Codes - General
1. What is an APIR® Code?
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An APIR® Code is a unique identifier issued by APIR® to participants and products within the Financial Services Industry.
- Participants have a Participant APIR® Code
- Products have a Product APIR® Code
- SPIN level Superannuation products have a SPIN (Superannuation Product Identification Number)
2. Why use APIR® Codes for your products?
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With the ever growing complexity of the financial markets today, one method of identification that can be trusted is the industry standard APIR® Code. APIR® Codes remain the same for the life of the individual, business structure or product enabling them to remain identifiable even if their name, status, or ownership changes. APIR® Codes avoid the confusion, system errors and administrative complications the proliferation of numbering systems would cause.
APIR® Codes are used across the industry by fund managers, research houses, wraps and master funds and software houses to unambiguously identify fund managers and their products. They are also published freely and extensively on websites and portals, including Bloomberg Financial Planning software, Margin Lending firms, Fund Managers and Research Houses.
3. Who or what can get an APIR® Code?
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APIR® Codes are allocated to products and participants in the Financial Services Industry. APIR® Codes are primarily allocated to unlisted investments, such as managed funds or public offer and corporate superannuation funds, also Responsible Entities, Administrators and/or Trustees and Individuals.
APIR® is currently working with the research houses in the risk product area to identify and code all life/risk products.
4. How do I know which Product belong to a particular Participant?
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APIR® Codes are allocated using a series of business rules to link the relationships that exist for products and participants. For example, a basic standalone product is linked to its Responsible Entity and if relevant, to its Administrator and/or Trustee.
5. Are there many companies participating in the coding system?
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APIR® provides product codes for over 146 fund managers in Australia and New Zealand, covering a significant proportion of the industry's funds and funds under management. With over 14,000 active codes, APIR® Codes are used extensively across the industry's open systems activities.
6. What design considerations were used to develop APIR® Codes?
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All APIR® identifiers and other services are based on international standards and are designed for international use. They have also been designed to meet industry and regulatory needs while being understood by, and accessible to, the public.
The initial development phase has focused on Australia and New Zealand, however discussions have already commenced for the adoption of the APIR® methods in other financial services industries in the region.
The Participant APIR® Code, Product APIR® Code and SPIN consist of nine alpha/numeric characters; the last two characters are the ISO 3166-2 country code for the country in which the Participant is legally domiciled.
7. How can APIR® Codes be used?
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Participant APIR® Codes, Product APIR® Codes and SPIN's are used widely throughout the financial services industry and in the media to improve information flow and business processing. Below we have listed some areas where APIR® Codes are found to be useful.
- Prospectuses
- Unit pricing tables
- Performance reports
- Distribution advices
- Commission Statements
- Transaction slips
- Automated Transaction Processing
8. Which Financial Services Industry Association do we need to be a member of to receive the discount for an APIR® Code or SPIN Code?
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IFSA - Investment & Financial Services Association
9. What are annual maintenance fees and what do I get for them?
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Annual Maintenance fees are for the annual re-registration and directory administration fee for all your codes, including: Participant APIR® Codes, Product APIR® Codes, SPIN's and ISIN's. This also includes any changes that may occur to your participant or products during the year e.g. name changes, entity changes etc.
NB. Product Terminations are charged separately, see 11 for more information
10. What is a Directory Fee?
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Directory fees are an annual fee charge for the public display of client product and participant information (where available) on the APIR® public website www.apir.com.au
11. What is the Archive Fee for Participant and Product APIR® Codes?
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The one-off archive fee per code covers the ongoing maintenance of terminated products. APIR® maintains all codes for 'life' on the APIR® database. Whilst the code will no longer be visible on the public website or included in any data file transfers, many users in the industry require access to data on terminated products e.g. ATO, Centrelink, Research Houses, Financial Planners etc. This access is managed on an individual basis through our Client Services Department.
12. Can we change the APIR® Code of a Participant and/or Product?
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NO. APIR® Codes are issued for the 'life' of a Participant and/or Product.
Even if the Responsible Entity or product changes name or the Responsible Entity of a product changes, the participant and/or product code will remain the same.
13. How long does it take to process a Participant APIR® Code, Product APIR® Code or SPIN application?
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The Participant APIR® Code, Product APIR® Code or SPIN will normally be issued and/or changed within five working days from the time APIR® receives the correctly completed application form. Large bulk applications may take longer and APIR® will contact the Participant to notify them of the expected completion date.
