How to Update your GIPS Policies & Procedures for GIPS 2020
Sean P. Gilligan, CFA, CPA, CIPM
Managing Partner
May 20, 2020
15 min
If you are an investment firm or asset owner that complieswith the GIPS standards you are required to make some modifications to yourGIPS policies and procedures (“P&P”) to address changes made to the 2020edition of the Standards. The extent of these updates depends on:
- whetheryour organization plans to adopt any new optional policies,
- whetheryou have pooled funds to add to the current list of composites, or
- ifyour organization plans to change any calculation methodologies now allowedunder the new standards.
Like other GIPS requirements, consistent application andadequate documentation are critical to ensuring these updates and changes areapplied correctly and consistently.
GIPS 2020: Minimum Requirements for all GIPSCompliant Organizations
There are some required GIPS policies & procedure updatesthat will impact all organizations claiming compliance. At a minimum, all firmsand asset owners must address the following in their P&P:
Terminology
What was previously called “Compliant Presentations” are nowcalled “GIPS Reports” in the 2020 GIPS standards. Likely, the term “CompliantPresentations” is used throughout your P&P, which needs to be replaced with“GIPS Reports” to be in sync with the language of the updated standards.
Demonstrate that GIPS Reports are Distributed
It has always been a good idea to maintain a log documentingthe distribution of GIPS Reports to help support that your firm met therequirement of providing them to prospective clients; however, it was notpreviously required. The 2020 edition of the GIPS standards now requires firmsto demonstrate how it made every reasonable effort to provide a GIPS Report toprospective clients that are required to receive one.
The most common way to do this is by maintaining a log of thedistribution in a spreadsheet or by noting the distribution in your firm’s CRMsystem. If noting distribution in your CRM, it is important to populate this ina way that can easily be extracted into a report. Your GIPS verifier is nowrequired to test this so you will need to be able to produce a report demonstratingthat your firm is distributing GIPS Reports to prospective clients.
In addition, you must now update your P&P to document theprocess for how this is maintained. Although each firm will need to documentthis differently to accurately describe their process (i.e., the system inwhich it is maintained and who is responsible for maintaining it), below is anexample of how this may be documented:
Each time a GIPS Report is distributed, the firm’s SalesAssociate is responsible for logging the distribution on the firm’s CRM system.This documentation will include who received the GIPS Report, the version ofthe GIPS Report they received, the method of delivery, and the date it wasdelivered. This information may be extracted from the CRM system by the SalesAssociate if requested by a verifier, regulator, or if needed internally.
Error Correction Procedures
In the 2010 edition of the GIPS standards, if a material errorwas discovered in a compliant presentation, correction and redistribution wasrequired with a disclosure of the change to “all prospective clients and otherparties that received the erroneous compliant presentation.” In addition tothese, the 2020 GIPS standards specifically call out providing corrected GIPSReports to your current GIPS verifier as well as any former verifier or currentclient that received the GIPS Report containing the material error.
Currently, most firms’ policies relating to material errors arelikely limited to the action they take to redistribute to current prospectiveclients. We recommend updating this language to specifically address the needto provide the corrected presentation to verifiers and clients who received theerroneous presentation as well. An example of how this may be documented isprovided below:
Our firm willdetermine an identified error is material if the error exceeds the materialitythresholds stated in the Error Correction Policy: Materiality Grid. If thisoccurs, we will correct all affected GIPS Reports, include a disclosure of thechange, and make every reasonable effort to provide a corrected GIPS Report to:
- Prospective clients that received the GIPS Reportthat had the material error;
- Clients and any former verifiers that received theGIPS Report that had the material error; and
- Current GIPS verifier.
Verifier Independence
Verifiers are prohibited from testing their own work and,therefore, cannot help their clients by writing policies, calculatingperformance, creating GIPS Reports, etc. To help ensure this independence ismaintained, firms that are verified are now required to gain an understandingof their verifier’s policies for maintaining independence and to consider theirverifier’s assessment of independence to ensure there are no conflicts.
To comply with this, firms must request that their verifierprovide documentation describing the measures they take during the verificationprocess to ensure independence is maintained. The procedures for requesting andassessing this needs to be described in the firm’s GIPS policies &procedures. Below is an example of what this might look like:
Our firm has engaged XYZ Verification Firm as anindependent third-party verification firm to verify our claim ofcompliance. Each year, prior to the start of the annual verification, werequest the independence policy statement from the verification firm. If there are no changes from the prior year,this confirmation is requested in writing. Any potential threats to independence, either in fact or in appearance,are discussed with the verifier to resolve immediately.
GIPS Report Updates
We will discuss all the changes relating to GIPS Reports in aseparate blog; however, some of those changes will require updates to yourfirm’s GIPS policies and procedures, which we do want to discuss here.Presenting annual internal dispersion and three-year annualized ex poststandard deviation is not new; however, it is new that firms are required todisclose whether gross-of-fee or net-of-fee returns are used in thesecalculations. We recommend adding language to your P&P that makes it clearwhether you will use gross-of-fee or net-of-fee returns. Including this in yourP&P will help you ensure the calculation is consistent with the disclosureyou will be adding to your GIPS Reports. An example of how this could be wordedis as follows:
Composite internal dispersion is measured using theasset-weighted standard deviation of annual gross-of-fee returns of thoseportfolios included in the composite for the full year. The three-yearannualized ex post standard deviation measures the variability of the compositegross-of-fee returns and benchmark returns over the preceding 36-month period.
While either gross-of-fee or net-of-fee returns areacceptable, at Longs Peak we generally recommend that our clients usegross-of-fee returns so the presented volatility relates specifically to the implementationof the strategy and is not affected by management fees (which may differ byaccount, be paid at different times, etc).
Additionally, there is a new requirement to update GIPSReports with the prior year’s information within 12 months of the periodending. In other words, statistics for the period ending December 31, 2020 mustbe added to your GIPS Reports by December 31, 2021.That will be plenty of timefor most firms, but to ensure this is done, we recommend adding a procedure toyour P&P document simply explaining that the reports must be updated within12 months after the end of each annual period.
GIPS 2020: Changes for Firms with Pooled Funds
Firms that have pooled funds willhave a few additional changes to make to their GIPS policies & procedures.
Terminology
Most firms will have language intheir P&P referring to “prospective clients.” In the 2020 GIPS standards,the term prospective client refers specifically to a prospective separateaccount investor while the term “prospective investor” is used when referringto a prospective pooled fund investor. Firms need to review their P&P language and make updates to defineboth terms and ensure they are using the appropriate term depending on thecontext of what is being described.
List of Pooled Funds
Firms have always been required to maintain a list ofcomposite descriptions, but now the same is needed for each pooled fund thefirm manages. For each limited distribution pooled fund, a description needs tobe included (similar to what was done historically for composites). Broaddistribution pooled funds need to be listed, but no description is required.
