GIPs

Question 1

Profession

Answer 1

an occupational group that has specific education, expert knowledge, and a framework of practice and behavior that underpins community trust, respect and recognition.
Emphasize an ethical approach, the importance of good service, and empathy with the client.

Question 2

Professions establish trust by:
(normalize behavior, high standard, client interest first, expert knowledge, encourage education, monitor conduct, volunteer, self-regulated integrity)

trust ( care, transparency, and integrity)

Answer 2

1. normalizing practitioner behavior
2. providing a service to society that exceeds the prescribed codes and standards
3. maintaining a client focus
4. having high standards for entry
5. Possessing a body of expert knowledge
6. encouraging continuing education
7. monitoring professional conduct through self-regulation to maintain industry integrity.
8. being collegial
9. having recognized overseeing bodies
10. encouraging the engagement of members by encouraging volunteerism.

Question 3

Mission of CFA institute:

Answer 3

to lead the investment profession globally, by promoting the highest standards of ethics, education, and professional excellence for the ultimate benefit of society.

Question 4

code of ethics expectation

Answer 4

act with integrity, competence, diligence, respect, and in an ethical manner with the public, clients, prospective clients, employers, employees, colleagues in the investment profession

integrity, client interest first

use reasonable care and exercise independent professional judgment with analysis

practice and encourage others to practice in a professional and ethical manner that will reflect credit on themselves and the profession

promote integrity and viability of the global capital markets for the ultimate benefit of the society

maintain and improve professional competence

Question 5

ethical decision making framework 4 phases

Answer 5

1. identify fact from opinion
   Identify stake holders and responsibility to them
2. identify behavioral biases and situational influences that can affect thinking and decision-making ability
3. make a decision and act on it
4. access the outcome by reflecting on whether or not it occurred as anticipated and why

Question 6

global trends that challenge the investment professionals:

Answer 6

1. consumerism has led clients to buy inv. products in the same manner as they buy other consumer items, making invest. mgmt demanding
2. regulations have tended to grow sticker globally as consumers have demanded additional protection
3. globalization has benefits to the extend that professional bodies to create consistent standards across the global
4. technological innovation is rapidly changing the role of the investment professional and the work relationship with the client, requiring new skills and new standards of conduct.

Question 7

AMC asset manager code

Answer 7

is global, voluntary, and applies to investment management firms.

Adoption demonstrates firm is placing client interest first.
It’s flexible and firms must develop own policies and procedures, tailored to their business and clients, to ensure compliance with the AMC.

Question 8

6 Components to AMC conduct:

Answer 8

1. loyalty to clients
   conflict of interest
   confidentiality
   independent and objective

2. investment process and actions
reasonable care
no price manipulation
fair dealing
adequate basis for recommendations
 understand client's objective and constraints 

3. trading

material nonpublic info - firewall
client first
soft dollar 
best execution
fair trade allocation 

4. risk mgmt, compliance and support
3rd party verification
record retention
policy and procedure
business continuity plan that meet, backup account info, plan to monitor analyze and trade, communication plans with key vendor and suppliers, employee communication and coverage, client communication plans

5. performance and valuation
   fair ,accurate, relevant, timely, and complete performance
   fair market price when available (use 3rd party to avoid conflicts of interest)
6. disclosures

communicate accurately with clients on a regular basis
comply with legal and regulatory requirements regarding capital markets

conflicts of interest
investment process
management fees and client costs
disclose any unusual expense
use plain languages
disclose all fees charged and provide itemized charges if requested
disclose average or expected fees to prospective clients
soft dollar and bundle fees, how they benefit clients
performance reporting, quarterly within 30 days of quarter end is recommended
shareholder voting policy and procedure
trade allocation policies
audit result
risk management process and changes to the process, risk metrics the client will receive

