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, 2006 - 31 December, 2019
    Categories: Verification
    Source: Guidance Statement on Verifier Independence

    Our investment management firm has used the same verification firm for the last five years. We recently discovered that an employee of the verification firm is related to a portfolio manager our firm hired this year. Will our firm be able to continue to use the verification firm for our annual verification next year?

    Both firms must take measures to ensure that the verification firm’s employee maintains independence if that employee is used for the investment management firm’s verification. If the employee is not a member of the verification unit, there may not be an issue. However, if the employee is in charge of the verification project for the investment management firm and, for example, is the spouse of the recently-hired investment manager, the independence issues must be evaluated.