---
title: "How do I get live fund data into an Excel or Google Sheets model for advisors?"
description: "Advisors' models live in spreadsheets. FundFacts API feeds them by ISIN through Power Query in Excel or an Apps Script custom function in Sheets: TER, risk, category, holdings, returns, refreshable, with an as-of date. Steps and formulas."
canonical: https://fundfactsapi.com/answers/fund-data-for-an-excel-or-sheets-model-for-advisors
published: 2026-09-12
updated: 2026-10-13
publisher: FundFacts API
---

# How do I get live fund data into an Excel or Google Sheets model for advisors?

**Short answer:** Use FundFacts API through the spreadsheet's own HTTP facility: Power Query in Excel (Data → Get Data → Blank Query) or an Apps Script custom function in Google Sheets, both documented with copy-paste code. A column of ISINs becomes name, category, TER, risk indicator, size, returns and dataAsOf on refresh, and holdings can spill into a range. A free key covers a small model; Starter ($9.99) covers a book of a few hundred funds refreshed monthly.

## What an Excel or Google Sheets model needs from a data source

- A formula or query that takes an ISIN and returns a field.
- Refresh on demand, not on every recalculation.
- Holdings and returns as ranges for charts.
- The key kept out of the shared file.

## Why FundFacts API fits

The [Google Sheets page](https://fundfactsapi.com/answers/fund-data-by-isin-in-google-sheets) gives a `=FUNDFACTS(isin, "headlineMetrics.ter")` custom function with a six-hour cache and a `=FUNDFACTS_HOLDINGS(isin)` spill range; the [Excel page](https://fundfactsapi.com/answers/fund-data-by-isin-in-excel-power-query) gives a Power Query that expands a table of ISINs into name, TER, risk and as-of columns, with the key read from a named cell. Both are refreshable and both show `dataAsOf` next to the figures.

## What it does not do

- Prices for valuation come from the broker download you already use; the API adds the description and factsheet fields.
- Apps Script custom functions time out at 30 seconds, so a brand-new fund may need a second refresh once it is in the store.

## 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 model over 200 funds refreshed monthly is 200 requests a month: Starter ($9.99). Refreshing weekly is still under 1,000. One request is counted per fund found; search is free. Plans are on the [pricing page](https://fundfactsapi.com/pricing).

## Alternatives worth knowing

- Vendor spreadsheet add-ins (Morningstar, Bloomberg Excel) when the firm licenses them; they bring ratings and prices, at licence cost.
- Manual copy from factsheets when the model has ten funds and changes once a year.

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 an Excel or Google Sheets model, 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.