AssetClass

Overview

AssetClass specifies the broad category of financial instrument — equity, fixed income, commodity, currency, or real estate — that a research product focuses on or that a security belongs to. It is the highest level of a three-tier classification scheme (asset class → asset type → security type) used throughout RIXML to categorise both research content and the specific instruments it covers (sources: data-dictionary-2.4 p.53, data-dictionary-2.5.1 p.56, user-guide-2.2 p.38). The element carries its actual value in the required assetClass attribute (drawn from AssetClassEnum) and may optionally carry weightingAction to record publisher actions on weighting. In the full schema it may contain Rating and Weighting child elements to convey ratings or allocation guidance scoped to the asset class (sources: data-dictionary-2.5.1 p.56, user-guide-2.3.1 p.38). AssetClass appears in two principal locations: within Context / ProductClassifications to declare the asset class focus of the research product, and within Security (via SecurityDetails) to classify individual instruments (sources: data-dictionary-2.4 p.53, level-one-2.2 p.20). It is also used inside Expertise to describe an organisation's coverage capabilities [quarterly-2012-q2 p.3].

Usage

At the product level (inside ProductClassifications within Context): use AssetClass only when the report explicitly discusses an asset class or market. Omit it for economic, thematic, or company-specific reports that do not have a clear asset-class focus. Classification should reflect *what the report discusses*, not the underlying business of any company mentioned — e.g. a report on the stock of a gold mining company is Equity, but a report on the gold futures market is Commodity (sources: data-dictionary-2.5.1 p.19, data-dictionary-2.4 p.19). At the security level (inside Security): AssetClass is required and appears exactly once per security, normally alongside AssetType and SecurityType to give a full three-level classification (sources: level-one-2.2 p.20, level-one-2.5 p.15, user-guide-2.2 p.38). Attributes and children: - assetClass — required, from AssetClassEnum. Documented values are Equity, FixedIncome, Commodity, and Currency across all 2.x versions; RealEstate is cited in some 2.4/2.5 sources but is not consistently listed in the dictionary's enumeration (sources: data-dictionary-2.5.1 p.56, example-company-advanced-2.4, level-one-2.5 p.15). - weightingAction — optional, from WeightingActionEnum, used to track publisher changes to an asset-class weighting [user-guide-2.3.1 p.38]. - Child Rating and Weighting elements — optional in the full schema; not used in Level One profiles. Coverage / expertise: AssetClass also appears inside Expertise as a child of AssetClasses to declare the asset classes an organisation or person covers [Company Report (Advanced) Sample v2.4]↗. Currency-related content: for products discussing currencies in general, publishers should tag the asset class as Currency rather than relying on the specific Currency element, which is reserved for naming a specific currency [release-notes-2.3 p.4].

Rules

• MUSTEach Security must contain exactly one AssetClass element carrying the required assetClass attribute from AssetClassEnum.[RIXML Level One Addendum v2.2 p.20] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.3 p.15] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.3.1 p.15] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.5 p.15] [RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1 p.56]
• MUSTassetClass is required and must take a value from AssetClassEnum.[RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1 p.56] [RIXML User Guide v2.2 p.38] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.2 p.20]
• SHOULDAssetClass should be omitted from ProductClassifications when the report has no clear asset-class focus (for example, economic or thematic research); it is only appropriate when the report specifically discusses an asset class or market.[RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.4 p.19] [RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1 p.19]
• SHOULDAsset class classification should reflect what the research report discusses rather than the underlying business of companies mentioned — e.g. a report on a gold mining company's stock is Equity, while a report on gold futures markets is Commodity.[RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1 p.19]
• SHOULDFor products discussing currencies in general, publishers should tag the asset class as Currency via AssetClass rather than using the specific Currency element, which is reserved for naming a particular currency.[RIXML Release Notes v2.3 p.4]
• SHOULDWhen classifying a security, AssetClass should be accompanied by AssetType (and typically SecurityType) to give a complete three-level asset classification.[Company Report (Basic) Sample v2.4]↗ [Industry Report (Basic) Sample v2.4]↗ [Morning Call Report (Basic) Sample v2.4]↗ [RIXML User Guide v2.2 p.38]
• INFORMATIVELevel One profiles do not require Rating or Weighting as children of AssetClass; in Level One the element functions purely as a container for the assetClass attribute. Including these children does not break the full schema but is outside the Level One simplification.[RIXML Level One Addendum v2.3 p.15] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.3.1 p.15] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.5 p.15]
• INFORMATIVEAssetClass as a child of ProductClassifications is not required by Level One, which relies on security-level classification instead.[RIXML Level One Addendum v2.3.1 p.18]
• SHOULDIn the proposed v3.0 model, AssetClass is intended to support tagSource and tagConfidence attributes alongside other core taxonomic tags such as Company, Industry, Region, Country, and Subject.[RIXML All-Member Meeting September 2023 p.31]↗

Relationships

• child-ofSecurity — AssetClass appears as a required single child of Security (inside SecurityDetails) to classify the security's broad asset category.
• child-ofProductClassifications — AssetClass may appear within ProductClassifications (inside Context) to declare the asset class focus of the research product.
• child-ofAssetClasses — AssetClass is the repeating child of AssetClasses when used inside Expertise to declare an organisation's or person's asset-class coverage.
• typed-byAssetClassEnum — The required assetClass attribute takes its value from AssetClassEnum.
• qualified-byAssetType — AssetType narrows the broad category given by AssetClass, providing the second level of the asset-class → asset-type → security-type hierarchy.
• qualified-bySecurityType — SecurityType further narrows the classification beneath AssetClass and AssetType to identify the specific instrument type.
• containsRating — In the full schema, AssetClass may contain one or more Rating child elements expressing ratings scoped to the asset class.
• containsWeighting — In the full schema, AssetClass may contain Weighting child elements expressing allocation guidance; the optional weightingAction attribute records the publisher's action on that weighting.
• referenced-byAssetClassEntitlement — AssetClassEntitlement restricts content access based on the asset class values used in AssetClass.