KID (Key Information Document, PRIIPs)

Definition

The Key Information Document (KID) is the pre-contractual disclosure required by the EU PRIIPs Regulation for packaged retail investment products. It is limited to three A4 pages and follows a fixed template: what the product is, its risk and reward (a summary risk indicator from 1 to 7 plus performance scenarios), what happens if the manufacturer cannot pay, costs over time and their composition, recommended holding period, and how to complain. The regulation has applied to structured products and insurance-based investments since 2018 and to UCITS funds sold to EU retail investors since 1 January 2023, when it replaced the UCITS KIID.

Why it matters

The KID is the one document a distributor must give a retail investor before they buy, so its numbers, especially the SRI and the cost figures, are what compliance systems, suitability tools and fund comparison sites need. Because it is templated, it is also the most machine-readable of a fund's documents.

In the API

The API reads the current KID for each share class. The risk indicator is in riskRating with a label in profile.riskBand, costs in headlineMetrics.ter, and the objective text in investmentObjective. Example values:

json
{
  "riskRating": 4,
  "profile": { "riskBand": "medium" },
  "headlineMetrics": { "ter": 0.20 },
  "investmentObjective": "The fund aims to track the performance of the MSCI World Index."
}

Common pitfalls

The PRIIPs SRI and the older KIID SRRI are both 1–7 scales but use different methodologies, so the same fund can score differently on each. PRIIPs cost figures include transaction costs, which the KIID ongoing charges figure excluded. In the UK, UCITS funds sold to retail investors continue to use the KIID pending the FCA's replacement regime.