Case Study: Global Investment Performance Standards Compliance for a Large Investment Manager

Company: A large global investment manager with more than $160 billion in assets under management (AUM)
Location: Global
Financial Services Sector: Alternatives

Background

This firm faced challenges managing its investment performance program and maintaining compliance with the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS^®) standards. The company’s global credit business includes corporate credit, leverage loans, emerging markets, structured credit, private credit, and real estate strategies.

Challenge

The company faced numerous challenges, such as performing manual portfolio and composite calculations utilizing different calculation methodologies (Time-Weighted Return - TWR and Money-Weighted Return - MWR) and had limited in-house expertise to handle the complexities of GIPS compliance and performance measurement. This was due to employee turnover and limited resources to devote to GIPS compliance maintenance and verification.

Solution

The company decided to outsource its performance management and GIPS compliance program to ACA Group. We offered a comprehensive suite of services tailored to the company’s specific needs, with services including portfolio and composite calculations, composite management, GIPS reports, and expert GIPS standards consulting.

Results

By partnering with ACA, the company achieved several key benefits, including an enhanced GIPS compliance program, improved operational efficiency, and access to industry expertise. The partnership freed valuable time for the company’s staff to focus on core business activities and reduced training time due to attrition.

Conclusion

The partnership between the company and ACA demonstrates the value of outsourcing investment performance management and GIPS compliance to a reputable governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) firm. Leveraging the GRC firm’s expertise and resources enabled the company to overcome its complex challenges and improve its investment performance program while maintaining a high level of compliance with the GIPS standards. This ultimately led to increased trust from investors and continued growth for the firm.

Managed Performance Services Plays a Critical Role

Learn more about the strategic role Managed Performance Services plays to help firms maintain their investment performance program. 

Download our white paper to: 

• Explore the case for managed services – a form of outsourcing – to address contemporary industry trends and concerns that are making the investment landscape increasingly complex and competitive. 
• Examine best practices investment managers should be aware of when utilizing a managed service provider to help ensure a successful relationship. 
• Debunk common concerns, discover best practices, and uncover solutions to help firms overcome perceived challenges.  
• Look into real-scenario case studies, such as this one, to see how firms benefited from performance managed services. 

Register for our webcast to learn the value of engaging a third-party service provider to oversee and manage your investment performance program. On September 12th, we will examine how this approach has become a highly effective strategy for addressing industry challenges and driving success in a competitive environment.

How we help

Utilizing ACA's Managed Performance Services solutions allows firms to leverage unparalleled expertise, scalable solutions, and significant cost savings. In addition, collaborating with us can enhance service offerings, strengthen risk mitigation, simplify the intricate investment process, and seize opportunities for growth and innovation. 

Firms can outsource all or certain aspects of their performance measurement and reporting functions with the assurance they are working with a team that not only understands the technical aspects of calculating complex performance, but also knows industry best practices and regulatory expectations. Our suite of services includes: 

• Portfolio and fund performance calculations 
• Composite management and performance calculations 
• Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS^®) compliance oversight and verification management 
• Risk and other performance-related statistics calculations 
• Gross and Net Money Weighted Return calculations (fund and deal level IRRs) 
• Private fund management fee and performance-based fee review and reconciliation 

If you would like to get in touch with our team today, we're ready to help. Start a conversation with us here. 

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