Mutual Fund Risk Factors API
Retrieve the risk factors a mutual fund or ETF discloses in its prospectus, itemised, with the full text of each as the filer wrote it. Order is preserved exactly as filed — funds list risks by significance, not alphabetically, so the first item is the one the manager considers most material, and re-sorting would discard that signal. Vanguard 500 Index Fund files 11 risk factors; ARK Innovation ETF files 27, and the difference is itself informative. The API is free to use.
Use this endpoint to:
https://data.businessquant.com/funds/risks?ticker={ticker}&api_key={api_key}
Related endpoints: The narrative summary these items expand on is also returned by the Fund Overview API, alongside the objective and strategy. To check the risks against the actual portfolio, use the Fund Holdings API and the Portfolio Exposure API — a fund disclosing concentration risk is worth a look at its top ten weights.
1. Request Parameters
One identifier. Risk disclosures belong to the fund rather than to a share class, so ticker and seriesid return the same list for any class of the same fund.
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| api_key |
Required
Your unique API key for authentication.
|
| ticker |
Conditional Identifier
The fund or ETF ticker. A ticker identifies a share class, not a fund — VOO and VFIAX are two classes of the same portfolio, so the fees you get back are the ones that class charges. Either ticker or seriesid is required.
Example:
ticker=VOO |
| seriesid |
Conditional Identifier
The SEC Series ID of the fund. Resolves to the fund's lowest-cost share class. Use this when you want the fund rather than a particular class, or for funds that have no ticker of their own.
Example:
seriesid=S000002839 |
Never sort these rows alphabetically. risk_sno is the prospectus's own ordering, which filers set by significance. The order is the disclosure, and re-sorting throws away information the filer deliberately encoded. Rows arrive already sorted on it.
Risk text is returned verbatim. No summarisation, no truncation, no normalisation of the filer's wording. Some items run to several hundred words. If you need something shorter for a UI, truncate at render time and keep the full text for search and for model input.
curl -X GET "https://data.businessquant.com/funds/risks?ticker=VOO&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY"
{
"metadata": {
"ticker": "VOO",
"seriesid": "S000002839",
"classid": "C000092055",
"cik": 1004655,
"fund_name": "Vanguard 500 Index Fund",
"class_name": "ETF Shares",
"gross_expense_ratio_pct": 0.03,
"net_expense_ratio_pct": 0.03,
"net_assets_usd": 1421263311402.89,
"net_assets_asof": "2026-03-31",
"risk_count": 11,
"risk_narrative": "As with any investment, an investment in the Fund could lose money over any time period. The Fund's share price and total return may fluctuate, potentially within a wide range. The principal risks of investing in the Fund are summarized below. Each of the …",
"prospectus_date": "2026-04-28"
},
"data": [
{
"risk_sno": 1,
"risk_name": "Risk Lose Money Risk",
"risk_text": "As with any investment, an investment in the Fund could lose money over any time period."
},
{
"risk_sno": 2,
"risk_name": "General Market Risk",
"risk_text": "• General Market Risk. The markets in which the Fund invests can be affected by a variety of factors. These factors, which can be real or perceived, may include economic, market, political, and regulatory conditions and developments as well as local, regional, or global events such as wars, …"
},
{
"risk_sno": 3,
"risk_name": "Investing In Equity Markets Risk",
"risk_text": "• Investing in Equity Markets. The Fund invests in the equity markets. Equity markets have historically been cyclical, having periods of time when stock values rise and fall. Market volatility can lead to significant fluctuations in stock values, resulting in potential losses to the Fund."
},
{
"risk_sno": 4,
"risk_name": "Market Capitalization Risk",
"risk_text": "• Market Capitalization (Market Cap). Companies are generally classified into three types of market cap depending on their size: small-, mid-, and large-cap. Companies can be further classified into micro- or mega-cap. Different factors can affect each market cap uniquely, and historically small- …"
},
{
"risk_sno": 5,
"risk_name": "Index Investing Risk",
"risk_text": "• Index Investing. The Fund is subject to risks associated with index investing. Because the Fund generally seeks to track the performance of the Target Index regardless of how the Target Index is performing, the Fund's performance may be lower than it would be if it were actively managed. …"
}
]
}
The sample above is trimmed for display — five of eleven items, with each risk_text cut short. The live endpoint returns every item in full.
