Yuval - I think this is a correct transition strategy.
There are two changes that are happening simultaneously. One is a transition from Compustat to Factset data and the other one is the transition from GICS to RBICS. From my personal standpoint, I would first like to figure out the data changes and how they impact my portfolio by keeping the industry classification fixed, and then I can transition into reclassifying GICS to RBICS and play with that. I certainly don’t want to reconcile the differences in performance simultaneously.
I ment if I have a formula like FRank(“Close(0)/Close(5)”,#Sector,#DESC) I want it to refer to RBICS in the beta site and to GICS in the current site without the need to change it to FRank(“Close(0)/Close(5)”,#RBICS.Sector,#DESC) . Same with other formulas. Of course if my systems refers to a specific sector it should be change in the beta site to the relevant RBICS as you mentioned.
The jump to RBICS may create a good deal of confusion in the transition period. I need to re-map about 30 GICS sub industries. Rather than sift through your (helpful) worksheet, I would like something faster and more direct.
To avoid any questions and doubt:
Show both Level 4 (eight digit) RBICS and GICS IDs (not names) by TICKER. I know you can’t keep the GICS codes after we dump C’stat, but this would be a very useful tool up until that point.
This could be accomplished with a new screen function or listed on each company’s summary page.
Many thanks for this (very) helpful tool! I know you guys are extremely busy with the transition, so I really appreciate the rapid turnaround. I tip my hat.
Not yet. In a week or two, after we switch to RBICS as the default on the FactSet server, you’ll be able to use the screen report to generate such a thing.
To confirm then, all pre-built factors regarding industry and sector characteristics (momentum etc), will automatically be changed over to the RBICS system? Is there a way to check the differences today, before the final changeover? i.e. Pr52W%ChgInd for GICS vs RBICS? Or is this just by switching between “legacy” and “new” servers?
Sometime in the next few days we’ll be making the change from GICS to RBICS for the FactSet server. Things have changed a bit since my initial post on this thread. I have updated the Google document accordingly. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1moiYxmCkHlqEhgLCcQoZwiWRb5rBiOvs/view?ths=true The last paragraph now reads:
On the day we switch the FactSet engine from GICS to RBICS, we will be automatically replacing all your Sector, Subsector, Industry, and Subindustry commands with GICS commands (and mapping them to the appropriate RBICS equivalents). Any NEW Sector, Subsector, Industry, and Subindustry commands that you write after the switch will refer to the RBICS name and number when you’re running the FactSet engine. So if you write Sector=10 AFTER the switch, it will bring up Business Services in the FactSet engine and Energy in the Compustat engine. GICS commands will still work in FactSet and will be mapped to the appropriate RBICS categories, but RBICS commands will not work in Compustat.
To answer your question, Ryan, it is not possible today to compare Pr52W%ChgInd between GICS and RBICS. You have to wait until the switch. At that point you could compare the Compustat and FactSet engines.