It's probably not surprising that Sunday's Superbowl is still a topic of discussion. I'm conducting a GIPS(R) (Global Investment Performance Standards) verification this week, and this morning, when I went into the hotel's concierge lounge, I overheard two women who...
Performance Perspectives Blog
Thoughts on performance measurement from David Spaulding and other members of our team.
“They were simply outplayed”
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That which gets measured, gets improved … or maybe not
I have to thank my lovely daughter-in-law, Monica, for providing this photo to me. Consider this, a "fun" post. I was in the Army for almost five years, and stationed for 39 months with the 25th Infantry Division (Oahu, Hawaii; I was a Field Artillery officer)....
ISN’T IT FINALLY TIME FOR YOU TO TAKE THE CIPM EXAM?
Note: the following comes from this month's newsletters, but I wanted to get it out, given the urgency of registering! The CFA Institute has made a huge commitment in our segment of the industry by creating, maintaining and administering the Certificate in Investment...
Spaulding,…, David Spaulding
This year's Performance Measurement, Attribution & Risk (PMAR) conferences, like last year's, will have a theme. It started as "Casino Royale," but has been broadened to "Secret Agents," or more specifically, "Secret Agents of Performance Measurement." As with...
10 Key points about rates of return
At the core of performance measurement is the rate of return. While we are often distracted by attribution, risk, and the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS(R)), the ROR is fundamental. And so, there are some key points we should agree on. 1. Use...
A case for a mixed cash flow treatment policy
Most of those who calculate rates of return have settled on either the end-of-day or start-of-day treatment for cash flows. Some time ago I arrived at the belief that a mixed treatment is better: Inflows: start-of-day Outflows: end-of-day. While in bed one...
Are big contributors always good to have in your portfolio?
Contribution, aka "absolute attribution," is a commonly used measure of performance. It's simply the return of whatever we're evaluating (securities, sectors, etc.) times its weight. We sum these values up, and they should equal the portfolio's total return, but may...
Webinar on incorporating GIPS into your firm’s sales and marketing
Two things to remember about performance attribution
To see a World in a Grain of Sand, And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand, And Eternity in an hour William Blake I believe there are two major things that performance measurement professionals need to know about attribution. #1...
Order dependence vs. independence
You may recall the commutative property of math- ematics, which essentially speaks of changing the order in which we do the math. This property holds for addition and multiplication; for example: You'll may also remember that it doesn't hold for all...