More than 15 years after initially debuting the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS), the CFA Institute has finally released a list of managers claiming GIPS compliance. The list, which currently includes 348 investment managers, is the result of a notification requirement instituted by the CFA in January.
The purpose of GIPS is to give LPs an apples-to-apples comparison of potential GPs, based on the fair representation and full disclosure of at least five years of performance results. With the list publicly available, it’s now easier for investors (and regulators) to fact-check fund managers who claim top-quartile status using an objective performance benchmark.
Although the lion’s share of the firms listed are traditional asset managers, the private fund managers included show who in the industry is getting on board with the independent performance standard. They include such firms as fund of funds Aberdeen Asset Management, private equity firm DuPont Capital, infrastructure firm Cushing MLP Asset Management, and real estate firms Aviva Investors and American Realty Advisors.
Overall, the GIPS standards have yet to catch fire in the private funds industry. The CFA is hoping that, in making this information public for the first time, it “may motivate firms not currently claiming compliance to do so, resulting in broader adoption,” according to a release.
“For example, if a firm sees that four of its top five competitors are all compliant with these standards, they might consider it more seriously,” said chief GIPS examiner at the CFA Jonathan Boersma in an interview with pfm last fall.
Firms claiming compliance with GIPS are required to send in a notification form to the CFA by June 30. Aside from the public list, the CFA plans to use the information to better respond to continued requests for information about the adoption of the GIPS standards around the globe.
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