If you are unsure whether a pooled fund is considered broaddistribution or limited, broad distribution pooled funds are defined in theglossary of the 2020 GIPS standards as “A pooled fund that is regulated under aframework that would permit the general public to purchase or hold the pooledfund’s shares and is not exclusively offered in one-on-one presentations.Limited distribution pooled funds are simply defined as any pooled fund thatdoes not meet the definition of a broad distribution pooled fund.
Pooled Fund Inception Date
Pooled fund performance must be reported back to the pooledfund’s inception date. How the inception date was determined must be documentedin the firm’s GIPS policies & procedures. Inception date could be based onwhen investment management fees are first charged, when the firstinvestment-related cash flow takes place, when the first capital call is made,or when committed capital is closed and legally binding. Whatever criteria isused to determine the inception date must be clearly described in the P&Pto ensure an appropriate inception date is used for each pooled fund managed bythe firm.
Error Correction Thresholds
If language used to document error correction materialitythresholds is specific to composites, this will need to be modified toincorporate thresholds for statistics reported in GIPS Pooled Fund Reports aswell. If the same thresholds are appropriate for both composites and pooledfunds (e.g. composite and pooled fund performance can have the same thresholdand composite and pooled fund assets can have the same threshold) then this maybe as simple as changing “Composite” to “Composite/Pooled Fund” throughout thissection.
Additionally, if your firm is now presenting money-weightedreturns and other related multiples for closed-end funds, you will need to addthresholds to your policy for these statistics as well.
Changes for other Optional Policies
The 2020 GIPS standards offer some more flexibility to ensure theyare as meaningful and useful as possible to all types of investment firms andasset owners. If any of these policies are utilized, additional changes will berequired to describe their use in your firm’s GIPS policies & procedures.Examples of these optional policies include, but are not limited to:
Carve-Outs
If a firm decides to utilize carve-outs with allocated cash,the new carve-out composite will need to be documented in the current list ofcomposites. In addition, the firm will need to implement policies andprocedures as to how they allocate cash, how they identify appropriate assetbuckets to carve-out from existing accounts, which accounts have asset groupsthat need to be carved-out to meet the new composite definition, and documentother composite related policies applied to the carve-out composite.
Portability
Historically, GIPS compliant firms meeting the portabilityrequirements were required to link the historical performance record to theongoing performance. The 2020 GIPS standards change this to make linkingoptional. When portable track records exist, firms need to document in theirP&P 1) whether the historical track record meets the GIPS portabilityrequirements and 2) whether they are electing to link the historicalperformance record or choosing to not link it.
Estimated Transaction Costs
The GIPS standards define “gross-of-fees” as the return oninvestments reduced by transaction costs. Historically, firms complying withthe GIPS standards were prohibited from estimating transaction costs; the useof actual transaction costs was required. The 2020 GIPS standards nowallow estimated transaction costs to be used in cases where actual transactioncosts are not known.
Using actual transaction costs is straightforward fortraditional portfolios that pay transaction costs in the form of commissions oneach trade. The issue most commonly arises with wrap accounts that paytransaction costs as part of a bundled fee.
Historically, firms were not able to present returnsgross-of-fees for their composites containing wrap accounts because they wereunable to determine the actual transaction costs. Most firms instead present“pure gross” returns, which are gross of the entire wrap fee and are requiredto be labelled as supplemental information.
Allowing estimated transaction costs will give firms managingwrap accounts the option to estimate the portion of the wrap fee that is for transactioncosts and reduce returns by this estimated figure.
If estimated transaction costs are utilized, the firm mustdisclose in their GIPS Reports how these estimated transaction costs aredetermined. Similarly, the process used to determine the estimated transactioncosts and the methodology utilized to reduce the returns by the estimatedtransaction costs needs to be documented in the firm’s P&P.
Model Management Fees
Previously, GIPS compliant firms using model investmentmanagement fees (rather than actual fees) to determine net-of-fee results wererequired to use the highest investment management fee. This was generallyinterpreted as the highest fee from the composite’s fee schedule or the highestfee-paying portfolio in the composite, whichever was higher. In the 2020 GIPSstandards, firms using model management fees are required to use a fee that is“appropriate” to the prospective client. While the model fee doesn’t specificallyhave to be the highest fee, the resulting returns still need to be equal to orlower than the results that would be calculated if actual management fees wereused.
If your P&P already describes using the highest managementfee and you will continue to use the highest fee then no change is needed. Ifyou will implement a new process other than highest fee, then it is importantto update your P&P to describe how the model fee will be determined andapplied. This description needs to include how you will confirm that thenet-of-fee returns using the model fee are not higher than they would be if theactual investment management fees were used.
Presenting Advisory-Only Assets
Firms that have Unified Managed Accounts (“UMA Accounts”) orother similar arrangements where they are simply providing a model to beimplemented by another party generally are not able to include these accountsin their total firm assets. These accounts are considered “advisory-only” becausethe manager is only providing the model and has no responsibility to implementthe strategy or monitor the portfolios on an ongoing basis.
This type of arrangement has become increasingly popular overthe last decade. Given the popularity of these relationships, many firms nowhave a large amount of advisory-only assets that they would like to report.Because of this demand, the 2020 GIPS standards have provided guidanceoutlining the proper way for firms to present these assets separate from theirtotal firm assets. Firms electing to present these assets must make it clearhow they intend to report them in their GIPS Reports.
Historically, many firms documented in their P&P somethinglike, “all accounts deemed to be advisory-only, hypothetical, or model innature are excluded from total firm assets” to make it clear that they were notincluding anything in total firm assets that was prohibited. Firms now electingto separately present advisory-only assets must add an additional statementdescribing how they will be presented. For example, “Some of the firm’sstrategies are offered through UMA platforms on an advisory-only basis. Theseassets are presented separately from the firm’s composite assets and total firmassets and will be labelled ‘Advisory-Only Assets’.”
Presenting Money-Weighted Returns
Historically, time-weighted returns were required with twospecific asset class exceptions: Private Equity and Real Estate (when RealEstate was managed in a Private Equity-like fund). The 2020 GIPS standards havenow removed the asset-class specific requirements. Instead, firms may nowpresent money-weighted returns for any asset class as long as the firm hascontrol over the external cash flows and the composite or pooled fund has atleast one of the following characteristics:
- Closed-end
- Fixed life
- Fixed commitment
- Illiquid investments are significant portion ofstrategy.
For firms meeting this criteria and electing to present money-weightedreturns, the P&P must be updated to 1) note that the criteria was met, 2)indicate the election to present money-weighted returns, and 3) outline themethodology utilized to calculate the money-weighted return and other relatedmultiples that must be presented in conjunction with the money-weighted return.
