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 November, 2012 - 31 December, 2019

Categories: Inception Date

Source: GIPS Handbook, 3rd Edition

A firm manages private client portfolios. Depending upon when the portfolio came under management, returns will vary because of opportunities available at the time. Can a firm establish composites based on the date a portfolio comes under firm management?

Firms must always first consider the investment mandate, objective, or strategy when defining composites. In very specific situations, it may be appropriate to group portfolios into composites according to inception date as well as investment mandate, objective, or strategy. Because composites represent an investment strategy over time, a composite based solely on inception date would, generally, not show representative results of how the strategy performed over time as market conditions change.

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