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(February-2004) Russell sets about raising standards
The Russell Investment Group has issued for comment a set of global standards developed to calculate the performance of institutional investment portfolios during transition.
The global standards, developed as a result of a co-operative consultation process begun late last year, are at their final stage.
Russell director Bob Collie says transition management is a strategic tool for reducing clients’ risks and costs when restructuring their equity portfolios, with investors benefiting from the new objective standards.
“Public comment represents the last step before we can say we’re done,” he says. “In reality, this version is ready to be put into a transition management agreement today.”
Collie says that Russell’s ability to bring the global standards forward for public comment had been a result of the positive response from the institutional community.
Russell’s Director of Institutional Investment Services in Australia, Stephen Roberts says the need for a common standard is absolute in circumstances where, for the same event, one firm can come up with one performance number and another firm can calculate something different.
“How a fund evaluates its transition and whether that performance was good or bad is a matter for judgement. But the number and the underlying calculation for that number should not be up for debate. The institutional investment industry demands a consistent standard,” he says.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
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