Other Considerations for GIPS Policies &Procedures
When going through your firm’s GIPS policies & procedures to make the required changes for the 2020 GIPS standards, this is a great opportunity to review the document as a whole to ensure everything is still relevant, applicable and accurate. One of the most common deficiencies regulators write in examinations is that policy and procedure documents do not reflect actual practices of the firm. We recommend a comprehensive review be conducted annually. Check out GIPS Compliance Actions for the New Year for a step-by-step guide to this review .
Questions?
If you have a situation that we didn’t cover here that isspecific to your firm or for more information on GIPS Policies and Procedures,the changes to the GIPS standards for 2020, or GIPS compliance in general,contact Matt Deatherage at matt@longspeakadvisory.comor Sean Gilligan at sean@longspeakadvisory.com.
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Part 2: Creating GIPS Policies and Procedures
June 22, 2017
15 min
Calculation Methodology, Books & Records, Composite Definitions & Rules, and Error Correction Policies
As discussed in Part 1 of this two part series, GIPS compliant firms are required to document how they comply with the GIPS requirements as well as any recommendations that the firm chooses to follow. This document acts as the firm’s internal representation of their GIPS compliance, and is intended to state the firm’s policies and describe the procedures the firm follows to maintain its compliance.
In Part 1 of this two part series we covered Firm Definition and Definition of Discretion. Now, in Part 2 we will cover calculation methodology, books and records, composite definitions and rules, as well as error correction policies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhaTy-4c-EM&feature=emb_logo
Calculation Methodology
While GIPS provides a framework for how to calculate performance, firms may have different methods for handling external cash flows, asset-weighting portfolios, calculating dispersion, etc. The specifics of the methods used must be documented in the firm’s GIPS P&P. This section is typically broken down to separately discuss portfolio-level calculation methodology and composite-level calculation methodology.
The main consideration when establishing your firm’s portfolio-level methodology is the treatment of external cash flows. Since the start of 2010, GIPS requires firms to revalue for all “large” cash flows. It is up to your firm to define the term “large,” but it should be defined based on when your firm feels that estimation methods, such as Modified Dietz, lose their accuracy. Most portfolio accounting systems either value portfolios daily (essentially defining “large” as 0%) or value portfolios for all cash flows 10% or greater. Firms without a portfolio accounting system that are calculating their portfolio-level performance more manually (e.g., in Excel) frequently use 20%, but higher than that is less common.
With regard to composite-level performance, the most important information to document is the method used to asset-weight the portfolio returns to get the composite-level performance results. This is typically achieved through one of the following three methods:
- Asset-weight each individual portfolio’s return for the month based on each portfolio’s beginning market value and then sum the portfolios’ weighted returns to get the composite return for the month.
- Asset-weight each individual portfolio’s return for the month based on each portfolio’s beginning market value plus weighted cash flows and then sum the portfolios’ weighted returns to get the composite return for the month.
- Aggregate the underlying data of all portfolios in the composite and then calculate the performance for each month as if all of the aggregated data is for one large portfolio.
This section should also include information regarding how the other required GIPS statistics are calculated, such as dispersion and 3-year annualized ex post standard deviation. Here, it is important to note whether these statistics are calculated based on gross or net-of-fee returns, whether calculated by your portfolio accounting system or outside the system, (e.g., in Excel) and the specific standard deviation formula used to do the calculation (e.g., a population or sample based formula).
Policies Regarding Books and Records
Firms must be able to support all information included in GIPS compliant presentations as well as support that their client assets are real. This section of your GIPS P&P can outline the types of records that are maintained and in what format/location they are stored. Specifically, firms typically outline the types of documents they have (e.g., custodial statements, records maintained within a portfolio accounting system, printed records from a former portfolio accounting system such as holdings reports, transaction summaries, etc.). In this section, it is also important to mention whether files are hardcopy or electronic, whether they are maintained onsite or offsite, and if there is a limit to the amount of time they are saved.
Composite Definitions and Rules
irms must create policies to ensure that portfolios are placed in the appropriate composite for the correct time period. The timing of portfolio movement in or out of composites must be based on objective criteria that is outlined in this section of the firm’s GIPS P&P. For example, firms typically either set a policy based on the amount of time passed since discretion was granted or based on when the portfolio becomes “fully invested” – which must be clearly defined.
For example, if based on time, the policy may be written as, “portfolios are included in the composite at the start of the first full month under management.” If based on when the portfolio becomes fully invested, the policy may be written to state, “portfolios are included in the composite at the start of the first full month after the portfolio is at least 90% invested in line with the strategy.” The percentage set can be whatever your firm feels is appropriate, but you want to establish a clear threshold that can be followed. Simply stating “fully invested” is subjective and difficult to follow consistently.
Other rules can also be documented in this section such as minimum asset levels and significant cash flow thresholds, to keep portfolios out of composites during periods where the intended strategy cannot be fully implemented. Minimum asset levels set for GIPS composite purposes are different than minimums your firm may set for marketing purposes. While your firm can state any marketing minimum you wish based on the size portfolios you hope to attract, the minimum set for composite inclusion must be based on the minimum amount needed to fully implement that strategy. For example, even if your firm states that your strategy has a $1M minimum, portfolios accepted below this threshold must still be included in the composite if they can be managed the same as the portfolios over $1M. In this example, if you determine that below $500k you can no longer diversify the same way as you do for your larger portfolios, then $500k would be an appropriate minimum to set for composite inclusion purposes.
A significant cash flow policy can be established if your firm is concerned with very large cash flows moving in or out of a portfolio. Often these cash flows affect the portfolio’s performance and could distort the composite’s statistics. Firms wishing to implement a significant cash flow policy establish a threshold for the size of a cash flow (typically based on the percentage of the portfolio’s beginning of month market value) that would trigger the temporary removal of the portfolio from the composite while trading takes place to accommodate the cash flow.
This “significant” cash flow threshold is different than the “large” cash flow threshold discussed in the calculation methodology section. While the “large” cash flow threshold is set to improve the mathematical accuracy of the performance calculation, the “significant” cash flow threshold is based on the size of a cash flow that disrupts the actual management of the portfolio. Significant cash flows often lead to distorted performance figures that were out of the portfolio manager’s control in terms of timing or amount.
Error Correction Policies
Firms must create materiality thresholds that pre-determine the action required if errors occur in a compliant presentation. This section should include thresholds for all statistics as well as criteria for determining when errors in disclosures are material. Defining materiality thresholds can be difficult, but CFA Institute, in conjunction with the United States Investment Performance Committee (USIPC), conducted a GIPS error correction survey seeking information regarding the typical materiality thresholds used by GIPS compliant firms. We recommend reviewing the Executive Summary of this survey’s results to get an idea of the thresholds that have been set by your peers.