Question 9

GIPs characteristics

Answer 9

voluntary, minimum standards for perf. presentation

only investment mgmt firms may claim compliance, individuals may not cliam GIPs compliance

include all actual fee-paying, discretional portfolios in composites in same strategy/style

minimum of 5 years of GIPs compliant history or since inception if less than 5 years
after at least 5 years, add annual performance each year going forward up to 10 years, at a minimum

gips only after 1/1/2000

adoption of 10th edition effective 1/1/2010

Question 10

GIPs objective

Answer 10

establish global, industry-wide best practices for the calculation and presentation of investment performance

facilitate the accurate and unambiguous presentation of investment performance results to current and prospective clients

comparison of historical performance

encourage full disclosure and fair global competition without barriers to entry

encourage self-regulation

Question 11

benefit to managers and clients

Answer 11

ability to compare the performance of firms operating in diff. countries with diff set of established practices

provide more reliable measure of past investment performance result

provide managers with the ability to compete fairly in foreign markets

firm can identify weaknesses in internal management controls during the implementation to GIPs

Question 12

total firm asset

Answer 12

fair value of all assets under management, including non-fee-paying and non-discretionary portfolio

Question 13

firm is

Answer 13

an investment firm, subsidiary, or division held out to clients or potential clients as a distinct business entity.

Question 14

distinct business entity

Answer 14

unit, division, department, or office that is organizationally or functionally separated from other units, divisions, departments, or offices and that retains discretion over the assets it manages and that should have autonomy over the investment decision-making process.

Question 15

Compliance is to MUST meet all requirements, no partial compliance

Answer 15

only investment firms can claim compliance with GIPs, not a pension plan or a consultant

Question 16

input data must be stored and maintained

Answer 16

input data must be valued at fv after 1/1/2011

Question 17

input data/performance presentation at least valued monthly and on the date of all large external cash flows

less frequently for real estate and private equity, at least quarterly

Answer 17

firm must define large eithr on a value or % for each portfolio of composite

Question 18

input data/firms must be valued as of the calendar month-end or the last business day of the month

Answer 18

firms must use trade-date accounting 1/1/2005

Question 19

input data recommendation

Answer 19

value at each external cash flow
independent 3rd party valuation
dividends from equities should be accrued as of the ex-dividend date
presenting net of fee, firms should accrue investment management fees

Question 20

calculation requirement - at least monthly and on date of any large external cash flow and time weight the subperiod

time-weighted return can’t be used if firm control the timing of ECFs, IRRmust be used for return computation.

Answer 20

add income/realized gain loss, unrealized g/s to bv and ev, cash and cash equivalents
for FI, include accrued interest
time-weighted computation must be used for external large cash flows

Question 21

all return calculations must be gross of fees

Answer 21

bundle fee includes some combination of trading expense, management fee, and other fee. If trading and management expense cannot be separated out, DEDUCT the entire bundle fee

must label gross of fee if include trading but not management fee
label net of fee if include trading and management fee

must disclose what’s included in bundle fee

Question 22

calculation recommendation

Answer 22

returns should be calculated net of non-reclaimable wht on dividends, interest, and cap gains. Reclaimable wht should be accrued.

Question 23

discretionary portfolio

- actual, fee paying, dicretionary portfolio must be included in at least on composite

Answer 23

nondiscretionary portfolio must not be included in a firm’s composite

Question 24

all return calculations must be gross of fees

Answer 24

bundle fee includes some combination of trading expense, management fee, and other fee. If trading and management expense cannot be separated out, DEDUCT the entire bundle fee

must label gross of fee if include trading but not management fee
label net of fee if include trading and management fee

must disclose what’s included in bundle fee

must disclose % of the composite asset represented by bundled-fee portfolios if included in the composite

Question 25

discretionary portfolio | - actual, fee paying, discretionary portfolio must be included in at least one composite

Answer 25

nondiscretionary portfolio must not be included in a firm's composite

Question 26

non-fee-paying portfolio maybe included but are required to disclose the % of composite assets represented by non-fee-paying portfolios

Answer 26

composites must be defined according to similar investment objectives and strategies. full composite definition must be made available on request.

Question 27

genetic definition such as equity of fixed income maybe too broad to enable clients to make comparison, so qualifiers such as sector, benchmark, capitalization, style maybe useful.

Answer 27

composite must included only assets under management within the defined firm.

Question 28

not permitted to link simulated or model portfolio with actual performance.

