Northern Trust has launched an application that aims to support investment managers' compliance with Global Investment Performance Standards, the CFA-created standards described as universal and voluntary and used by investment firms as a way of ensuring fair representation and full disclosure in calculating, measuring and presenting investment performance.

The Northern Trust Composite Management System automates GIPS-compliant reporting and marketing materials for investment managers that receive performance measurement services through the Investment Risk & Analytical Services group. The system is accessed via Northern Trust's web portal Passport and aims to allow clients to efficiently manage performance composites, create performance reports and warehouse their data in a single, integrated application.

"Compliance with GIPS is not mandatory, but investment managers have found the standards are a crucial guide to providing the transparency that investors demand," said Paul d'Ouville, head of product management at Northern Trust.

"We continually look for ways to make it easier for our clients to manage their reporting requirements. Our single operating platform allows information from our performance calculation engine to flow seamlessly to the NTCMS reporting module. This automated process eliminates manual intervention and provides clients with accurate and timely composite results which can then be used in client presentations and verified for GIPS compliance,” said d’Ouville.

The system is said to allow investment managers to create detailed audit reports to track changes in data and identify any changes that may affect compliance. Clients may also generate reports that support the GIPS verification process, reducing the time spent collecting data during verification. Other features include: white labeling reports; multicurrency reporting; creating, building and locking composites; assigning benchmarks; and the option to create output in multiple formats.