GIPS breaks down barriers to entry, acting as a 'passport' for fund managers to market their results worldwide. Standardising investment performance guidelines improves investors' ability to compare investment performance regardless of the investment manager's geographic location. This enhanced comparability assists investors aiming to invest across a variety of markets.

GIPS allows an investment manager's client to focus on the key issues,such as investment style, attitude to risk and volatility etc.

This happens because the issues of performance calculation and presentation have been levelled by GIPS.

The Standards have become a pre-requisite for competing globally. Investment managers who made an early start on the compliance and verification path have gained recognition for the industry-wide global transparency of their performance reporting function, hence gleaning a competitive edge over their peers.

The standard provides investors with added confidence in an invetsment manager's performance results as compliance enhances credibility.

The added value of being GIPS compliant gives pension fund trustees the confidence that they have all the objective information needed to make a thoughtful and considered assessment when selecting investment managers - precisely what was lacking in the past!

Finally, new businesses will look to invest only with GIPS compliant firms, as GIPS compliance becomes synonymous with investment management over the next few years.