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 May, 2010 - 31 December, 2019

Categories: Composite Changes

Source: GIPS Executive Committee

The 2005 edition of the GIPS standards states that composites must be defined according to similar investment objectives and/or strategies. The 2010 edition of the GIPS standards states that composites must be defined according to investment mandate, objective, or strategy, and the word “similar” was deleted. How does this change in language affect how our firm defines our composites?

This provision was changed in the 2010 edition of the GIPS standards to clarify that it is not composites that must be defined by similar investment objectives and/or strategies, but rather it is portfolios within a composite that must have similar investment mandates, objectives, and/or strategies. This change in language is not expected to result in a firm being required to change composite definitions.