Client reporting standards: are they necessary?

At last month's PMAR (Performance Measurement, Attribution & Risk) IX Conference in Philadelphia, PA (USA), Beth Kaiser, CFA, CIPM of the CFA Institute informed our attendees of the initiative that is underway to develop client reporting standards. And this week in London, at PMAR Europe II, Stefan Illmer, PhD did the same. I have great respect for both Beth and Stefan, and appreciate their sharing of many of the details of this project.

Last night at dinner, I was reminded by my friend Steve Campisi, CFA that at one time I supported seeing such guidance being developed (perhaps I was suffering from a senior moment in not recalling this). In reality, I do support guidance, though not standards, and not promulgated by an institution of the CFA Institute's stature.

My concerns can be boiled down to: what will the added costs, in manpower and money, be for firms to become "compliant" with these standards and to have their compliance reviewed independently by an independent verifier?

I have a great deal more to say on this topic, but will save it for this month's newsletter, when I will also share some of the key details about this initiative, something all asset managers, especially those compliant with GIPS(R) (Global Investment Performance Standards) should be aware of.