Gary Jones, Head of ebusinessware Wealth Management and Liaison to the Money Management Institute Standards committee.

Fund Action hosted the 16th Annual Mutual Fund Awards last night at Cipriani Wall Street. Over 300 people attended the awards dinner, which saw some of the top executives in the industry honored for their achievements in 2008. Mr, Jones was presented with the SMA Player of the Year award for his efforts to bring messaging standards to the Managed Solutions industry.

Jones spearheaded the effort to adopt communications standards for the separately managed accounts industry. The SMA industry began using the communications standards in 2008. The implementation of an industry-wide process will make it easier for sponsors and managers to transfer information, do business with other platforms and grow their own businesses, according to SMA executives.

The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation helped to create the standards and use them on its Managed Accounts Service. Smith Barney and UBS are among the firms that now use the standards, and Jones expects wide adoption to take place over the next few years.