Performance Perspectives Blog
Thoughts on performance measurement from David Spaulding and other members of our team.

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...

10 Key points about performance attribution
While the role performance attribution has continued to grow within the investment industry, it is, in the words of "Brinson, Hood & Beebower," still evolving. And in its evolution, there remain areas that need to be re-explored, reconsidered, revisited, and...

Not reporting the impact of currency fluctuations on mutual fund returns because (a) you don’t have to and (b) because it can’t be done … considered
I often find the WSJ enlightening. Today provided a very insightful article by Chana R. Schoenberger ("Test Your Smarts ... on Currency Effects", page R5), where I learned that at least some fund analysts believe they cannot tell the impact of currency fluctuations on...
10 Common GIPS non-fatal mistakes
The Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS(R)) are complex and often confusing. And while we have identified common mistakes which can lead to non-compliance (recall that GIPS is very "black-and-white," with no "materiality" for compliance: you either are or...

What kind of life do you wish to pursue?
Every once in awhile I want to read some poetry. Yesterday I turned to a book of John Keats’ work. In reading part of the introduction, I was motivated to read some of the letters that are included: it’s amazing how letter writing has become a "thing of the past.,"...

10 Performance Resolutions for 2014
I thought it fitting to offer some suggested resolutions for the coming year.1. I resolve to become more educated about my profession by reading more about performance and risk measurement. There are countless resources available. The Journal of Performance...

Getting our attribution correct
In our classes I often comment how much of what we do in investment performance and risk is borrowed from other disciplines. For example, "attribution" is employed by many, to identify the source(s), cause(s) and/or contributor(s) of something.In today's WSJ, Jason...

Happy New Year
Hoping that 2014 is a grand year for you. My it prove to be a prosperous, healthy, rewarding, stimulating, challenging, enlightening, stupendous, exciting, fulfilling, and pretty much fabulous one! The U.S. stock market had a great 2013; may this year be even better!