Client Reporting
Delivering significant improvements
| Date: | December 2004 |
| Author: | Peter Ellis |
| Price: | £500 to non-members of the Investit Intelligence Member service |
Client reporting is a key aspect of the service provided by investment management firms to their institutional clients. Over the past 15 years, client reports have evolved from basic statements of the valuation of a fund into detailed accounts of the fund's performance and complex explanations of the factors and decisions that have resulted in that performance.
There are typically three components of client reporting:
- Accounting Packs - detailed valuation statements;
- Investment Reviews - information about the performance of the fund and the investment decisions taken by the portfolio manager;
- Trustee Reviews - similar to Investment Reviews but containing a broader range of information; produced on an ad hoc basis specifically for a formal meeting of the pension fund trustees.
There are key differences between the three components in the way they are used by clients, in the way they are produced, and in the issues that arise during their production. To really understand the client reporting process and how to deliver significant improvement, this research investigates each of the three components individually.
Interviews with institutional clients and their advisors found that clients want more reports, tighter timescales for delivery and improved accuracy. And while managers are looking to scale report production through standardising, this is likely to be resisted by clients and their advisors. They value reports customised to their individual needs.
The research report gives asset managers practical recommendations on how to meet demand for improved client reports.
It also looks, in detail, at the various vendor systems available and how these can be integrated into the client reporting process.
This report was based on interviews and data collected from a large and representative sample of the UK investment management industry and client reporting system vendors. Investit also interviewed 25 large pension funds - both public and private schemes.
Table of contents
| Management Summary | 1 | |||
| 1.0 | Introduction | 3 | ||
| 1.1 | Scope of the research | 4 | ||
| 1.2 | Methodology | 5 | ||
| 2.0 | Defining Client Reporting | 7 | ||
| 2.1 | The components of client reports | 8 | ||
| 2.2 | Recipients of client reports | 10 | ||
| 2.3 | Historical perspective on client reporting | 11 | ||
| 3.0 | The Client Reporting Landscape | 13 | ||
| 4.0 | Accounting Packs | 17 | ||
| 4.1 | The client perspective of accounting packs | 18 | ||
| 4.2 | The production of accounting packs | 19 | ||
| 4.3 | Data and accounting packs | 21 | ||
| 4.4 | Customisation of accounting packs | 23 | ||
| 4.5 | Outsourcing | 24 | ||
| 4.6 | Drivers for change | 26 | ||
| 5.0 | Investment Reviews | 29 | ||
| 5.1 | The client perspective of investment reviews | 30 | ||
| 5.2 | The production of investment reviews | 32 | ||
| 5.3 | Data and investment reviews | 35 | ||
| 5.4 | Customisation of investment reviews | 36 | ||
| 5.5 | Outsourcing | 37 | ||
| 5.6 | Drivers for change | 39 | ||
| 6.0 | Trustee Reviews | 41 | ||
| 6.1 | Trustee reviews | 42 | ||
| 7.0 | Client Reporting Platforms | 45 | ||
| 7.1 | The key elements of client reporting platforms | 47 | ||
| 7.2 | Systems support | 52 | ||
| 7.3 | Implementing a client reporting platform | 55 | ||
| 8.0 | Conclusions | 59 | ||
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