Answer 28

must include new portfolio timely start of the next full performance measurement period, must establish policy for the inclusion of new portfolio on a composite-by composite basis and apply consistently

Question 29

terminated portfolio must be included in historical returns up to the last full measurement period it was under mgmt persenting annual return for a terminal portfolio with less than a full year performance is not allowed

Answer 29

historical record of portfolio must remain with the origianl composite

Question 30

can't included below minimum asset level in composite, portfolio may drop below for a short period and a policy need to be in place to identify % or period of breaches after which a portfolio should be removed from the composite

Answer 30

to remove effect of significant cash flow, firms should use temporary new accounts

Question 31

claims compliance with GIP@, and has prepared and presened this report in compliance with the GIPS standards. Has been independetly verified for the period date. This verification report is available upon request.

Answer 31

must disclose defination of the firm used to determine total assets and firm-wide compliance

Question 32

must disclose composite description

Answer 32

must disclose benchmark description

Question 33

disclose if any other fees are deducted in addition to trading expense if gross-of-fees is presented

Answer 33

net of fee presentation, must disclose if any other fees are deducted in additon ot mgmt fee and trading expense if model or actual inv. mgmt fees are used if return are net of performance based fees

Question 34

must disclose currency used to express performance

Answer 34

must disclose which measure of internal dispersion is used

Question 35

must disclose the fee schedule appropriate to the compliant presentation

Answer 35

must disclose composite creation date

Question 36

must disclose firm's list of composite descrition is available upon request

Answer 36

must disclose the policies for valuing portfolios, calculating performance, preparing compliant presentations are available upon request

Question 37

must disclose use of leverage

Answer 37

must disclose reason for redefinition of firm/composite | must disclose name change of composite

Question 38

must disclose minimum asset level, and change to the minimum asset level

Answer 38

must disclose treatment of wht, interest income, capital gains

Question 39

must disclose manner in which local laws and regulations conflict with GIPs standards

Answer 39

must disclose use of subjective unobservable inputs for valuing portfolio invesments

Question 40

must disclose valutaion hierachy if different from GIPs recommended hierarchy

Answer 40

must disclose why no benchmark is presented

Question 41

must disclose the date of reason description of a benchmark change

Answer 41

custom benchmarks must be disclosed the components, weights, and rebalancing process

Question 42

must disclose how the firm defines a significant cash flow

Answer 42

must disclose 3-year annualized ex post standard deviation using monthly returns for the composite and benchmark

Question 43

must disclose if performance from a past firm or affiliation is linked to the performance of the firm

Answer 43

must disclose at least 5-yr of annual performance clearly identified as gross or net non full year performance can't be annualized

Question 44

must disclose termination date

Answer 44

must disclose annual return for benchmark

Question 45

must disclose number of portfolio in the composite at each year-end, if contain 5 or less, this is not requried

Answer 45

must disclose amount of assets in composite at end of each annual period

Question 46

must disclose either total firm assets/composite asset as % or firm assets at each annual period end

Answer 46

must disclose a dispersion of individual portfolio return for each annual period, not required if less than 5 portfolios portfolio added/deleted within period are not included in the calculation of internal dispersion ``` internal dispersion: range of annual return high low annual returns interquartile range std of equal-weighted annual return asset-weighted std of annual return ```

Question 47

must disclose past record linked to affiliate if all 3 are met: 1. all investment decision makers are employed by the new firm 2. decision making process remains substaintially intact and independent within the new firm 3. new firm has records that document and support the reported performance

Answer 47

if firm acquired another firm without compliance, it has one-year to make it in compliance

Question 48

general provision of gips applies to open-end private equity and evergreen funds, MBS, REITs

Answer 48

REAL ESTATE ONLY - must be value in fair value must be valued at least quarterly must have an external valuation done at least every 12 month or if a client agreement states otherwise, at least once every three years income and capital component returns must be calculated separately using geometrically linked time-weighted rates of return composite return must be calculated at least quarter by asset-weight using time-weighted rates of return must provide a description of discretion - if firm has sole or sufficient discretion to make major decisions regarding the investments

Question 49

general provision of gips applies to open-end private equity and evergreen funds, MBS, REITs

Answer 49

REAL ESTATE ONLY - must be value in fair value must be valued at least quarterly must have an external valuation done at least every 12 month or if a client agreement states otherwise, at least once every three years income and capital component returns must be calculated separately using geometrically linked time-weighted rates of return, must be disclosed with clearly identified gross or net of fee. at least gross should be disclosed composite return must be calculated at least quarter by asset-weight using time-weighted rates of return must provide a description of discretion - if firm has sole or sufficient discretion to make major decisions regarding the investments Gips/nongips compliant can't be linked composite with more than 5 portfolios must disclose high low of the portfolio time-weighted rates of return as the internal dispersion number % of composite assets valued using an external valuators as of the end of each annual period must be disclosed