Typically, thresholds are set that define the level when an error becomes a material error. Anything above the threshold would require the firm to redistribute an amended GIPS compliant presentation to any prospective client or clients that relied on the erroneous presentation. This amended GIPS compliant presentation would also need to include a disclosure that explains the correction. Anything below the materiality threshold will only trigger a correction for future distributions, but no disclosure or redistribution of previously circulated presentations.
Updates for GIPS 2020
The GIPS standards were updated in 2020. Check out our post How to Update Your GIPS P&P for GIPS 2020 to make sure your P&Ps are consistent with these changes.
Want to Learn More?
If you have any questions about the GIPS Standards, we would love to help. Longs Peak’s professionals have extensive experience helping firms become GIPS compliant as well as helping them maintain compliance with the GIPS Standards on an ongoing basis.
GIPS Compliance Actions for the New Year 2020
January 9, 2022
15 min
Your firm works hard to comply with the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS®) and likely expects the benefits of GIPS to far outweigh any burden associated with maintaining compliance. Most of the policies and procedures your firm set when first becoming compliant will never need to change; however, as both the standards and your firm evolves, it is beneficial to conduct a high-level review of your GIPS compliance each year. This high-level review will help ensure that you continually refine your processes and policies to maximize the benefits of claiming compliance with GIPS year after year.
This year, conducting a review of your firm’s GIPS compliance is especially important because of the 2020 Edition of the GIPS Standards that was published in mid-2019. For information specific to the 2020 changes, please check out 2020 GIPS Standards: Prepare for the Changes.
Even without the release of a new edition of the standards, each year you should conduct a review. In the review, you should first make sure you have the right people involved. One person or department may be responsible for managing the day-to-day tasks that maintain your GIPS compliance; however, high-level oversight from a larger group should take place to help ensure that any decisions made or policies set will integrate well with your firm’s other strategic initiatives. This larger group, often called a GIPS Committee, typically consists of representatives from compliance, marketing, portfolio management, operations/performance, and senior management.
Not everyone on the committee needs to be an expert in the GIPS standards. In fact, many will not be. What they will need is to be available to share their opinions and represent their department’s interests when establishing or changing key policies for your firm. Your GIPS compliance expert/manager can set the agenda for your meeting and can provide any background on the requirements that will be part of the discussion. If you do not have a GIPS expert internally, or need independent advice about your policies and procedures, a GIPS consultant can be hired to help.
High-Level GIPS Topics to Consider Annually
Once you select the right group to represent each major area of your firm, the following high-level questions can help determine if any action is necessary to improve your GIPS compliance this year:
- Have there been any changes to the GIPS standards?
- Have there been any material changes to your firm or strategies?
- Do your composites meaningfully represent your strategies or should their structure and descriptions be reconsidered?
- Are the materiality thresholds stated in your error correction policy appropriate for the type of strategies you manage and are they consistent with the thresholds set by similar firms?
- Are you satisfied with the service received from your GIPS verifier for the fee that is paid?
- Is there any due diligence you need to conduct on your verification firm?
Changes to the GIPS Standards
It is important to consider whether there have been any changes to the GIPS standards since last year that would require your firm to take action. For example, if a new requirement is adopted, you should consider if any changes to your firm’s policies and procedures or GIPS Reports are needed.
Keep in mind that GIPS compliant firms must comply with all requirements of the GIPS standards including any updates that may be published in the form of Guidance Statements, Questions & Answers (Q&As), or other written interpretations.
If your firm is verified or works with a GIPS consultant, these GIPS experts are likely keeping you informed of any changes to the standards. The best way to check for changes yourself is to visit the “Standards & Guidance” section of www.gipsstandards.org. Specifically, you should check the “GIPS Q&A Database” where you can enter the effective date range of the previous year to see every Q&A published during this period. You should also check the “Guidance Statements” section. The guidance statements are organized by year published, so it is easy to see when new statements are added.
With the new 2020 Edition of the GIPS Standards, a review of the changes to determine how they affect your firm is especially important this year. These changes must be fully adopted before presenting returns in your GIPS reports for periods ending on 31 December 2020 or later.
Changes to Your Firm or Strategies
Similar to changes in the standards, it is important to also consider whether any changes to your firm or its strategies would require you to take action. Examples include, material changes in the way a strategy is managed, a new strategy that was launched, an existing strategy that closed, mergers or acquisitions, or anything else that would be considered a material event for your firm.
Even if no changes were made this year, you should still read your entire policies and procedures document at least annually to make sure it adequately and accurately describes the actual practices followed by your firm. Regulators, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), commonly review firms’ policies and procedures to ensure 1) that the document includes actual procedures and is not simply a list of policies and 2) that the stated procedures truly represent the procedures followed by the firm. Many firms have created their policies and procedures document based on template language, so tweaks may be necessary to customize the document for your firm.
Meaningful Composite Structure
The section of your GIPS policies and procedures requiring the most frequent adjustment is your firm’s list of composite descriptions, as you must make changes each time a new composite is added or if a composite closes. However, even without adding new strategies or closing older strategies, the list of composite descriptions should be reviewed at least annually to ensure they are defined in a manner that best represents the strategies as you manage them today.
Since your firm’s prospects will compare your composite results to those of similar firms, it is important that your composites provide a meaningful representation of your strategies and are easily comparable to similar composites managed by your competitors. If a review of your current list of composite descriptions leads you to realize that your strategies are defined too broadly, too narrowly, or in a way that no longer accurately describes the strategy, changes can be made (with disclosure).
Keep in mind that changes should not be made frequently and cannot be made for the purpose of making your performance appear better. Changing your composite structure for the purpose of improving your performance results, as opposed to improving the composite’s representation of your strategy, would be considered “cherry picking.”
Two examples of cases that may require a change in your composites include:
- A strategy has evolved and certain aspects of the way the strategy was managed and defined in the past are different from today. This can be addressed by redefining the composite. Redefining the composite requires you to disclose the date and description of the change. This disclosure will help prospects understand how the strategy was managed for each time period presented and when the shift in strategy took place. Changes like this should be made to your composite descriptions at the time of the change, but an annual review can help you address any items that may have been overlooked when the change occurred.
- A composite is defined broadly to include all large capitalization accounts. Within this large capitalization composite, there are accounts with a growth focus and others with a value focus. If your closest competitors are separately presenting large capitalization growth and large capitalization value composites, your broadly defined large capitalization composite may be difficult for prospects to meaningfully compare to your competitors. To address this, you can create new, more narrowly defined composites to separate the accounts with the growth and value mandates. In this case, the full history will be separated and the composite creation date disclosed for these new composites will be the date you make the change. Note that this will demonstrate to prospective clients that you had the benefit of hindsight when determining the definition.
