---
title: "Inception date"
description: "The inception date is the day a fund or share class was launched and began calculating a NAV; it determines how much performance history and which risk statistics exist."
canonical: https://fundfactsapi.com/glossary/inception-date
published: 2026-09-04
updated: 2026-09-04
publisher: FundFacts API
---

# Inception date (Launch date, Fund launch, Share class inception)

> The inception date is the day a fund or share class was launched and began calculating a NAV; it determines how much performance history and which risk statistics exist.

## Definition

The **inception date** (or launch date) is the day a fund, or a specific share class, was launched and priced for the first time. A fund and its share classes can have different inception dates: an umbrella fund launched in 2009 may have added a EUR-hedged class in 2019. Factsheets and KIDs show the class inception date because performance and risk figures are calculated per class.

## Why it matters

Inception defines the length of the track record. Regulatory documents only show past performance for complete calendar years, so a fund launched in March has no bar for its first year. Statistics such as three-year volatility, three-year Sharpe ratio and five-year annualised return are undefined until enough history exists, and a "since inception" return is only comparable between funds launched at the same time.

## In the API

The class inception date is in `keyFacts.inception`. The available history is visible from `calendarReturns.years` and the first point of `indexedPerformance.points`. Example values:

```json
{
  "keyFacts": { "inception": "2019-05-14" },
  "calendarReturns": { "years": [2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025] },
  "indexedPerformance": { "points": [{ "date": "2019-05-14", "value": 100 }] },
  "headlineMetrics": { "volatility3y": 13.7, "sharpe3y": 0.82 }
}
```

## Common pitfalls

Do not display three- or five-year metrics for classes younger than the window; treat missing values as "not available" rather than zero. Some fund houses show fund-level inception on a class factsheet, so history before the class launch may be simulated from another class. See [volatility](https://fundfactsapi.com/glossary/volatility) and [Sharpe ratio](https://fundfactsapi.com/glossary/sharpe-ratio).

## In the FundFacts API payload

- `keyFacts.inception`
- `calendarReturns.years`
- `indexedPerformance.points`

## 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.