Mohammad Shoaib, CFA
+92 (21) 563-0801
mohammad.shoaib@almeezangroup.com
Mir Mohammad Ali, CFA
+92 (21) 221-4931
mmali@ublfunds.com
CFA Association of Pakistan Becomes a Sponsor of the Global Investment Performance Standards
Local investment professional body takes on GIPS sponsor role to stress fair representation and full disclosure of investment performance in Pakistan
Karachi, Pakistan, October 4, 2007 − In its recent meeting in Hong Kong, the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) Executive Committee voted to acknowledge the CFA Association of Pakistan as an official sponsor of the Global Investment Performance Standards, or GIPS® standards, for the Pakistan market. The GIPS standards are well-recognized with high compliance levels amongst key financial centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa and Asia Pacific.
Administered by the CFA Institute Centre for Financial Market Integrity, the success of the GIPS standards is the result of an alliance of sponsors with experts from a variety of fields within the global investment industry across Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, and Africa. These key industry groups contribute significantly to promoting and developing the GIPS standards. The CFAAP is the 28th group to join this alliance. (View all groups involved in GIPS promotion and development.)
“We’re very proud to embark on this important role of promoting the GIPS standards in Pakistan. By becoming a sponsor, we have effectively created a channel to jointly cooperate with the CFA Institute Centre in setting best practices in investment performance in Pakistan. With a growing mutual fund industry in the country, the GIPS standards will improve disclosures and help investors better evaluate and select investment products,” said Mohammad Shoaib, CFA, CFAAP president. He added that amongst the GIPS sponsoring countries, Pakistan is the only country practicing Shariah-compliant asset management products. Implementation of the GIPS standards in the country will pave the way for other Islamic countries to adopt them.
“Welcoming the Pakistan GIPS country sponsor is a big moment for the GIPS Executive Committee since Pakistan is the first Islamic country joining the GIPS initiative,” said Stefan Illmer, chairman of the Executive Committee of the GIPS Standards.
Based on the principles of fair representation and full disclosure, the GIPS standards provide an ethical framework for the calculation and presentation of investment performance for investment management firms. The GIPS standards benefit two main groups: 1) investment management firms and 2) their current and potential investing clients (including the investment consultants whose job is to evaluate, supervise, hire, and dismiss investment management firms on behalf of those clients).
“The contribution of the CFA Association of Pakistan to the GIPS initiative is already tremendous in Pakistan and no doubt the extensive expertise you have with Islamic investments will also help us in the broader global GIPS family increase the awareness and relevance of the GIPS standards to the Muslim world of investments and in particular in the Middle East and Asia,” said Louis Boulanger, CFA, chairman of the Asia Pacific Regional Investment Performance Subcommittee of the Executive Committee of the GIPS standards.
“I am very pleased to see the CFA Association of Pakistan joining as country sponsor of GIPS. We all are very much looking forward to an active and fruitful co-operation with the new sponsor,” said Hans-Joerg von Euw, chairman of the GIPS Council. “We are delighted to have the CFA Association of Pakistan join the GIPS initiative. Their participation indicates a strong commitment to promoting global best practices within Pakistan,” added Jonathan Boersma, CFA, executive director of investment performance standards at the CFA Institute Centre
Global standardization of investment performance reporting gives investors around the world the additional transparency they need to compare investment managers and allows managers to compete for new business in foreign markets.
Learn more about the GIPS standards.
CFA Association of Pakistan
CFA Association of Pakistan (CFAAP) is a non-profit organization
founded in 2005 to promote the professional and ethical standards of
financial analysts and investment practitioners in Pakistan. As a member
society of CFA Institute, whose mission is to lead the investment
profession globally by setting the highest standards of education,
integrity, and professional excellence, CFAAP marches out in the same
fashion locally. CFAAP currently has 128 members. More
information can be found online.
GIPS Executive Committee
The GIPS Executive Committee (“EC”) is a standing committee of
the CFA Institute Centre for Financial Market Integrity (“CFA Institute
Centre”). The EC’s activities are guided by the CFA Institute Centre for
Financial Market Integrity’s Director of Investment Performance
Standards, monitored by the CFA Institute Centre’s Managing Director, and
subject to annual reporting to the CFA Institute Board of Governors. The
EC serves as the decision-making body responsible for the development and
implementation of the GIPS standards provisions. The purpose of the EC is
to promote the adoption and implementation of a single investment
performance presentation standard throughout the world as the common
method for calculating and presenting investment performance. The EC
replaces the former Investment Performance Council (IPC).
CFA Institute Centre for Financial Market
Integrity
The CFA Institute Centre is the arm of CFA Institute dedicated to
promoting fair and open markets on behalf of its 95,000 members,
investment professionals who practice in 133 countries. It acts as
an advocate for investor protection and high professional standards.