PPLI.com rates the reported controls, disclosures and standing of insurance-dedicated funds and their managers from public filings, under the method set out below. Each fund gets one rating, from one to five stars. The rating does not measure returns and does not guarantee that capital is preserved or that a fund suits a particular policy. Each fund page shows its sources, the dates of the data and what has not been checked.
We consider only what matters to a family putting a fund inside a policy. PPLI.com decides how much each area weighs.
Regulatory actions, criminal matters and civil cases that the manager reports in Item 11 of its Form ADV, and for platform series those of the platform, considered by their seriousness, how recent they are and the size of the firm. Several proceedings that arise from one set of facts, for example three regulators acting on the same transactions, count as one matter. Item 11 also covers advisory affiliates: matters of other companies in the group count for less, and a matter that concerns an individual is weighed by the person's role, whether they are still with the firm, how serious it is and whether it bears on the advisory business. Cases dismissed without payment count for little. Sources: Form ADV and its disclosure pages on the SEC's adviser database.
The controls an adviser reports for each private fund in Schedule D of Form ADV: an annual audit by an accountant registered with the PCAOB and subject to its regular inspection, audited statements sent to investors, the audit opinion, an administrator outside the group that sends statements to investors, a custodian outside the group, and the share of assets valued in the last fiscal year by a person not related to the adviser. These are the answers the adviser files; they are not a guarantee that the assets are safe or correctly priced.
Regulatory assets under management, investment staff and the years the manager has been registered with the SEC, from Form ADV and the SEC's monthly adviser files. Exempt reporting advisers do not report these figures, so their funds wait until the information is documented.
Gross asset value and number of owners as reported in Form ADV, and how long the fund has been offered according to its Form D.
Whether the adviser's annual Form ADV and the fund's Form D are current, and whether the two filings point to each other.
Whether the fund is an insurance-dedicated fund: one the public can reach only through an insurance policy, held by insurance company separate accounts and the few other holders the Treasury diversification rules allow, such as the insurer's general account or the manager in connection with setting up the fund, so that a policy can hold it, and the minimum it asks. A fund named as insurance-dedicated is rated only once its offering documents or filings confirm it. Redemption terms are added as they are documented from offering documents and from managers.
The strongest files in our database. A clean or nearly clean record, every control we look for in place and run by firms outside the manager's group, and an established manager of real size.
Strong on most counts, with one point a family should raise with the insurer, often how the assets are valued or who administers the fund.
Sound, with several points to check: valuation or administration inside the group, a manager with a longer regulatory record, or a fund that is still small.
A material gap, such as administration and pricing kept in-house, a heavy regulatory record or a very small and new fund.
A basic safeguard is missing, for example an annual audit of the accounts.
The PPLI.com Fund Rating and all content of PPLI Fund Intelligence express the editorial opinion of PPLI.com, operated by Talniri Ltd, on the date shown. They are based on public filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, on information shared with PPLI.com by investors and their advisers, and on editorial judgment. They are not statements of fact about any fund or manager, not a credit rating, not a forecast of returns, and not investment, legal, tax or financial advice, nor an offer or a recommendation to invest in any fund or to buy any policy. Interests in insurance-dedicated funds are available to the public only through insurance policies. The information is provided as is; it may be incomplete or out of date. Readers should verify it with the manager, the insurer and their own professional advisers before making any decision. Fund and manager names are used for identification only and imply no affiliation with, or endorsement by, PPLI.com.
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