Lipper

Lipper is a financial information and professional-services brand focused on mutual funds and other pooled investment products. It began in the United States in 1973 as Lipper Analytical Services, founded by securities analyst A. Michael Lipper to provide fund companies with comparative data and analysis. Its business developed around collecting, standardizing, classifying, and interpreting information about investment funds, enabling asset managers, advisers, distributors, researchers, and institutional users to compare products and monitor market activity. The brand became known for fund classification, performance measurement, peer comparisons, fund-flow information, research reports, and ratings. Its Lipper Leader Rating System evaluates funds against comparable peer groups using investor-oriented measures such as total return, consistent return, capital preservation, tax efficiency in the United States, and expenses. Ratings are expressed on a five-to-one scale, with the highest-ranked funds designated Lipper Leaders. The system is intended to provide comparative context rather than a forecast of future performance, and ratings are periodically recalculated across multiple investment horizons. Lipper also developed a family of indices used to benchmark and monitor fund universes, including open-end, closed-end, and variable-annuity funds. Its research output has included monthly, quarterly, and annual publications covering fund markets, fund flows, fund industries, fiduciary issues, and hedge funds. Over time, the business expanded its coverage and capabilities through acquisitions and integrations involving fund-performance databases, portfolio information, fees and expenses research, hedge-fund data, fund-flow statistics, and regional market intelligence. The company was acquired by Reuters Group PLC in 1998. Following the 2008 merger of Reuters and Thomson Financial, Lipper became part of Thomson Reuters. In 2015, Lipper Fiduciary Services and the competitive-intelligence business known as Lipper FMI were sold to Broadridge Financial Solutions. In 2018, the Lipper Fund Awards moved to Refinitiv as part of the divestiture of Reuters' financial and risk business to Blackstone. Refinitiv was subsequently acquired by London Stock Exchange Group, making Lipper part of the broader LSEG data and analytics environment. The brand continues to be associated with investment-fund data, analytics, ratings, indices, research, and adviser-oriented reporting.

Lipper originated in 1973 when securities analyst A. Michael Lipper established Lipper Analytical Services in the United States. The original business concentrated on supplying mutual-fund companies with structured data and analytical information. This activity addressed a growing need for comparable information as the fund industry expanded and investors increasingly evaluated products by performance, expenses, risk-related characteristics, and peer-group results. The company subsequently broadened its coverage through internal growth and acquisitions. Businesses and databases associated with the Lipper brand included UK fund-performance provider Hardwick Stafford Wright, Swiss provider BOPP ISB, portfolio-information specialist CAMRA, the investment-trust data business of BT Alex Brown Investment Trusts, UK fees-and-expenses researcher Fitzrovia International, hedge-fund information provider HedgeWorld, hedge-fund performance database TASS Research, European fund-market specialist FERI Fund Market Information, US fund-flow provider AMG Data Services, and the Canadian mutual-fund database associated with The Globe and Mail. These additions expanded Lipper beyond basic mutual-fund rankings into portfolio data, market research, fund flows, hedge funds, expenses, and regional fund-market coverage. A major ownership change occurred in 1998, when Reuters Group PLC acquired Lipper Analytical Services as a wholly owned subsidiary. The acquisition connected Lipper's fund-data capabilities with Reuters' broader financial-information network. In April 2008, the merger of Thomson Financial and Reuters created Thomson Reuters, and Lipper became part of that combined company. Under Thomson Reuters, the brand continued to provide fund ratings, indices, databases, analytical tools, research publications, and retirement-plan reporting capabilities. Lipper's rating and benchmarking activities became central elements of its market identity. The Lipper Leader Rating System compares funds with similar funds and assigns ratings from one to five according to measures including total return, consistent return, preservation, tax efficiency for US funds, and expenses. The highest-ranked segment is designated Lipper Leaders. Ratings are calculated over several periods, commonly three, five, ten, and overall years where data permits. Lipper also maintains indices designed to track fund universes and support performance comparison across open-end, closed-end, and variable-annuity products. The business was reorganized further during the 2010s. In May 2015, Broadridge Financial Solutions purchased Lipper Fiduciary Services and the competitive-business unit called Lipper FMI. In 2018, the Lipper Fund Awards transferred to Refinitiv in connection with the divestiture of Reuters' financial and risk business to Blackstone. Refinitiv later became part of London Stock Exchange Group. Lipper therefore evolved from an independent US fund-analysis company into a specialist brand operating within successive global financial-information groups. Its continuing role is associated with investment-fund data, ratings, benchmarks, research, market analysis, and tools used by professional participants in the asset-management ecosystem.

• 2018

  Fund Awards move to Refinitiv

  [1]Lipperen.wikipedia.org

  The Lipper Fund Awards transfer to Refinitiv during the separation of Reuters' financial and risk business.

