“Mark to Market” Accounting: An Endowment’s Guide to the New Valuation (FAS 157)

This report discusses the upcoming implementation of the new “mark to market” (“fair value”) accounting standard. It provides a brief review of the broader accounting and auditing context and examines the probable effects of FAS 157 on long-only equity and fixed income managers, hedge funds, and non-marketable investment funds (private equity, venture capital, real estate). The report concludes with ten suggestions for endowments in the implementation of this new accounting approach.