Materiality Thresholds Stated in Your Error Correction Policy
Another section of your firm’s GIPS policies and procedures that should be reviewed in detail is your error correction policy. Your error correction policy includes thresholds that pre-determine which errors (of those that may occur in your GIPS Reports) are considered material versus those deemed immaterial. These thresholds cannot be changed upon finding an error; however, they can be updated prospectively if you feel a change would improve your policy.
Many firms had a difficult time setting these thresholds when this requirement first went into effect back at the start of 2011. Now that much more information is available to help you determine these thresholds, such as the GIPS Error Correction Survey, you may want to revisit your policy to ensure it is adequate.
Setting and approving materiality thresholds that determine material versus immaterial errors is a task best suited for your firm’s GIPS committee rather than your GIPS department or manager. The reason for this is that opinions of what constitutes a material error will vary from one department to another. Your committee can help find a balance between those with a more conservative approach and those with a more aggressive approach to ensure the thresholds selected are appropriate.
GIPS Verifier Selection and Due Diligence
If your firm is verified, it is important to periodically evaluate whether you are satisfied with the quality of the service received for the fees paid. You may also want to consider whether you need to conduct any periodic due diligence on your verification firm with respect to data security or other concerns important to your firm.
With several mergers, acquisitions, and start-ups in the verification community over the last few years, you may need to do some research to ensure you are familiar with what your options are when selecting a verification firm.
All verifiers have the same general objective: to test and opine on 1) whether your firm has complied with all of the composite construction requirements of the GIPS standards and 2) whether your firm’s GIPS processes and procedures are designed to calculate and present performance in compliance with GIPS. Where they differ is in the fees charged and process followed to complete the verification.
With regard to fees, much of the difference between verifiers is based on their level of brand recognition rather than differences in the quality of their service. For example, smaller firms specialized in GIPS verification may have more experience with the intricacies of GIPS compliance than a global accounting firm; yet, a global accounting firm will likely charge a higher fee. When selecting a higher fee firm, it is important to consider whether the higher fee is offset by the benefit your firm receives when listing their brand name as your verifier in RFPs you complete.
With regard to process, the primary difference between verification firms is whether the verification testing is done onsite or remotely. There are pros and cons to both methods and it is important for your firm to consider which works best for the team that is fielding the verification document requests. The onsite approach may result in finishing the verification in a shorter period, but may be disruptive to your other responsibilities while the verification team is in your office. The remote approach may be less disruptive to your other responsibilities, but likely will take longer to complete and may be less efficient as documents are exchanged back and forth over an extended period of time. Another difference is how the engagement team is structured, whether you can expect to work with the same team each year, and how much experience your main contact has.
Regardless of whether the verification is conducted onsite or remotely, be sure to ask any verifier how your proprietary information and confidential client data is protected. If the work is done remotely, how are sensitive documents transferred between your firm and the verifier (e.g., is it through email or a secure portal) and once received by the verifier, do they have strong controls in place to ensure your data is not breached.
If the work is done onsite, it is important to ask what documents (or copies of documents), if any, the verifier will be taking with them when they leave, and whether these documents are saved in a secure manner. Documents saved locally on a laptop are at higher risk of being compromised.
Questions?
For more information on how to maximize the benefits your firm receives from being GIPS compliant or for other investment performance and GIPS compliance information, contact Sean Gilligan at sean@longspeakadvisory.com.
How to Become GIPS Compliant
May 24, 2017
15 min
Many firms are interested in becoming GIPS compliant, but are intimidated by the initial process of bringing their firm into compliance. As long as you know the steps to become GIPS compliant and understand the options you have to complete each step, this process is very manageable. The information provided here is intended to provide you with a high-level overview of the steps you must complete to become GIPS compliant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6zBnbW_OMU&feature=emb_logo
Before holding your firm out to the public as a GIPS compliant firm, there are three main steps that must first be completed. Firms must:
- Document GIPS policies and procedures
- Construct composites that consistently follow these policies and procedures
- Create compliant presentations to show the results of each composite
Document GIPS Policies and Procedures
Firms are required to document how they comply with the GIPS requirements as well as any recommendations that the firm chooses to follow in a document known as the firm’s GIPS Policies and Procedures (“GIPS P&P”). This document acts as the firm’s internal representation of their GIPS compliance, and is intended to state the firm’s GIPS policies as well as describe the procedures the firm follows to maintain their compliance. Examples of items typically found in this document include:
- Firm Definition – GIPS is applied to your firm as a whole, not to a single product or strategy you manage. How your firm is defined for GIPS purposes is primarily based on how the firm is held out to the public, which may differ from the legal structure of your firm.
- Definition of Discretion –Discretion is defined differently for GIPS than it typically is for legal or regulatory purposes. You may have a discretionary contract for an account that you deem to be non-discretionary for GIPS purposes because of restrictions the client places on the implementation of the strategy. The “Definition of Discretion” section of your firm’s GIPS P&P should outline objective criteria for determining the discretionary status of accounts.
- Policies Regarding Books and Records – Firms must be able to support all information included in compliant presentations as well as support that their client assets are real. This section of your P&P can outline the types of records that are maintained and in what format/location they are stored.
- Calculation Methodology – While GIPS provides a framework for how to calculate performance, firms may have different methods for handling external cash flows, asset-weighting accounts, calculating dispersion, etc. The specifics of the methods used must be documented in the firm’s GIPS P&P.
- Composite Definitions and Rules – Firms must create policies to ensure that accounts are placed in the appropriate composite for the correct time period. The timing of the movement of accounts in or out of composites must be based on objective criteria that is outlined in this section of the firm’s GIPS P&P. Other optional rules, such as minimum account sizes and significant cash flow thresholds can also be documented here to keep accounts out of composites during periods where the intended strategy cannot be fully implemented.
- Error Correction Policies – Firms must create materiality thresholds that pre-determine the action required if errors occur in a compliant presentation. This section should include thresholds for all statistics as well as criteria for determining when errors in disclosures are material.
Construct Composites
After the GIPS P&P is created, firms can use these policies to construct the composites defined in the policy document. To do this, firms must:
- Identify all of the accounts that meet the definition of a composite. In other words, group all accounts by strategy, but then remove accounts that do not meet the firm’s definition of discretion or that do not meet a composite-specific rule, such as a minimum account size.
- Determine the correct time to include each account as well as remove any account that closed, changed strategies, or otherwise caused you to lose discretion. Portfolios must only be included in composites for periods in which they were considered discretionary for GIPS purposes. This helps ensure that the composite results accurately represent the firm’s management of the composite’s strategy and does not include outside noise created from client-requested restrictions.
- Asset-weight the monthly account-level results for each account included in the composite to calculate the composite-level performance results.
