28 Jan 2026

Download Cost Transparency Initiative Q&A for AREF Members

 

Background

The availability of comprehensive and transparent information on costs and charges is important in helping investors to decide if investments represent value for money.

The Cost Transparency Initiative (CTI) was launched in 2018 as an investment industry standard for institutional investment cost data, with the CTI Board comprising the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), the Investment Association (IA) and the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Advisory Board. The Initiative created a set of templates and tools which together form a framework investors can use to receive standardised cost and charges information from managers. 

In 2021, AREF's CTI & Expense Ratio Working Ratio Reporting Working Group, which included a representative on the CTI Technical Expert Panel, prepared the following guidance for AREF members using the CTI template. In the 2026 review, the Corporate Governance Committee confirmed that the guidance was still relevant for AREF members.

Please send any questions to [email protected]

 

Tags

Guidance Cost Transparency Initiative (CTI)

Author

Rachel Portlock

Rachel Portlock

Head of Research, AREF

Rachel is responsible for working with a number of AREF committees, including the Research, Corporate Governance and ESG & Impact Investing Committees.

Previous to joining, Rachel worked as an independent investment management professional in real estate and prior to this she spent 11 years at Aviva Investors in the Real Estate Team as a Strategist and six years at Henderson Global Investors. 

Rachel has taken on a number of projects for AREF over the last few years, including the End of Fund Life Project, the Fund Structures Report, the History of AREF and also worked on the Open Ended Fund Pricing Project, in conjunction with INREV.

Return to listing