ACA and Ashland: Why We’re Excited to be the Best GIPS Compliance Verification and Performance Team in the World

Earlier this month, ACA announced that it is set to acquire Ashland Partners & Company, LLP's GIPS^® compliance verification and performance practice. When this transaction closes in June, ACA Performance Services ("APS"), will offer the most experienced team of GIPS compliance verifiers in the world, servicing over 1,000 clients annually, including 49% of the top 100 managers of institutional assets worldwide (as determined by Pensions & Investments magazine).

Why we're excited about this acquisition

Like ACA, Ashland's GIPS compliance verification and performance team deeply values their client partnerships and is committed to providing their clients with exceptional service and industry expertise. Ashland also has invested significantly in technology to enhance the efficiency of verification testing procedures. By combining the top two GIPS compliance verification firms in the world, APS will be able to leverage the deep industry expertise, cutting-edge technology resources, and best processes of both teams. We are pleased to provide our clients with a seamless transition during this integration. No team assignments on client engagements are changing as a result of this transaction. We are excited to offer enhanced services to our clients that will help them meet the demands of future growth and adoption of the GIPS standards. 

How will our clients benefit from this acquisition?

With this acquisition, the APS team will have over 90 professionals fully dedicated to performance services engagements. Our team will include 42 CIPM certificate holders and 10 CFA charterholders, which attests to our deep commitment to continuing education. In addition, this acquisition will allow us to invest more time and effort on servicing the growth we have observed in the non-GIPS standards assurance and focused performance reviews market globally. Upon completion of this acquisition and the joining of the APS and Ashland teams, our clients will have access to a best-in-class verification team, expanded asset class expertise, and timely verification testing.

The best team in the business

Combining ACA's and Ashland's teams will enable APS to offer our clients a greater depth of expertise across asset classes and jurisdictions around the globe, while continuing to provide the top-notch client service and proven processes they currently experience. We will also be positioned to meet the demands of a continuously expanding and increasingly complex industry. We look forward to joining forces with Ashland's GIPS compliance verification and performance professionals and building the best team in the business.

About the Author

Justin S. Guthrie, CFA, is a partner at ACA Performance Services, a division of ACA Compliance Group. His primary responsibilities include serving as a partner on traditional and alternative GIPS compliance verification engagements and the day-to-day operations of the GIPS compliance verification and consulting division of ACA.