2. Response Fields
Three fields per row, and the fund identity block in metadata shared with every other endpoint in this group.
metadata
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ticker, seriesid, classid, cik | string | Fund and share-class identity. |
| fund_name, class_name | string | Registered fund name and resolved share class. |
| net_assets_usd, net_assets_asof | float, date | Fund net assets and the date reported. |
| risk_count | integer | Number of risk factors returned. |
| risk_narrative | string | The prospectus's own summary paragraph introducing the risk section, verbatim. |
| prospectus_date | date | Date of the prospectus these disclosures were filed in. |
data — one row per risk factor
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| risk_sno | integer | The filer's own sequence number. Rows arrive sorted on this; preserve the order. |
| risk_name | string | Short label for the risk, e.g. General Market Risk or Index Tracking Risk. |
| risk_text | string | Full disclosure text for that risk, exactly as filed. |
3. Response Viewer
A real response for ticker=VOO, abridged for this page. Rows are in filed order — general market risk first, index tracking risk further down — which is the manager's own ranking of what matters.
API Response — Prospectus Risk Factors
Vanguard 500 Index Fund · ticker=VOO
| # | Risk Factor | Disclosure Text |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Risk Lose Money Risk | As with any investment, an investment in the Fund could lose money over any time period. |
| 2 | General Market Risk | • General Market Risk. The markets in which the Fund invests can be affected by a variety of factors. These factors, which can be real or perceived, may include economic, market, political, and regulatory conditions and developments as well as local, regional, or global events such as wars, … |
| 3 | Investing In Equity Markets Risk | • Investing in Equity Markets. The Fund invests in the equity markets. Equity markets have historically been cyclical, having periods of time when stock values rise and fall. Market volatility can lead to significant fluctuations in stock values, resulting in potential losses to the Fund. |
| 4 | Market Capitalization Risk | • Market Capitalization (Market Cap). Companies are generally classified into three types of market cap depending on their size: small-, mid-, and large-cap. Companies can be further classified into micro- or mega-cap. Different factors can affect each market cap uniquely, and historically small- … |
| 5 | Index Investing Risk | • Index Investing. The Fund is subject to risks associated with index investing. Because the Fund generally seeks to track the performance of the Target Index regardless of how the Target Index is performing, the Fund's performance may be lower than it would be if it were actively managed. … |
4. More Request Examples
One parameter, so the interesting part is which funds you compare.
https://data.businessquant.com/funds/risks?ticker=VOO&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY
https://data.businessquant.com/funds/risks?ticker=ARKK&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY
https://data.businessquant.com/funds/risks?ticker=AGG&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY
https://data.businessquant.com/funds/risks?seriesid=S000002839&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY
5. Use Cases
Prospectus risk text is unstructured by nature; itemising it is what makes it usable.
Risk Accordion On A Fund Page
risk_name is the accordion header and risk_text the panel. Keeping risk_sno order means the most material risk is the one open by default.
Risk Profile Comparison
Count and compare risk factors across funds. An index fund files 11; an active thematic ETF files 27. The delta, and which named risks appear in one list and not the other, is a fast structural comparison.
Disclosure Change Monitoring
Store the risk list per prospectus_date and diff on each new filing. A newly added risk factor is a deliberate act by the filer and often the earliest formal signal of a strategy shift.
Retrieval Pipelines And LLM Input
Text arrives verbatim and already segmented by risk, which is a better chunk boundary than a fixed token window — each item is a self-contained disclosure.
Suitability And Compliance Screening
Search risk_name across a fund universe for specific exposures — derivatives, non-diversification, emerging markets, liquidity — to flag products against a client mandate.
Risk Versus Portfolio Reality
A fund disclosing concentration risk is worth checking against its actual top weights from the Fund Holdings API. Disclosure and portfolio do not always tell the same story.
Frequently Asked Questions
The questions developers ask most often about this endpoint.
Why should I not sort the risk factors alphabetically?
Because risk_sno is the prospectus's own ordering and filers set it by significance, listing the risks they consider most material first. Sorting alphabetically discards a signal the filer deliberately encoded. Rows already arrive in filed order.
Is the risk text summarised or edited in any way?
No. risk_text is the filer's wording, unedited and untruncated, which is why some items run to several hundred words. The sample on this page is trimmed for display only — the live endpoint returns everything. Truncate at render time if you need to, but keep the full text for search and model input.
Do different share classes have different risk factors?
No. Risk disclosures belong to the fund, not to a share class, so every class on one seriesId returns an identical list. VOO and VFIAX give the same 11 items; only the identity block in metadata differs to reflect which class you asked for.
What is the difference between risk_narrative and the data array?
risk_narrative in metadata is the single introductory paragraph the prospectus uses to open its risk section — the same field the Fund Overview API returns. The data array is that section broken into its individual named risks. Use the narrative for a summary line and the array for anything structured.
What happens for a fund that files no itemised risks?
A 404 with a message saying so. Not every registrant breaks its risk section into named items — some file only a continuous narrative, which is still available as risk_narrative on the Fund Overview API.
Is the Mutual Fund Risk Factors API free to use?
Yes, the API is free to use. Sign up for an API key and start pulling prospectus risk disclosures immediately — no credit card required.