To fast track an application please contact APIR®, contact details can be found by clicking here.
14. How do we know what the APIR® Code is for my Participant and/or Product application?
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Once APIR® processes the application the APIR® Code will be sent to the individual or the contact person listed on the application form via email.
15. When do we pay the registration fee for an APIR® Code?
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As soon as the application is processed, APIR® will issue a tax invoice. It will be mailed to the attention of accounts payable and to the business postal address or street address specified on the application, the contact person listed on the application will also be included on the invoice.
16. What happens if I don't receive my APIR® Code?
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You should receive your APIR® Code within 5 working days of APIR® receiving a fully completed application form. If the information is not fully completed you will be contacted by a member of the APIR® Client Services Department and the application will not be processed until all necessary information is received.
If you have any queries regarding your application please contact the relevant staff member, contact details can be found by clicking here.
17. Why have PRI and PIC been renamed?
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Our research indicated that PIC for product codes and PRI for participant codes in the industry are widely recognised but are almost universally
published as APIR® Code and this is reflected in the new naming convention for a product and participant code.
18. If PIC and PRI are now just called the APIR code, do I still need an APIR code for my business/organisation?
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Yes you do. The change in naming does not change the fact that our codes are the industry standard to identify products and, importantly,
the relationships and roles of participants related to a product. Examples include a RE's, Trustee,
and Administrator. Without an APIR® code, the industry cannot unambiguously identify the association between your business and/or role and your products.
This is essential in research, transactions, reporting, and distribution.
Participants
19. What is a Participant APIR® Code?
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A Participant APIR® Code is a unique code used to uniquely identify participants within the financial services industry and remains unchanged for the 'life' of the individual or business structure. These may be either organisations or individuals, such as, a Responsible Entity, a Trustee, an Administrator, a Dealer Group, a Financial Planning group, a Financial Planner, a Stockbroker and a Financial Researcher.
20. Who can get a Participant APIR® Code?
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Participants include organisations or individuals conducting financial activities that are subject to regulation. These include Government Departments, Statutory bodies, Life Insurance Companies, Dealers, Brokers, Investment Managers, Proper Authority Holders, Insurance Agents, Finance Brokers Representatives, Accountants, Lawyers, Stockbrokers and others who need to be uniquely identified in transactions or messages.
21. The name of the company has changed, can we change the company APIR® Code to reflect the change?
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NO. Participant APIR® Codes are issued for the 'life' of an entity. Even if the name changes, the entities participant code will remain the same.
Products
22. What is a Product APIR® Code?
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A Product APIR® Code is a unique code used to identify a financial services product and remains unchanged for the 'life' of the product.
23. Who can complete an application for a Product APIR® Code?
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The Person completing the application form must be a duly Authorised Person of the Organisation. They must have administrative rights to this product's details, which means they have authorisation to register the product/s and change details about the product/s. They will also be recognised as the APIR designated contact for this product.
24. Why should we get an APIR® Code for our product?
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The APIR® Code provides a standardised method of identification for unlisted investment products, including superannuation funds, for use in e-commerce and open systems data exchange. IFSA (Investment & Financial Services Association of Australia) recommends the use of the APIR® Code to its members as the industry standard product identifier.
The Product APIR® Code is very widely used within the financial services industry in Australia and increasingly in New Zealand. Major systems managers, researchers and data suppliers use the APIR® Code. A few examples are AUSMAQ, AdviserLink (NZ), InvestmentLink, InvestmentLink (NZ), ASSIRT, Morningstar, IDT, Lonsdale, Bloomberg etc.
25. What type of Products can have an APIR® Code?
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A Product APIR® Code can be allocated to any unlisted investment approved for distribution to the public, superannuation fund and wholesale investment pools that are accessed by other funds or which in any other way form part of an investment that has public participation.
While investments traditionally listed on a Stock Exchange have not normally been listed by APIR®, new generation products that are offered in both the listed and unlisted markets are increasingly being coded by APIR®.
In addition to the APIR® Code, each product is allocated a Shortened Name and an Abbreviated Name. We have found that software and data providers have a requirement to include shortened or abbreviated identification in performance tables, portfolio reports and data transfers. Sometimes the APIR® Code is insufficient but a Full Name is not appropriate. Under such circumstances the Shortened Name or Abbreviated Name is available.