Question 50

close-end fund reporting - vintage year of 1st drawdown or capital call/contribution year composite must be defined by grouping accounts with similar objective, strategy, vintage yar. final liquidation date for liquidated composite frequency of cash flows used in the SI-IRR calculation periods <1 yr must present net of fee si-irr and reporting must continue until liquidation of the composite at the end of each reporting period, must disclose: committed capital and since inception PID distributions TVPI, DPI, PIC, RVPI

Answer 50

PRIVATE EQUITY - valued at least annually at fair value SI-IRR must be calculated using daily/monthly cash flow net of fees return must be calculated with consideration given to mgmt fees and carried interest fof must be net of all partnership fees, fund fees, expenses, and carried interest composite definitions must remain consistent primary funds must be included in at least one composite defined by vintage year and investment strategy, mandate, or objective fof must be included in at least one composite defined by vintage year and/or investment strategy, mandate, objective disclose vintage year and its definition liquidation date both net and gross of fee annulized SI-IRR of the composite for each year since inception and through the final liquidation date cumulative annualized SI-IRR ofr the bmk that reflects the same strategy and vintage year of the composite must be presented for the same periods for which theh composite is presented % of composite assets invested in fof/ primary fund composite

Question 51

fair value hierarchy (GIPs) | firm must disclose their valuation policies and hierarchy if differently

Answer 51

1. market value 2. quoted prices for less active traded identical or very similar investment using market based inputs to estimate price (pe, did yld) 3. price estimates based on input that are not directly observable (discounted free cash flow price est based on projected cash flow and assumed discount rate)

Question 52

advertising guideline

Answer 52

description of the firm how to obtain a presentation that complies with the requirements of GIPS standards and/or list and description of all firm composite gips advertising guidelines compliance stamens

Question 53

The Code requires that the manager must be able to explain the investment strategy to clients in a way that the client can understand and determine for themselves the suitability of the investment. Jones has failed to do this by relying solely on the inadequate explanation of Smith.

Answer 53

The Code specifies that when using complex derivative products, the manager should conduct stress testing to determine how the investment will react under different scenarios. The Code specifies this should happen regardless of any client request.

Question 54

The SI-IRR must be presented both gross and net of fees.

Answer 54

Since inception paid-in capital must be shown not just the capital drawn down for the year.

Question 55

If the firm sets a mini- mum asset level for portfolios to be included in a composite, the firm must not include portfolios below the minimum asset level in that composite.

Answer 55

The firm must disclose the presence, use, and extent of leverage, derivatives and short positions, if material, including a description of the frequency of use and characteristics of the instruments sufficient to identify risks

Question 56

If the firm has included non-fee-paying portfolios in its composite, the percentage of the composite assets represented by non-fee-paying portfolios must be disclosed as of the end of each annual period

Answer 56

The composite creation date must be disclosed

Question 57

because the composite represents a global investment strategy, the presentation must include information about the treatment of withholding taxes on dividends, interest income, and capital gains, if material (I.4.A.20).

Answer 57

A fee schedule appropriate to the compliant presentation must be disclosed (I.4.A.9).

Question 58

Both a composite description and benchmark description must be disclosed (I.4.A.3-4).

Answer 58

If a custom benchmark or combination of multiple benchmarks is used, the firm must disclose the benchmark components, weights and re-balancing process.”

Question 59

If a composite includes portfolios with bundled fees, the firm must present the percentage of composite assets represented by portfolios with bundled fees as of each annual period end.

Answer 59

Verification cannot be carried out on a composite, and, accordingly, does not provide assurance about the performance of any specific composite. Firms must not state that a particular composite has been “verified” or make any claim to that effect

Question 60

The Code and Standards apply to individual members and candidates of CFA Institute, but firms are encouraged to adopt the Code and Standards as part of their firm code of ethics.

Answer 60

The CFA Institute Asset Manager Code has been drafted specifically for firms.