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.
Content from prior Q&As was included in the GIPS Standards Handbook as much as possible and many Q&As were archived. Change the Status drop-down filter to "Archived" to see the archived Q&As.
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Archived
Effective: 1 January, 2014 - 31 December, 2019Categories: Error CorrectionSource: GIPS Executive CommitteeWhile undergoing our first verification, we noted that we had not consistently calculated asset-weighted standard deviation for our internal dispersion measure. In two of the past five years, we had calculated an equal-weighted standard deviation and disclosed that an asset-weighted standard deviation was presented. We intend to restate all amounts to reflect the asset-weighted standard deviation because this is the internal dispersion measure we have chosen to present. Does this qualify as an error?
Yes. The GIPS standards require firms to present a measure of internal dispersion and do not specify which measure must be used. Both asset-weighted and equal-weighted standard deviation are acceptable measures of internal dispersion. In this instance, the error results from presenting a different dispersion measure from what the firm disclosed was presented. The firm must treat this as an error and follow the firm’s established error correction policies and procedures.
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