Our industry tends to define emerging managers as those managing less than 2 billion in assets. Some emerging manager programs have additional requirements about the number of strategies offered or whether the firm has women and/or minority ownership.
What institutions and their consultants seek from an emerging manager, however, is the same. They want managers with strong corporate governance, a good long-term record, a disciplined investment approach, solid professionals—and GIPS.
A GIPS-verified firm sends the message that it is transparent, that it operates with integrity, and that it is committed to calculating and presenting performance at the highest industry standard, the GIPS Standards.
In fact, compliance with GIPS has become so crucial to asset-owning institutions that these institutions themselves are now becoming GIPS verified. The California Public Employees Retirement System, CalPERS, which manages almost $500 billion USD in assets, was the first pension fund to go GIPS, and since then others have followed.
While GIPS verification is certainly not the only factor institutions seek in emerging managers, GIPS does open doors, and in most cases, noncompliance can keep them shut.
Emerging manager programs are always looking for new managers to add value to their portfolios. Following are several emerging manager programs.
Emerging Manager Programs:
- California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) Emerging Manger Program
- Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension (LAFPP) Private Equity Specialized Manager Program
- Michigan Small Emerging Manager Program
- Massachussetts Institute of Technology Investment Management Company MITIMCo Emerging Managers
- New York City Retirement System Emerging Manager Program
- New York State Common Retirement Fund Emerging Manager Program
- Teachers Retirement System (TRS) of Texas Emerging Manager Program
- Teachers Retirement System (TRS) of Illinois Emerging Manager Program
*and, of course, GIPS is a registered trademark of CFA Institute. GIPS stands for Global Investment Performance Standards.