26. What does an APIR® Code for a product look like?
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An example of a Product APIR® Code with the product's Full Name is shown below:
| APIR® Code | Name |
|---|
| ANZ0036AU | ANZ Progressive Investment Fund - Quartely Income |
SPIN
27. What are SPINs or Superannuation Product Identification Numbers?
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A SPIN is a unique code used to identify a SPIN level Superannuation product and remains unchanged for the 'life' of the product.
28. What is a SPIN Level product?
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A SPIN level product is the marketing name of the Superannuation product and is the level at which a superannuation funds bank account is held. This is usually the next level down from the Fund level that has the Superannuation Fund Number (SFN), the Australian Business Number (ABN) and the Trust Deed.
29. Who can apply for a SPIN?
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All Public, Corporate & Industry Superannuation Funds.
30. Why do we need a SPIN?
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The APIR® SPIN is used as an alternative to the Destination Provider Member Account Number (DPMAN) for the transfer or rollover of funds between Superannuation Providers. Using this number allows for faster transactions between Superannuation Funds as no cheques have to be written. Having a SPIN is also an indication that your Superannuation Fund is a complying fund (for ATO purposes) as only complying funds can be issued with a SPIN.
31. Where do we display our SPIN codes?
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| The SPIN for each Product should be published widely at the earliest opportunity to facilitate transfers between funds. Once you receive the SPINs from APIR®, the SPIN should be: |
- Published on Offer Documentation for New Members (eg. Prospectuses, etc.)
- Printed on all forms (eg. Application Forms, Transfer Forms, ETP Rollover Advice Statements, etc.)
- Printed on all material to distributors (eg. Agents, Financial Planners, etc.)
- Sent to Trading Partners.
|
| Source: extracted from SPIN Guidelines |
32. How do we find out more about SPIN?
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You can find out more about SPIN by viewing the SPIN guidelines available on the APIR® website. Please click here to view the SPIN Guidelines.
33. Do Self Managed Super Funds (SMSF's) need a SPIN?
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No. Self Managed Super Funds (SMSF's) do not require a SPIN. The Destination Provider Member Account Number (DPMAN), the bank account from where the Superannuation Fund is run, can still be used by SMSF's to identify their funds.
34. Where do I go to find out if my Superfund has a SPIN?
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If you would like to know if your Superfund has a SPIN and what that SPIN is, you can go to the following site www.spindirectory.com.au. The SPIN Directory website allows you to search by the name of your fund, and if you don't have that by the name of the superannuation provider.
General
35. What do APIR® do?
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APIR® identifies, maps and issues unique codes for products and participants in the financial services industry.
36. What is an ARSN?
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When a Managed Investment Scheme is registered with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) it is issued an Australian Registered Scheme Number (ARSN).
37. What is a SFN?
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When a Superannuation product is registered with the Australian Prudential Regulatory Association (APRA) it is issued a Superannuation Fund Number (SFN).
38. What is an ISIN?
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An ISIN is an International Securities Identification Number. ISINs uniquely identify securities including bonds, commercial paper, equities and warrants.
40. Why does my product have an ISIN when I didn't apply for one?
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In 2004 ASX appointed APIR® Systems Limited as a sub-numbering agency for the allocation of International Securities Identification Numbers (ISIN's). APIR® allocates ISIN's to Collective Investment Vehicle products which are:
- products of issuers domiciled in Australia, and
- not traded on the ASX or any other stock exchange, and
- products for which APIR assigned product identification codes are recognised by the Investment and Financial Services Association Limited (IFSA) as the industry standard identifier in Australia.
ISIN codes are used Internationally for product identification purposes.
41. Do we have to notify APIR® of any changes to participant and/or product names, status or contact details etc?
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Yes. When details about a participant or product changes, it is important that you inform APIR® to ensure the information available on the Directories is current. You must also inform APIR® of the date that these changes occurred.
These changes are covered by the annual maintenance fee. If you do not pay your fees these changes can't be made and this could result in out of date information being displayed on our website and supplied in data feeds. NB. the termination of a participant or product incurs a one off fee additional to Annual Maintenance Fees, see 11.
42. What is APIR® Data Services?
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This service provides you with the most comprehensive set of product reference data on managed funds and superannuation funds, available within the Australian Wealth Management industry. Learn More
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