Valuation Problems Are Going To Cost Plan Sponsors Big Time
This blog's author recently had the pleasure of addressing an audience of hedge fund compliance officers and auditors about valuation issues - a topic near and dear to my heart. As an accredited appraiser, a certified financial risk manager and someone who has worked with models and trades, I am fully aware (and in fact often tout) the inextricable relationship between risk analysis and valuation. Simply put, effective financial risk management does not occur in a vacuum but rather depends on reliable valuation numbers. GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out). If a fund manager relies on faulty information, the inevitable result is flawed process, including (but not limited to) inaccurate hedge size (if hedging occurs), imprecise performance reports, possible asset allocation or portfolio re-balancing mistakes, trading limit utilization problems and so on.
From the investors' perspective, the trickle down effect can be costly. Any "issues" at the asset manager level directly impact fees paid by pension funds, their own asset allocation decisions, not to mention cash flow and funding status breach as possible forms of "valuation fall-out." Valuation is the proverbial four-letter word in investment risk management. Cause for consternation, valuation issues are often complex and demand rigor with respect to policy creation, implementation and review.
Being somewhat impolitic, yet wanting to convey an important message to an important audience of hedge fund professionals, I cited chapter and verse about valuation pitfalls from a pension fiduciary's perspective. Including the need to get private placement memorandums that address what and how the fund manager intends to assess the portfolio on a regular basis, I explained the rationale for use of an independent third party to either render opinions of value, or at the very least, conduct a valuation process check. Even when a hedge fund does not exceed the twenty-five percent ERISA money limit (pursuant to the Pension Protection Act of 2006), best practices abound for both the fund manager and the pension investors alike. Interviewing traders, along with the asset manager's Chief Risk Officer, about valuation policies and procedures is another good idea. If a fund has no functional risk manager, ask why. Interestingly, one person responded to my comments by declaring success at drafting sufficiently obtuse documents that would likely keep investor accusations at bay.
In today's Wall Street Journal, reporter Eleanor Laise tells readers that it's not just hedge funds caught in the valuation cross-hairs. Mutual funds have their own issues. For example, when a security is not frequently traded, multiple methods might generate disparate "fair value" estimates. Quotation quality runs the gamut from the use of stale prices to "accommodation quotes" offered by "friendly brokers." Time-of-day selection is another conundrum, especially in the case of non-U.S. securities or instruments such as highly customized derivatives. Laise adds that "valuation policies can vary substantially from fund to fund." In some situations, an independent outside firm provides prices. Elsewhere, internal models or broker-dealer quotes are used. (See "Funds Struggle with Pricing Pitfalls," Wall Street Journal, September 17, 2007.)
As I've written (and presented) many times before, plan sponsors who sit silently by, without grilling asset managers about their valuation policies and procedures, are asking for trouble. Pension fiduciaries have a duty to oversee external fund manager performance as relates to the stated risk tolerance and return goals. This includes a weighty discussion about price quotes, marking to market (or model) and provider quality. (Not being an attorney, plan sponsors should seek counsel for a precise assessment of their responsibilities.)
With new accounting rules on their way and a variety of significant valuation unknowns, subprime loan-related losses may look like a walk in the park. What we don't know can hurt!
Editor's Note:
Pension Governance, LLC has partnered with the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts to develop a technical workshop on hedge fund valuation. Click here for a course description. Other programs are in the works. Click here to read more about our June 28, 2007 webinar about hedge fund valuation. (The recording and program materials are available for a modest fee.) If you want additional information about valuation training for your board, risk analysis or process checks, click here to drop us a line.
