SMA and Wrap Uniformity

The CFA insitute wants your clients to see investment performance for separately managed accounts (SMA) or wrap fee accounts calculated in a uniform way in presentations. Beginning next year, the CFA Centre, in Charlottesville, Virginia, will ask that investment firms that use its Global Investment Performance Standards, (GIPS) to calculate performance of these accounts uniformly in a way that states fees explicitly. Participation is voluntary, but there is pressure to comply so that investors have an easier time comparing performance and fees. Performance can also be stated "gross of fees" in the same presentation as "net of fees" and would include a "current fee schedule appropriate to the presentation," says Alecia Licata, the CFA Centre's director of investment performance standards.–Kathleen M. McBride