship and anything else that could influence a recommendation.
- Matching reasons recorded for every introduction before commission is considered, and kept separately from commission records.
- Every quote received shown to you, including those from providers that would pay us less or nothing.
- No provider can pay to be shown first or to be included in a quote request.
- Each provider's FCA status and safeguarding rechecked every year, whatever it pays us.
- Where a fund administrator or other firm introduces your fund to us and we share part of our payment with it, we tell your fund before any introduction to a provider.
Is FundFX independent of the providers it recommends?
FundFX is not owned by any FX or payment provider, but we are paid by providers, so we do not describe ourselves as independent or as covering the whole market.
Our panel is made up of providers we have agreements with and have checked. That is a smaller set than every firm that offers FX to funds. If a provider you already use or are considering is not on our panel, tell us and we will say plainly whether we can include it, and if not, why not.
What we promise. We will tell you who pays us and on what basis before you choose a provider. We will show you every quote we receive. We will record why we suggest a provider separately from what it pays us. We will never hold your money, make payments or tell you which product or hedge to use.
Why are the cost review and blind quotes free?
Because providers pay us when a fund chooses to trade with one of them, so the work before that point is how we earn the chance to be useful.
There is no obligation after a quote or a review. Many funds use a cost review simply to confirm their current provider is fair, and that is a perfectly good outcome. Ask for a cost review or request a blind quote.
More on our regulatory position in important information.