Lipper

Lipper is a global provider of mutual fund, exchange-traded fund and other collective investment research, analytical tools and performance data. Founded in the early 1970s, the firm established benchmarks and rating systems that became influential among asset managers, financial advisers and institutional investors. Lipper's datasets and proprietary classifications are used by publishers, custodians and regulatory filings in major financial centers such as London, New York City, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Frankfurt am Main.

History

Lipper was founded in 1973 and gained early prominence by compiling comprehensive mutual fund data used by publishers and broadcasters in London and New York City. During the 1980s and 1990s the firm expanded its geographic coverage into Tokyo, Sydney, Toronto and Zurich while delivering data to clients including Bloomberg L.P., The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and Reuters. In 1998 Lipper became part of the Reuters Group through acquisition, integrating its databases with global news and market services employed by institutions such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Deutsche Bank. Following the 2008 global financial crisis and subsequent consolidation in financial information services, Lipper's parent assets were reorganized; later corporate realignments connected it with Refinitiv and indirectly with firms like BlackRock through data partnerships. Over decades Lipper's historical archives have been cited in academic research from universities such as Harvard University, London School of Economics, University of Chicago, and Stanford University.

Services and Products

Lipper provides a suite of services used by wealth managers, trustees and fiduciaries across institutions including Vanguard Group, Fidelity Investments, State Street, Northern Trust, and BNP Paribas Asset Management. Core products include mutual fund and ETF performance databases, peer group classifications, fund prospectus analytics, and flow data relied upon by asset managers like T. Rowe Price, Invesco, Schroders, and UBS Asset Management. Publishers and platforms such as Morningstar, Inc. (competitor), FactSet, S&P Global Market Intelligence, and Yahoo! Finance integrate Lipper statistics for screen displays, ranking tables, and fund comparison tools. Lipper also supplies regulatory reporting feeds used by exchanges and clearinghouses such as NYSE, Nasdaq, and London Stock Exchange as well as advisory portals operated by firms including Charles Schwab and Edward Jones.

Methodology and Ratings

Lipper's methodologies underpin ratings and indices employed by professional clients including hedge funds, pension funds like CalPERS, family offices, and sovereign wealth funds such as Temasek Holdings and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. The firm computes peer-group rankings, Lipper Leaders ratings, and percentile performance metrics across time horizons; these outputs are used alongside benchmarks from MSCI, FTSE Russell, Bloomberg Barclays and S&P DJI. Lipper's classifications consider factors such as investment objectives, asset allocation and regional listing in markets like Tokyo Stock Exchange and Shanghai Stock Exchange, and its rating algorithms are documented for auditors at firms including KPMG, PwC, EY, and Deloitte. Researchers at institutions such as Columbia Business School and MIT Sloan School of Management have referenced Lipper datasets when analyzing fund flows, performance persistence and expense ratios.

Market Position and Competitors

In the market for fund analytics and ratings, Lipper competes with major providers including Morningstar, Inc., CFRA Research, LSEG (through London Stock Exchange Group products), Morningstar subsidiaries, and platforms from Bloomberg L.P. and FactSet Research Systems Inc.. Asset managers, custodians and retail platforms evaluate offerings from these firms when selecting data and advisory integrations; leading financial institutions like HSBC, Citigroup, and Barclays maintain contracts with multiple vendors for redundancy. Lipper's brand recognition is particularly strong in mutual fund universes across Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific, and its datasets are regularly used by academic journals such as Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, and Review of Financial Studies.

Corporate Structure and Ownership

Historically independent at founding, Lipper became part of larger financial information conglomerates through acquisition by Reuters Group and later integration within Refinitiv and other corporate entities. Its ownership lineage connects to multinational firms active in market data and analytics, and it operates international offices under regulatory regimes in jurisdictions including United Kingdom, United States, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany and France. As part of larger corporate families, Lipper collaborates with sister businesses serving clients such as BlackRock, State Street Global Advisors, and Allianz Global Investors while maintaining product development, compliance and client services teams that liaise with global auditors, law firms and exchanges.

Category:Financial services companies