- Calculate all required composite-level statistics (see the list below) that must be included in the composite’s compliant presentation.
Create Compliant Presentations
Compliant presentations act as the firm’s external representation of their GIPS compliance and must be provided to all prospective clients. Each composite has a separate presentation that includes all of the required statistics as well as the required disclosures. Statistics included in compliant presentations include:
- Annual composite performance (gross and/or net)
- Annual benchmark performance
- Number of accounts in the composite as of each year-end
- Total assets in the composite as of each year-end
- Total assets of the GIPS firm as of each year-end
- A measure of internal dispersion for each annual period
- Three year annualized ex-post standard deviation of both the composite and the benchmark based on monthly returns
Other statistics may also be required such as the percentage of non-fee paying accounts or the percentage of bundled fee paying accounts as of each year-end, where applicable.
Want to Learn More?
If you have any questions about how to become GIPS Compliant, we would love to help. Longs Peak’s professionals have extensive experience helping firms become GIPS compliant as well as helping them maintain compliance with the GIPS Standards on an ongoing basis.
How to Comply with the 2020 GIPS Standards
April 23, 2020
15 min
A new decade is upon us and with the new decade comes a series of new requirements in terms of investment performance reporting for firms and asset owners that elect to claim compliance with the GIPS standards.
Many organizations have elected to adopt the 2020 edition of the GIPS standards early and have already put a solid foundation in place for the updated requirements; however, many organizations have not. The adoption deadline for all compliant organizations is rapidly approaching, so if your organization has not begun this conversion, now is the time to get started.
What is Changing and Why
It has been over a decade since the last edition of the GIPS standards was released, and quite frankly, the industry has changed since 2010. As the industry has evolved, CFA Institute has released a number of Q&A’s, guidance statements, and interpretations on how the changes in the industry impact the standards.
Ten years of updates have resulted in a vast repository of information needed to obtain the guidance required to comply. Having so many different resources for guidance (the 2010 GIPS Handbook, separate guidance statements, the Q&A database, and the GIPS Help Desk) has made managing the requirements of GIPS a pretty daunting task; thus, one of the goals of the 2020 standards is to centralize all of the updates that have come out over the past ten years. The 2020 GIPS standards consolidates many of the concepts previously addressed in guidance statements and Q&A’s, allowing the new provisions and explanation of the provisions to serve as the primary source that firms, asset owners, verifiers, and consultants can look to for guidance.
Additionally, the 2010 standards were heavily focused on composites and the traditional definition of prospective clients. Using this as the main framework is not always applicable to organizations that primarily manage pooled funds or asset owners that do not compete for business or report performance to prospective clients. To address this, CFA Institute set out to make this new edition of the standards more applicable to pooled fund managers and asset owners. These updates were designed to make claiming compliance easier and more relevant for these types of managers, while not creating additional burdens on organizations that are already compliant with GIPS. This goal is evident in the new format of the provisions, which separately focuses on requirements for investment firms, asset owners, and verifiers.
In addition to the separation of pooled funds and composites, the guidance is broader on when organizations may present money-weighted returns instead of time-weighted returns. This change now allows the decision to be based on the investment vehicle structure and who controls the timing and amount of external cash flows, rather than limiting money-weighted returns to certain asset classes. This is a welcomed update in the industry as many organizations were frustrated by requirements to calculate and present time-weighted returns when this type of return was not the most meaningful representation of how they managed their investment strategies.
How the 2020 GIPS Standards are Organized
For ease of use and navigation, the 2020 GIPS standards is broken out into three different groups of tailored provisions – firms, asset owners, and verifiers. Each containing specific requirements and recommendations applicable for that type of organization.
As an organization claiming compliance or working to become compliant for the first time, you will need to determine whether the set of requirements for firms or assets owners is applicable to your claim of compliance. The primary distinguishing factor is whether your organization competes for business and manages external money, or reports to an oversight board and manages internal money. The answer to this determines which set of tailored provisions should be followed and sets the framework for how the standards will apply.
Where to Start – GIPS Compliance Updates
Regardless of whether you are excited for the updates to the standards, they are coming and will be required for all firms and asset owners claiming compliance with GIPS. The new requirements take effect once your GIPS Reports (formerly called Compliant Presentations) present performance information that is inclusive of the period 31 December 2020.
There is a lot of information available and dissecting everything that has been released can be overwhelming. For organizations that have never claimed compliance, the good news is that the new standards are more applicable and easier to adopt than they were previously.
For most organizations currently claiming compliance, what’s great is that the new standards do not require a lot of changes, rather they mostly provide optional procedures that you may choose to adopt if you find it beneficial to do so. However, some firms will require more work.
At Longs Peak, we have created the following questionnaire designed to help you determine if converting to the 2020 GIPS standards will require more than a few minor tweaks. This list does not include all changes, but includes the top ten material changes that may require a project plan to implement the required changes by the effective date of the 2020 GIPS standards.
Answering “Yes” to any of the following questions means your organization may require more than a few quick tweaks to implement the 2020 changes:
GIPS 2020 Checklist
- Does your firm have limited distribution pooled funds (i.e., private funds that are not regulated under a framework that would permit the general public to purchase shares in the fund without a one-on-one presentation)?
- Has your firm created single account composites for pooled funds solely for the purpose of meeting the GIPS requirement of having every discretionary, fee-paying portfolio in at least one composite?
- Does your firm have multi-strategy portfolios (e.g., balanced portfolios where the equity and fixed income segments each could be represented as standalone strategies) where you would like to carve-out the individual strategies into their own composites?
- Does your firm have portfolios where actual transaction costs are unavailable (e.g., wrap accounts or other bundled fee arrangements) and you would like to estimate transaction costs to show gross-of-fee returns without labeling the returns as supplemental information?
- Does your firm have portfolios where your firm controls the amount and timing of external cash flows (other than for private equity or real estate) and you would like to present money-weighted returns rather than time-weighted returns?
- Does your firm have real estate or private equity composites?
- Does your firm include theoretical performance (e.g., model performance) as part of a GIPS report?
- Does your firm follow the Advertising Guidelines to claim compliance with the GIPS standards outside of your GIPS Reports?
- Does your firm currently update your GIPS compliant presentations more than 12 months after the year ends?
- Does your firm have advisory-only assets or uncalled committed capital you wish to present in your GIPS Report?
Although the intent is for the adoption of the standards to be more relevant, many organizations find themselves asking “where do I even begin?” The great news is that you don’t have to figure this all out on your own.
At Longs Peak, we have spent countless hours familiarizing ourselves with the new standards and have helped all of our clients begin to adopt the changes. We know what issues come up and how to navigate the changes required.
As a consultant, we do not have independence requirements like your verifier, so we can actually help you implement many of the 2020 changes required for your organization. If you do not already work with a GIPS consultant, now may be a good time to consider hiring one, especially if you lack the resources needed to get this done by the deadline to convert to the 2020 GIPS standards.