• 2015

  Selected businesses sold to Broadridge

  [1]Lipperen.wikipedia.org

  Broadridge Financial Solutions purchases Lipper Fiduciary Services and Lipper FMI.

• 2008

  Integration into Thomson Reuters

  [1]Lipperen.wikipedia.org

  Lipper becomes part of Thomson Reuters after the merger of Thomson Financial and Reuters.

• 1998

  Acquisition by Reuters

  [1]Lipperen.wikipedia.org

  Reuters Group PLC acquires Lipper Analytical Services as a wholly owned subsidiary.

• 1973

  Lipper Analytical Services is founded

  [1]Lipperen.wikipedia.org

  A. Michael Lipper establishes the company in the United States to provide mutual-fund data and analysis.

Professional, independent-seeming, data-driven investment-fund information and analytics for asset managers, advisers, distributors, researchers, and institutional users.

• Fund ratings

  Lipper Leader Ratings

  A peer-based mutual-fund rating framework that scores funds from one to five using measures such as total return, consistent return, capital preservation, tax efficiency for US funds, and expenses. Funds are ranked within defined peer groups, with the top segment receiving the Lipper Leader designation. Ratings are intended to help users compare historical characteristics rather than predict future performance.

• Investment benchmarks

  Lipper Indices

  A group of benchmarks used to monitor and compare fund performance across investment-product universes. The index family covers areas including open-end funds, closed-end funds, variable annuities, sectors, active strategies, and premium or optimal fund groupings.

• Fund awards

  Lipper Fund Awards

  An awards program recognizing funds and fund managers based on comparative performance and related evaluation methods. The program was inherited through Reuters' acquisition of Lipper, later operated within Thomson Reuters, and transferred to Refinitiv in 2018.

• Investment research

  Fund research reports

  A publication program covering fund markets, fund flows, and the fund industry, with reports issued on monthly, quarterly, and annual schedules. Lipper has also produced fiduciary and hedge-fund research for professional users.

• Advisory and reporting tools

  Retirement plan analysis and reporting

  Analysis and reporting capabilities designed for retirement-plan professionals and financial advisers. The tools draw on fund data and comparative analytics to support review, monitoring, and communication around investment options.

• 2018

  Transfer the Lipper Fund Awards to RefinitivM&A

  Background

  Reuters' financial and risk business was being separated from Thomson Reuters and transferred to a new Refinitiv structure.

  Action taken

  The Lipper Fund Awards moved from Thomson Reuters to Refinitiv.

  Aftermath

  The awards continued under the Refinitiv organization, which was later acquired by London Stock Exchange Group.

  Source

• 2015

  Divest selected Lipper business units to BroadridgeM&A

  Background

  Thomson Reuters separated the Lipper Fiduciary Services and Lipper FMI businesses from the rest of its operations.

  Action taken

  Broadridge Financial Solutions purchased those business units.

  Aftermath

  The transaction narrowed the set of activities retained under the Lipper identity within Thomson Reuters.

  Source

• 2008

  Integrate Lipper into Thomson ReutersM&A

  Background

  The merger of Thomson Financial and Reuters combined the organizations that housed Lipper and created Thomson Reuters.

  Action taken

  Lipper was incorporated into the Thomson Reuters financial-information business.

  Aftermath

  The brand remained associated with fund ratings, indices, analytics, research, and databases within the enlarged group.

  Source

• 1998

  Sell the company to ReutersM&A

  Background

  Lipper had expanded its fund-data and analytical activities and became a target for integration into a larger financial-information network.

  Action taken

  Reuters Group PLC acquired Lipper Analytical Services as a wholly owned subsidiary.

  Aftermath

  Lipper continued as a specialist fund-information brand within Reuters and later Thomson Reuters.

  Source

• 2018

  Lipper Fund Awards transfer to Refinitiv[1]Lipperen.wikipedia.org

  M&A · Other

  The Lipper Fund Awards moved from Thomson Reuters to Refinitiv during the divestiture of Reuters' financial and risk business to Blackstone.

• 2015

  Broadridge acquires Lipper Fiduciary Services and Lipper FMI[1]Lipperen.wikipedia.org

  M&A

  Broadridge Financial Solutions purchased Lipper Fiduciary Services and the competitive-business unit known as Lipper FMI.

• 2008

  Lipper becomes part of Thomson Reuters[1]Lipperen.wikipedia.org

  M&A

  The merger of Thomson Financial and Reuters placed Lipper within the newly formed Thomson Reuters organization.

• 1998

  Reuters acquires Lipper Analytical Services[1]Lipperen.wikipedia.org

  M&A

  Reuters Group PLC acquired Lipper Analytical Services, bringing the fund-data and analytics business into its financial-information operations.

1. 1Lipperen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Lipper official websitelipperweb.com
3. 3Refinitiv Announces Launch Of Lipper Fund ESG Scores For Sustainable Investing | Crowdfund Insidercrowdfundinsider.com