KARACHI: MCB-Arif Habib Savings and Investment Limited (MCB-AH) announced it had joined the ranks of select group of companies in Pakistan to claim the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) compliance. Developed and managed by CFA Institute, GIPS is a set of standardised, industry-wide ethical principles that guide investment firms on how to calculate and present their investment results to clients and prospects. MCB-AH joins more than 1,230 firms globally to be GIPS compliant. “MCB-AH’s GIPS compliance is an encouraging shift and takes Pakistan’s asset management industry forward. Acquiring the compliance is quite an intensive task but we remained steadfast because we believe that this is an important step in not only uplifting the standard of our company, but also of the asset management industry of the country. With GIPS compliance, institutional investors know that we take our obligation of fair and full disclosure of our performance seriously,” said MCB-AH CEO Saqib Saleem. CFA Institute President & CEO Paul Smith, who was speaking at a lunch hosted by MCB-AH on November 23, attended by senior corporate leadership, said, “I am delighted by MCB-AH’s compliance to GIPS. More investment firms need to conform to the highest standards of professional conduct and an industry-wide acceptance of GIPS that is a logical first step. This creates a transparent and fair investment performance reporting to prospective clients, and at the same time helps improve the integrity of the financial industry. The compliance also assures foreign investors considering investing in Pakistan, making them feel more secure.” Investors can rely on the performance presentations given by GIPS-compliant firms, because claiming compliance with the GIPS standards demonstrates a firm-wide commitment to ethical best principles of fair representation and full disclosure and guarantees that the firm employs strong internal control processes. The GIPS standards benefit two main groups: investment management firms and their current and potential investing clients (including the investment consultants whose job is to evaluate, supervise, hire, and dismiss investment management firms on behalf of those clients). Published in Daily Times, November 24nd 2017.