PROVISIONS OF THE GLOBAL INVESTMENT PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
The provisions within the GIPS standards are divided into the following nine sections:
Fundamentals of Compliance, Input Data, Calculation Methodology, Composite Construction, Disclosure, Presentation and Reporting, Real Estate, Private Equity, and Wrap Fee/Separately Managed Account (SMA) Portfolios.
The provisions for each section are categorized into requirements and recommendations.
Firms must meet all the requirements to claim compliance with the GIPS standards. Firms are encouraged to implement as many of the recommendations as possible. These recommended provisions are considered to be industry best practice and assist firms in fully adhering to the spirit and intent of the GIPS standards.
0 Fundamentals of Compliance: Several core principles create the foundation for the GIPS standards, including properly defining the firm, providing compliant presentations to all prospective clients, adhering to applicable laws and regulations, and ensuring that information presented is not false or misleading.
Two important issues that a firm must consider when becoming compliant with the GIPS standards are the definition of the firm and the firm’s definition of discretion. The definition of the firm is the foundation for firm- wide compliance and creates defined boundaries whereby total firm assets can be determined.
The firm’s definition of discretion establishes criteria to judge which portfolios must be included in a composite and is based on the firm’s ability to implement its investment strategy.
1 Input Data: Consistency of input data used to calculate performance is critical to effective compliance with the GIPS standards and establishes the foundation for full, fair, and comparable investment performance presentations. For periods beginning on or after 1 January 2011, all portfolios must be valued in accordance with the definition of fair value and the GIPS Valuation Principles.
2 Calculation Methodology: Achieving comparability among investment management firms’ performance presentations requires uniformity in methods used to calculate returns. The GIPS standards mandate the use of certain calculation methodologies to facilitate comparability.
3 Composite Construction: A composite is an aggregation of one or more portfolios managed according to a similar investment mandate, objective, or strategy. The composite return is the asset- weighted average of the performance
of all portfolios in the composite. Creating meaningful composites is essential to the fair presentation, consistency, and comparability of performance over time and among firms.
4 Disclosure: Disclosures allow firms to elaborate on the data provided in the presentation and give the reader the proper context in which to understand the performance. To comply with the GIPS standards, firms must disclose certain information in all compliant presentations regarding their performance and the policies adopted by the firm. Although some disclosures are required for all firms, others are specific to certain circumstances and may not be applicable in all situations. One of the essential disclosures for every firm is the claim of compliance.
Once a firm meets all the requirements of the GIPS standards, it must appropriately use the claim of compliance to indicate compliance with the GIPS standards. The 2010 edition of the GIPS standards includes a revised compliance
statement that indicates if the firm has or has not been verified.
5 Presentation and Reporting: After constructing the composites, gathering the input data, calculating returns, and determining the necessary disclosures, the firm must incorporate this information in presentations based on the requirements in the GIPS standards for presenting investment performance. No finite set of requirements can cover all potential situations or anticipate future developments in investment industry structure, technology, products, or practices.
When appropriate, firms have the responsibility to include in GIPS- compliant presentations information not addressed by the GIPS standards.
6 Real Estate: Unless otherwise noted, this section supplements all of the required and recommended provisions in Sections 0–5. Real estate provisions were first included in the 2005 edition of the GIPS standards and became effective 1 January 2006. The 2010 edition of the GIPS standards includes new provisions
for closed- end real estate funds. Firms should note that certain provisions of Sections 0–5 do not apply to real estate investments or are superseded by provisions within Section 6. The provisions that do not apply have been noted
within Section 6.
7 Private Equity: Unless otherwise noted, this section supplements all of the required and recommended provisions in Sections 0–5. Private equity provisions were first included in the 2005 edition of the GIPS standards and became
effective 1 January 2006. Firms should note that certain provisions in Sections 0–5 do not apply to private equity investments or are superseded by provisions within Section 7. The provisions that do not apply have been noted within Section 7.
8 Wrap Fee/Separately Managed Account (SMA) Portfolios: Unless otherwise noted, this section supplements all of the required and recommended provisions in Sections 0–5. Firms should note that certain provisions in Sections 0–5 of the GIPS standards do not apply to wrap fee/SMA portfolios or are superseded by provisions within Section 8. The provisions that do not apply have been noted within Section
8. Defined Terms: Words appearing in small capital letters in the GIPS standards are defined in the GIPS Glossary, which is located at the end of this reading.
