Today, the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF) announced the voluntary adoption of the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS®) from the CFA Institute.
Introduced in 1999, the GIPS standards are universal and voluntary standards based on the fundamental principles of full disclosure and fair representation of investment performance.
While it has been customary for asset management firms to comply with the GIPS standards, it is less common for asset owners to apply the same principles in their own performance reporting to oversight bodies and plan beneficiaries. By adhering to this industry best practice, the UNJSPF follows the path initiated a couple of years ago by some of the leading US and global pension funds to practice and promote ethical leadership in the public sector pension industry.
According to Pedro Guazo, Representative of the Secretary-General for the investment of the assets of the UNJSPF, “the adoption of the GIPS standards is a key milestone for investment performance reporting for the UN Pension Fund. It demonstrates to oversight bodies, pension plan participants and beneficiaries as well as the general public that the Fund is meeting globally accepted ethical best practices. It indicates our commitment to establish robust policies and procedures, and to use the highest rigorous performance calculation and presentation standards in our reporting. This is in the interests of all our stakeholders and critical for us in our continuous commitment to integrity and transparency in our communications.”
Karyn Vincent, CFA, CIPM, Senior Head of Global Industry Standards for the CFA Institute, stated that “while hundreds of asset managers around the world have adopted the GIPS standards to strengthen reporting and boost transparency, the UNJSPF is an example of a leader that is truly advancing the investment profession by employing a higher standard for public sector pensions. We applaud their efforts and encourage more asset owners to follow their lead to promote fairness, transparency, and ethics in investment performance.”
The UNJSPF has been independently verified in accordance with GIPS standards by the Spaulding Group, a leading consulting and verification service firm in the investment industry.
The GIPS standards are administered globally by the CFA Institute and, as at 31 August 2021, have been adopted by more than 1,700 firms and asset owners in 49 markets around the world, including all or a portion of 90 of the top 100 asset managers globally, according to data from Cerulli Associates.
For more information on the GIPS standards, visit www.gipsstandards.org.
About UNJSPF
The United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund was established in 1949, by a resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations, to provide retirement, death, disability and related benefits for staff upon cessation of their services with the United Nations, under Regulations that, since then, have been amended at various times.
As an independent inter-agency entity, the Fund operates under its own Regulations as approved by the General Assembly and, in accordance with its governance structure, is administered by the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board, which currently consists of 33 members, representing the 25 UNJSPF member organizations.
The Fund has offices in New York (United States) and Geneva (Switzerland) and two liaison offices, one in Nairobi (Kenya) and one in Bangkok (Thailand).
The Office of Investment Management is responsible for managing the assets of the UNJSPF.
The Fund’s investments are diversified across several and various asset classes in approximately 100 different countries. The UNJSPF’s total fund market valuation currently stands at approximately USD 87 billion.
For more information, please visit www.unjspf.org and oim.unjspf.org/
About the CFA Institute
The CFA Institute is the global association of investment professionals that sets the standard for professional excellence and credentials. The organization is a champion of ethical behavior in investment markets and a respected source of knowledge in the global financial community. Our aim is to create an environment where investors’ interests come first, markets function at their best, and economies grow. There are more than 175,000 CFA® charterholders worldwide in more than 160 markets. The CFA Institute has nine offices worldwide and there are 160 local societies.
For more information, visit www.cfainstitute.org or follow us on Twitter at @CFAInstitute and on Facebook.com/CFAInstitute.
Disclosures
GIPS® is a registered trademark of the CFA Institute.
UNJSPF GIPS standards performance reports are available upon request for all UNJSPF plan participants and beneficiaries. Requests can be addressed to unjspf-communication@un.org
For more information and media requests, please contact:
Serge Gas, Special Assistant to the UNJSPF Chief Executive of Pension Administration
serge.gas@un.org
