Blog

Updated industry classification data

by Angela Thompson, Senior Digital Marketing Manager, Sharesight | Feb 26th 2016

If you’ve run a Sharesight portfolio report over the last couple months, you may have noticed a change in the way we display industry classifications. That’s because our industry classification data is now based on FactSet's global security classification scheme, instead of the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) that we previously used. This enhancement offers higher quality and more detailed industry classification data across all share markets in Sharesight.

Diversity Report

Why the change?

Up until now the industry classification data that we have received has been published under a variety of different classification schemes depending on the share market. To work around this we have had to manually cross reference each of the various schemes back to the GICS scheme as best we can. Due to the widely varying standards this is a somewhat inexact process and has resulted in poor quality data for some of our international markets in particular.

About Factset industry classifications

FactSet’s industry and sector classifications classify companies into multiple, highly specific categories based on the products and services they sell and the sub-sectors in which they operate. The taxonomy consists of 21 Sectors which are further broken down into 137 industry groups. This offers a much more detailed and granular taxonomy to the 24 industry groups that are currently available.

New features

It is now possible to group reports based on either 'Sector' or ‘Industry’ depending on the level of detail required. Overriding the default industry classification for a holding in your portfolio will now automatically apply the update to any other holdings of the same instrument in all of your portfolios. This feature is available on the following:

Industry Classification Data

For more information, including FAQs on this enhancement, simply visit our community forum topic entitled updated industry classification data.

FURTHER READING

Active vs passive investing

Active vs. passive investing

by Stephanie Stefanovic | Aug 5th 2026

What are the differences between active and passive investing, and does one offer a higher guarantee of success than the other? Keep reading to learn more.

Sharesight multi asset tracker

Why Sharesight is the best multi-asset portfolio tracker

by Stephanie Stefanovic | Aug 1st 2026

We explore how Sharesight helps you stay on top of your portfolio, optimise your performance and set yourself up for a successful year of investing.

Family office taxes

Why tax time is so painful for family offices — and what to do about it

by Stephanie Stefanovic | Jul 28th 2026

We discuss five reasons tax time hits family offices harder than it should, and what better infrastructure looks like in each case.