"A more universal view of fair valuation policies and procedures exists today in the investment management industry," writes Paul Kraft, a partner in Deloitte & Touche USA's investment management sector and author of that firm's recently published Fair Value Pricing Survey. "This current shift is partly due to a continued focus on fair value by small firms, as well as the prominence of third-party vendors who have emerged and helped the small firms level the playing field."
In fact, 90% of U.S. asset managers are now using third-party pricing vendors to value foreign equities, the report found, and with the continued focus on valuation as a primary risk area, the gaps between large and small asset managers have narrowed or–in some cases–been totally eliminated, according to the 2007 Survey.