Contact us if you do not wish to read through all of the requirements and recommendations to identify what actions are required for your organization.
Finally, if you would like to read more about what changed and why, we have summarized the main changes to the GIPS standards in GIPS 2020 What’s Changing and What you Should Do.
Recommended Post
From Compliance to Growth: How the GIPS® Standards Help Investment Firms Unlock New Opportunities
October 30, 2025
15 min
From Compliance to Growth: How the GIPS® Standards Help Investment Firms Unlock New Opportunities
For many investment managers, the first barrier to growth isn’t performance—it’s proof.
When platforms, consultants, and institutional investors evaluate new strategies, they’re not just asking how well you perform; they’re asking how you measure and present those results.
That’s where the GIPS® standards come in.
More and more investment platforms and allocators now require firms to comply with the GIPS standards before they’ll even review a strategy. For firms seeking to expand their reach—whether through model delivery, SMAs, or institutional channels—GIPS compliance has become a passport to opportunity.
The Opportunity Behind Compliance
Becoming compliant with the GIPS standards is about more than checking a box. It’s about building credibility and transparency in a way that resonates with today’s due diligence standards.
When a firm claims compliance with the GIPS standards, it demonstrates that its performance is calculated and presented according to globally recognized ethical principles—ensuring full disclosure and fair representation. This helps level the playing field for managers of all sizes, giving them a chance to compete where it matters most: on results and consistency.
In short, GIPS compliance doesn’t just make your reporting more accurate—it makes your firm more credible and discoverable.
Turning Complexity Into Clarity
While the benefits are clear, the process can feel overwhelming. Between defining the firm, creating composites, documenting policies and procedures, and maintaining data accuracy—many teams struggle to find the time or expertise to get it right.
That’s where Longs Peak comes in.
We specialize in simplifying the process. Our team helps firms navigate every step—from initial readiness and composite construction to quarterly maintenance and ongoing training—so that compliance becomes a seamless part of operations rather than a burden on them.
As one of our clients put it, “Longs Peak helps us navigate GIPS compliance with ease. They spare us from the time and effort needed to interpret what the requirements mean and let us focus on implementation.”
Real Firms, Real Impact
We’ve seen firsthand how GIPS compliance can transform firms’ growth trajectories.
Take Genter Capital Management, for example. As David Klatt, CFA and his team prepared to expand into model delivery platforms, managing composites in accordance with the GIPS standards became increasingly complex. With Longs Peak’s customized composite maintenance system in place, Genter gained the confidence and operational efficiency they needed to access new platforms and relationships—many of which require firms to be GIPS compliant as a baseline.
Or consider Integris Wealth Management. After years of wanting to formalize their composite reporting, they finally made it happen with our support. As Jenna Reynolds from Integris shared:
“When I joined Integris over seven years ago, we knew we wanted to build out our composite reporting, but the complexity of the process felt overwhelming. Since partnering with Longs Peak in 2022, they’ve been instrumental in driving the project to completion. Our ongoing collaboration continues to be both productive and enjoyable.”
These are just two examples of what happens when compliance meets clarity—firms gain time back, confidence grows, and new business doors open.
Why It Matters—Compliance as a Strategic Advantage
At Longs Peak, we believe compliance with the GIPS standards isn’t a cost—it’s an investment.
By aligning your firm’s performance reporting with the GIPS standards, you gain:
- Access to platforms and institutions that require GIPS compliant firms.
- Credibility and trust in an increasingly competitive landscape.
- Operational efficiency through consistent data and documented processes.
- Scalability to support multiple strategies and distribution channels.
Simply put: compliance fuels confidence—and confidence drives growth.
Simplifying the Complex
At Longs Peak, we’ve helped over 250 firms and asset owners transform how they calculate, present, and communicate their investment performance. Our goal is simple: make compliance with the GIPS standards practical, transparent, and aligned with your firm’s growth goals.
Because when compliance works efficiently, it doesn’t slow your business down—it helps it reach further.
Ready to turn compliance into a growth advantage?
Let’s talk about how we can help your firm simplify the complex.
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🌐 www.longspeakadvisory.com
Performance reporting has two common pitfalls: it’s backward-looking, and it often stops at raw returns. A quarterly report might show whether a portfolio beat its benchmark, but it doesn’t always show why or whether the results are sustainable. By layering in risk-adjusted performance measures—and using them in a structured feedback loop—firms can move beyond reporting history to actively improving the future.
Why a Feedback Loop Matters
Clients, boards, and oversight committees want more than historical returns. They want to know whether:
· performance was delivered consistently,
· risk was managed responsibly, and
· the process driving results is repeatable.
A feedback loop helps firms:
· define expectations up front instead of rationalizing results after the fact,
· monitor performance relative to objective appraisal measures,
· diagnose whether results are consistent with the manager’s stated mandate, and
· adjust course in real time so tomorrow’s outcomes improve.
With the right discipline, performance reporting shifts from a record of the past toa tool for shaping the future.
Step 1: Define the Measures in Advance
A useful feedback loop begins with clear definitions of success. Just as businesses set key performance indicators (KPIs) before evaluating outcomes, portfolio managers should define their performance and risk statistics in advance, along with expectations for how those measures should look if the strategy is working as intended.
One way to make this tangible is by creating a Performance Scorecard. The scorecard sets out pre-determined goals with specific targets for the chosen measures. At the end of the performance period, the manager completes the scorecard by comparing actual outcomes against those targets. This creates a clear, documented record of where the strategy succeeded and where it fell short.
Some of the most effective appraisal measures to include on a scorecard are:
· Jensen’s Alpha: Did the manager generate returns beyond what would be expected for the level of market risk (beta) taken?
· Sharpe Ratio: Were returns earned efficiently relative to volatility?
· Max Drawdown: If the strategy claims downside protection, did the worst loss align with that promise?
· Up- and Down-Market Capture Ratios: Did the strategy deliver the participation levels in up and down markets that were expected?
By setting these expectations up front in a scorecard, firms create a benchmark for accountability. After the performance period, results can be compared to those preset goals, and any shortfalls can be dissected to understand why they occurred.
Step 2: Create Accountability Through Reflection
This structured comparison between expected vs. actual results is the heart of the feedback loop.
If the Sharpe Ratio is lower than expected, was excess risk taken unintentionally? If the Downside Capture Ratio is higher than promised, did the strategy really offer the protection it claimed?
The key is not just to measure, but to reflect. Managers should ask:
· Were deviations intentional or unintentional?
· Were they the result of security selection, risk underestimation, or process drift?
· Do changes need to be made to avoid repeating the same shortfall next period?
