ACA Group (ACA), the leading governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) advisor in financial services, today announced its Managed Performance Services offering, which enables investment firms globally to outsource all, or certain aspects, of their performance measurement and reporting functions, helping firms balance their regulatory obligations with monetary and time budgets.

Today’s investment industry is evolving rapidly, with investment managers facing heightened regulatory scrutiny, increased client expectations, staff turnover, and a competitive environment. To overcome challenges, businesses are increasingly relying on external providers to manage their investment performance programs. The latest Cost of Compliance Report from Thomson Reuters said 38% of firms outsource all or part of their compliance functionality, driven by the need for additional assurance on compliance processes (52%), the lack of in-house compliance skills (42%), and cost (43%).

ACA’s new Managed Performance Services offer an outsourced solution that combines the firm’s proprietary technology with the deep knowledge of a team of more than 90 investment performance professionals with 30 years of Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS^®) and investment performance measurement, verification, and certification experience. 

“Calculating and presenting performance results is becoming increasingly complex, especially given the introduction of the SEC’s recent marketing rule, which requires a more stringent performance requisite,” said Karen Foley, Partner and Head of Performance Management at ACA Group. “Having access to experienced professionals to maintain this process is more important than ever from a regulatory compliance and performance marketing standpoint. Outsourced performance services is the ideal solution to cost efficiency without sacrificing expertise.”

Available today, the key elements of the Managed Performance Services offering include:

• Portfolio and fund performance calculations: A streamlined service that eliminates the burden of monthly performance calculations, allowing investment firms’ internal resources to focus on core tasks. With flexibility and adaptability, ACA seamlessly integrates with a firm’s existing technology and environment.
• Composite management and performance calculations: A dedicated service that provides accurate and consistent composite performance reporting. ACA’s team handles composite management and performance calculations for firms of all sizes and complexities, working closely with client teams to validate data and generate reliable reports.
• GIPS compliance oversight and verification management: A comprehensive solution designed to meet GIPS compliance requirements, ACA’s team evaluates investment firms’ compliance status, identifies gaps, and develops a customised plan for achieving and maintaining GIPS compliance.

In addition, ACA’s consultants provide support for various aspects of a performance management program, including risk statistics, money-weighted returns and attribution, enabling investment managers to benefit from ACA’s peer knowledge and subject matter expertise in all areas of performance.

“Recruiting and retaining specialised talent for performance-related functions has been a constant challenge for many firms,” said Carlo di Florio, Global Advisory Leader at ACA Group. “By partnering with ACA, a global leader in performance services, regulatory compliance, managed services, and technology, clients can grow efficiently, manage turnover, mitigate costs, and free employees’ time to focus on other initiatives.”