One-third of the advisers who took part in the survey said the documents, designed to ensure that investors have access to a standardised factsheet containing all the key features of a fund before they invest, simply added to their clients' confusion. A further third of respondents said the new documents had not had any impact at all, positive or negative.
Only 13 per cent of respondents thought KIIDs documents actually helped their clients understand the funds they were investing in.
The rest said it was too early to say.
"To be honest I’m not surprised," commented Andy Merricks, head of investments at Skerritt Consultants.
"They’re not particularly useful, they’re just another piece of legislative paper. Whoever thought them up probably thought they’d be more use than they actually are."
Merricks thinks the documents are another example of the FSA's talent for transforming good intentions into useless paperwork.
"You need something to show that there is transparency, so in that sense I suppose they serve a purpose, but they’re not really a hindrance or a help for our clients, they’re just more paperwork, another four-letter acronym to add to the list."
For KIIDs to work, Merricks (pictured) added, it may be necessary for advisers to go through the document with their client in a one-on-one session, but many investors would rather not go into that level of detail.
"We take a lot for granted in the industry. We assume that clients understand what we are talking about and what we are trying to tell them. The trouble is that these things are rather like the manual you get with a new gadget like a mobile phone." "Some people might actually want to go through the manual before they start using it, but if the bloke in the Orange shop insisted that you go through every page before you took the phone home you’d probably just shop somewhere else."
FE Trustnet's parent company FE is part of the joint venture behind Kii Hub, which works alongside fund management companies to ensure they have a full suite of Key Investor Information Documents.
Nick Cummings, director at Technical Fund Marketing – one of FE’s partners in the business – said despite their limitations the new documents were a step forward in real terms and a major improvement on the situation that existed prior to their invention.
"These results, when taken with other industry feedback, show that the IFA jury is still out on the usefulness of KIIDs. It will obviously take some time for advisers and investors to get used to the new-style documents."
"They will never be perfect – the industry has to accept that investment will always be an inherently confusing subject for most end customers, no matter what material they are given."
He continued: "However, the reign of the simplified prospectus brought forth a kaleidoscope of confusing documents as countries and companies generated their own rule interpretations, to the huge bewilderment of investors."
"KIIDs are a major step forward from this."
You can download the Key Investor Information Documents which are relevant to the funds you are interested in via FE Trustnet. Simply add the funds you are interested in to your FE Trustnet basket and click the "Download KIIDs" button on the right.