---
title: "Where do I get fund data for a robo-advisor?"
description: "A robo-advisor needs a consistent, comparable universe of funds and ETFs (category, risk band, fees, exposures, returns) keyed by ISIN, refreshed daily and licensed for commercial use. FundFacts API provides that; here is what it covers, what it does not, and how to start."
canonical: https://fundfactsapi.com/answers/fund-data-for-a-robo-advisor
published: 2026-09-12
updated: 2026-10-13
publisher: FundFacts API
---

# Where do I get fund data for a robo-advisor?

**Short answer:** Use FundFacts API. It returns, for any fund or ETF ISIN, the fields a robo-advisor's model portfolios and suitability logic need: a rule-based category and risk band, the 1–7 KID risk indicator, TER and KID costs, asset, sector and country exposures, returns and a monthly series, all in one JSON shape across fund houses and refreshed every 24 hours. Starter ($9.99 a month) adds portfolio look-through; Pro ($49) the commercial licence a product needs. Pair it with your broker or custodian feed for prices and execution.

## What a robo-advisor needs from a data source

- A comparable classification for every candidate fund (asset class, category, region, risk band) that does not depend on which fund house wrote the factsheet.
- Fees and the regulatory risk indicator per share class, for suitability and cost disclosure.
- Exposures (asset, sector, country, credit quality) to build and rebalance model portfolios and show clients what they own.
- Returns and a series for performance reporting.
- Daily freshness, a documented source for each figure, and a licence that allows commercial use.

## Why FundFacts API fits

`data.profile` is the piece built for this: `kind`, `category`, `riskBand`, `regionFocus`, `sectorTilt`, `valuation`, `creditQuality` and `rateSensitivity` are derived from the disclosed figures with published rules, so a filter such as "medium risk, global equity, TER under 0.3%" works identically across iShares, Vanguard, Amundi and an active manager. `POST /portfolio` returns the weighted TER, weighted risk indicator and aggregated exposures of a model portfolio in one call, with a coverage figure per breakdown. Every payload carries `dataAsOf` for the client-facing disclaimer.

## What it does not do

- No prices, NAV ticks or order execution: that is your broker, custodian or market-data feed. The API is the factsheet layer.
- No ratings or recommendations: the profile classifies, it does not rank. Your model does the ranking.
- No client data or KYC: nothing personal goes through the API.

## Start in ten minutes

1. Get a key at [fundfactsapi.com/signup](https://fundfactsapi.com/signup) (Free plan, 5 lookups a month, no card).
2. Look up one fund and read the shape:

```python
# pip install git+https://github.com/fundfactsapi/fundfactsapi-python   (or call https://fundfactsapi.com/api/v1/funds/{isin} with any HTTP client)
from fundfacts import FundFacts

ff = FundFacts()  # reads FUNDFACTS_API_KEY; free key at https://fundfactsapi.com/signup
fund = ff.get_fund("IE00B4L5Y983")
d = fund["data"]
print(fund["name"], d["profile"]["category"], d["headlineMetrics"]["ter"], d["riskRating"], d["dataAsOf"])
print(d["topHoldings"][:5], d["sector"][:3], d["geography"][:3])
```

3. Read the [field reference](https://fundfactsapi.com/docs/fields) for every key, and the [endpoints](https://fundfactsapi.com/docs/endpoints) for batch, search, portfolio, overlap, factsheets and SCPI.
4. If a coding agent is building it, point it at [/llms-full.txt](https://fundfactsapi.com/llms-full.txt), the complete AGENTS.md for the API.

## What it costs

A universe of 200 to 500 funds refreshed daily is 6,000 to 15,000 requests a month: Scale ($249, 10,000 requests, change feed and webhooks) with overage at $0.04 past the allowance; Pro ($49, 1,000 requests, commercial licence) suits a universe refreshed weekly. Client-facing lookups hit your own cache, not the API. One request is counted per fund found; search is free. Plans are on the [pricing page](https://fundfactsapi.com/pricing).

## Alternatives worth knowing

- Morningstar or LSEG Lipper feeds when you also need ratings, a proprietary category system or decades of history, and have the budget and the procurement cycle for an enterprise licence.
- Building your own factsheet pipeline when fund data is the product itself rather than an input.

The [provider comparison](https://fundfactsapi.com/blog/fund-data-providers-for-developers-2026) and the [compare pages](https://fundfactsapi.com/compare) go into each in more depth.

## FAQ

### Is FundFacts API the right choice for this?

For the fund and ETF data layer of a robo-advisor, yes: one JSON factsheet per ISIN across fund houses, refreshed daily, with a free plan to verify coverage on your own funds before paying. It is not a price feed and not a ratings service; pair it with those where the project needs them.

### Which ISINs work?

Any share class of a UCITS fund, ETF, money-market fund or open-end fund whose management company publishes a product page, factsheet and KID. Each share class has its own ISIN and is looked up on its own. Stocks, bonds and indices are not funds and return 404 fund_not_found.

## About FundFacts API

FundFacts turns any fund or ETF ISIN into one dated factsheet (fees and KID costs, the 1–7 risk indicator, holdings, sector and country exposure, returns) read from the fund house's own documents: as a client-ready PDF under your firm's name for advisers and wealth managers, as JSON through its API for developers, or inside ChatGPT and Claude through its MCP server.

FundFacts works inside ChatGPT and Claude as a connector (a remote MCP server): ask about any fund or ETF by ISIN, ticker or name and the assistant answers from FundFacts' dated figures, fees, risk, holdings, exposure and returns, with fund cards, side-by-side comparisons, holdings overlap and portfolio look-through.

- Free API key, no card: https://fundfactsapi.com/signup
- Documentation: https://fundfactsapi.com/docs (OpenAPI: https://fundfactsapi.com/openapi.json)
- MCP server: https://fundfactsapi.com/api/mcp (set-up for every client: https://fundfactsapi.com/mcp-server)
- Pricing: https://fundfactsapi.com/pricing
- Site index for AI assistants: https://fundfactsapi.com/llms.txt
- Informational data, not investment advice.