Q & A Database

The GIPS Standards Q&A database contains questions and answers (Q&As) on various searchable topics that provide additional interpretation on an issue. Q&As are considered to be authoritative guidance and must be followed in order to claim compliance with the GIPS standards.

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Current

Effective: 1 March, 2021

Categories: GIPS Reports

Source: 2020 GIPS Standards

Provision 4.C.11.d states that when presenting a GIPS Composite Report to a prospective investor for a pooled fund included in the composite, the firm must disclose the pooled fund’s current fee schedule and expense ratio. Our firm has composites that include pooled funds for which we provide a GIPS Composite Report to prospective investors. We would like to use one GIPS Composite Report for all prospective investors for the pooled funds included in the composite, and include all fee schedules and expense ratios in one standardized disclosure. Are we required to explicitly name each pooled fund when disclosing each pooled fund’s fee schedule and expense ratio?

When providing a GIPS Composite Report to a prospective investor for any pooled fund included in that composite, a firm must include the explicit name of the pooled fund when disclosing the fee schedule and expense ratio.

For example, assume the firm is using the GIPS Composite Report to offer the core equity composite strategy as well as participation in two core equity limited distribution pooled funds (the ABC Core Equity Trust and ABC Core Equity Limited Partnership) that are included in the composite. The fee schedules and expense ratios can be disclosed as follows:

Vehicle	Fee Schedule	Expense Ratio
Segregated account	0.75% on all assets
ABC Core Equity Trust	0.65% on assets up to $1 million; 0.45% on assets above $1 million	0.76%
ABC Core Equity Limited Partnership	0.50% on all assets, with a 10% performance fee	0.94%