FIS Group’s performance measurement database is comprised of over 7,000 investment manager products. The performance database is differentiated by style and risk characteristics so that we can create peer groups for evaluation of your funds and managers. Our performance system’s use of custodian-supplied holdings, pricing and accrued income for each portfolio allows independent calculation of the rates of return for each manager, asset class segments and the fund as a whole, as well as for more precise performance attribution and analysis. Since important information about an investment management firm may not always be captured by “the numbers”, FIS Group’s analysts maintain regular contact with client managers to assess any qualitative issues that could impact the quality of their investment management services.

FIS Group produces customized research papers for its clients on topical and cutting edge topics in the investment field. Members of the firm’s management team frequently speak on various investment topics at educational conferences. Edward M. Swan, Jr., CFA was formerly a faculty member at a major business school and was on the Advisory Board of the National Association of Public Employees Retirement Systems (NCPERS) Trustee Education Development Seminars for nearly 10 years. Prior to joining FIS Group, Diallo Johnson, the firm’s Director of Manager Research was a professor of investment management at a major business school and a consultant to several conventional and hedge fund managers on risk management.

Successful manager selection must:
1) be conflict-free; 2) be able to continually access investment manager talent; 3) have the systems and analytic tools to able to efficiently and effectively process information to identify talent; and 4) systematically identify the fundamental competitive advantage and inherent risks of a manager’s investment process, infrastructure and their current and anticipated organizational structure. FIS Group’s Code of Ethics provides for conflict-free manager recommendations. Our internal and external databases provide access to data on over 2,200 firms and 6,000 investment management products. Finally, our selection process is designed to identify firms that exhibit a superior investment process and organizational structure that would be expected to generate long-term alpha.

One of the most important decisions facing plan sponsors is to adopt an investment strategy that achieves their funding objectives and appropriately balances performance and risk expectations. FIS Group’s asset allocation, fund projection and simulation models allow plan sponsor decision-makers to evaluate the economic asset liability trade-offs and impact of alternative investment policies on the achievement of key policy objectives over a 20-year projection horizon and with various year-by-year scenarios.