The scorecard provides a simple framework for this reflection, turning appraisal statistics into active learning tools rather than static reporting figures.
Step 3: Monitor, Diagnose, Adjust
With preset measures in place, the loop becomes an ongoing process:
1. Review results against the expectations that were defined in advance.
2. Flag deviations using alpha, Sharpe, drawdown, and capture ratios.
3. Discuss root causes—intentional, structural, or concerning.
4. Refine the investment process to avoid repeating the same shortcomings.
This approach ensures that managers don’t just record results—they use them to refine their craft. The scorecard becomes the record of this process, creating continuity over multiple periods.
Step 4: Apply the Feedback Loop Broadly
When applied consistently, appraisal measures—and the scorecards built around them—support more than internal evaluation. They can be used for:
· Manager oversight: Boards and trustees see whether results matched stated goals.
· Incentive design: Bonus structures tied to pre-defined risk-adjusted outcomes.
· Governance and compliance: Demonstrating accountability with clear, documented processes.
How Longs Peak Can Help
At Longs Peak, we help firms move beyond static reporting by building feedback loops rooted in performance appraisal. We:
· Define meaningful performance and risk measures tailored to each strategy.
· Help managers set pre-determined expectations for those measures and build them into a scorecard.
· Calculate and interpret statistics such as alpha, Sharpe, drawdowns, and capture ratios.
· Facilitate reflection sessions so results are compared to goals and lessons are turned into process improvements.
· Provide governance support to ensure documentation and accountability.
The result is a sustainable process that keeps strategies aligned, disciplined, and credible.
Closing Thought
Markets will always fluctuate. But firms that treat performance as a feedback loop—nota static report—build resilience, discipline, and trust.
A well-structured scorecard ensures that performance data isn’t just about yesterday’s story. When used as feedback, it becomes a roadmap for tomorrow.
Need help creating a Performance Scorecard? Reach out if you want us to help you create more accountability today!
When you're responsible for overseeing the performance of an endowment or public pension fund, one of the most critical tools at your disposal is the benchmark. But not just any benchmark—a meaningful one, designed with intention and aligned with your Investment Policy Statement(IPS). Benchmarks aren’t just numbers to report alongside returns; they represent the performance your total fund should have delivered if your strategic targets were passively implemented.
And yet, many asset owners still find themselves working with benchmarks that don’t quite match their objectives—either too generic, too simplified, or misaligned with how the total fund is structured. Let’s walkthrough how to build more effective benchmarks that reflect your IPS and support better performance oversight.
Start with the Policy: Your IPS Should Guide Benchmark Construction
Your IPS is more than a governance document—it is the road map that sets strategic asset allocation targets for the fund. Whether you're allocating 50% to public equity or 15% to private equity, each target signals an intentional risk/return decision. Your benchmark should be built to evaluate how well each segment of the total fund performed.
The key is to assign a benchmark to each asset class and sub-asset class listed in your IPS. This allows for layered performance analysis—at the individual sub-asset class level (such as large cap public equity), at the broader asset class level (like total public equity), and ultimately rolled up at the Total Fund level. When benchmarks reflect the same weights and structure as the strategic targets in your IPS, you can assess how tactical shifts in weights and active management within each segment are adding or detracting value.
Use Trusted Public Indexes for Liquid Assets
For traditional, liquid assets—like public equities and fixed income—benchmarking is straightforward. Widely recognized indexes like the S&P 500, MSCI ACWI, or Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index are generally appropriate and provide a reasonable passive alternative against which to measure active strategies managed using a similar pool of investments as the index.
These benchmarks are also calculated using time-weighted returns (TWR), which strip out the impact of cash flows—ideal for evaluating manager skill. When each component of your total fund has a TWR-based benchmark, they can all be rolled up into a total fund benchmark with consistency and clarity.
Think Beyond the Index for Private Markets
Where benchmarking gets tricky is in illiquid or asset classes like private equity, real estate, or private credit. These don’t have public market indexes since they are private market investments, so you need a proxy that still supports a fair evaluation.
Some organizations use a peer group as the benchmark, but another approach is to use an annualized public market index plus a premium. For example, you might use the 7-year annualized return of the Russell 2000(lagged by 3 months) plus a 3% premium to account for illiquidity and risk.
Using the 7-year average rather than the current period return removes the public market volatility for the period that may not be as relevant for the private market comparison. The 3-month lag is used if your private asset valuations are updated when received rather than posted back to the valuation date. The purpose of the 3% premium (or whatever you decide is appropriate) is to account for the excess return you expect to receive from private investments above public markets to make the liquidity risk worthwhile.
By building in this hurdle, you create a reasonable, transparent benchmark that enables your board to ask: Is our private markets portfolio delivering enough excess return to justify the added risk and reduced liquidity?
Roll It All Up: Aggregated Benchmarks for Total Fund Oversight
Once you have individual benchmarks for each segment of the total fund, the next step is to aggregate them—using the strategic asset allocation weights from your IPS—to form a custom blended total fund benchmark.
This approach provides several advantages:
- You can evaluate performance at both the micro (asset class) and macro (total fund) level.
- You gain insight into where active management is adding value—and where it isn’t.
- You ensure alignment between your strategic policy decisions and how performance is being measured.
For example, if your IPS targets 50% to public equities split among large-, mid-, and small-cap stocks, you can create a blended equity benchmark that reflects those sub-asset class allocations, and then roll it up into your total fund benchmark. Rebalancing of the blends should match there balancing frequency of the total fund.
What If There's No Market Benchmark?
In some cases, especially for highly customized or opportunistic strategies like hedge funds, there simply may not be a meaningful market index to use as a benchmark. In these cases, it is important to consider what hurdle would indicate success for this segment of the total fund. Examples of what some asset owners use include:
- CPI + Premium – a simple inflation-based hurdle
- Absolute return targets – such as a flat 7% annually
- Total Fund return for the asset class – not helpful for evaluating the performance of this segment, but still useful for aggregation to create the total fund benchmark
While these aren’t perfect, they still serve an important function: they allow performance to be rolled into a total fund benchmark, even if the asset class itself is difficult to benchmark directly.
The Bottom Line: Better Benchmarks, Better Oversight
For public pension boards and endowment committees, benchmarks are essential for effective fiduciary oversight. A well-designed benchmark framework:
- Reflects your strategic intent
- Provides fair, consistent measurement of manager performance
- Supports clear communication with stakeholders
At Longs Peak Advisory Services, we’ve worked with asset owners around the globe to develop custom benchmarking frameworks that align with their policies and support meaningful performance evaluation. If you’re unsure whether your current benchmarks are doing your IPS justice, we’re hereto help you refine them.
Want to dig deeper? Let’s talk about how to tailor a benchmark framework that’s right for your total fund—and your fiduciary responsibilities. Reach out to us today.
