Having preached the benefits of money-weighted returns for the past several years, along with a group of comrades, including Steve Campisi, CFA, I'm quite pleased to see that the idea is catching on.GASB, the U.S. Government Accounting Standards Board, now requires...
Performance Perspectives Blog
Thoughts on performance measurement from David Spaulding and other members of our team.

We’re winning … finally! Money-weighting is catching on!

Let’s disaggregate aggregation
I recently learned of a firm that has enhanced their system to provide the ability to aggregate multiple portfolios for performance reporting. They reference GIPS(R), so clearly the fact that it's permitted within the Standards for composite returns is seen as...

Gilbert Beebower
I just learned (via P&I, November 25, page 4) of the passing of Gilbert Beebower.You may recall that he, along with Gary Brinson and L. Randolph Hood, wrote a piece for the Financial Analysts Journal (1986: "Determinants of Portfolio Performance") that helped in...

A Half-Dozen Sharpe Ratio Facts
Just when you thought it was safe to ...I'm doing a bit of research on the Sharpe and Information ratios, and am finding loads of confusion. This may end up becoming an article, but for now I'll share with you some "facts," at least as I understand them, regarding the...

Happy Thanksgiving & Happy Chanukah
Apparently, this is the first time since 1888 that Thanksgiving and Chanukah overlapped (I wasn't around, but my friends Steve Campisi and Herb Chain recalled the event; both are significantly older than I) , and it won't occur again for 70,000+ years (I doubt that...

Introducing Sonia Renza-Elizabeth Spaulding
So proud, I'm showing off; hope you don't mind.Our third grandchild and first granddaughter.Born to our son, Christopher, and his lovely wife, Monica.Specifics:Born 11/25/2013At 4:18 pm8lbs. 13oz21 inchesRenza in name = Monica's momElizabeth in name = Chris' mom; aka,...

Annualizing performance attribution
I was in Australia (both Sydney and Melbourne) last week, (1) speaking at a conference, (2) conducting a conference workshop, and (3) teaching our two-day attribution class. It was a very hectic time, and I failed to do any posting, which is a bit unusual for...

Topology and performance attribution
It may seem like a stretch, but the very esoteric and complex mathematical area topology and performance attribution have something in common: mapping. Topologists map points from one surface to another, while PMPs (Performance Measurement Professionals) map weights...

More on reporting standards, guidance, principles
I have had the opportunity to engage in conversation with several folks over the past month or so regarding the CFA Institute's "Principles for Investment Reporting." I remain generally opposed; actually, perhaps more so.For a document that promotes "transparency," it...

Investing in employees through training
Yes, this IS a dilemma: do you invest the money into providing your performance and risk measurement team the training they need to do a good job, and run the risk they'll leave, or avoid teaching them and save the money?Fortunately, most firms see the wisdom in...