A client sent me a note recently asking how they can incorporate their advisory assets' performance into their GIPS(R) (Global Investment Performance Standards) materials. It is becoming clear that the market sees appeal in UMA (Universal Managed Account)...
Performance Perspectives Blog
Thoughts on performance measurement from David Spaulding and other members of our team.

What can GIPS compliant firms do with their advisory assets?

Grammar counts … or should
My high school English teachers could give testimony to my general dislike for the subject. I actually believed that as someone who had a natural affection for mathematics, it was expected that I would detest and far from excel in English, grammar, etc....

Unless you know the rules, how can you get it right?
A Facebook friend of mine responded to the following mathematical puzzle:To learn that you have to be a genius to solve it can cause some anxiety. But in reality, it's quite simple, though most of those who tried got it wrong. Most people, I fear, are either...

Dealing with nested attribution
Tricia Nelson Bailey, of Waddell & Reed, and I will conduct a webinar later this month (February 26, @ 11 AM EST) on nested attribution.What we mean by nested attribution is the case where the attribution is done down to additional levels. Typically, we see two...

A lesson for all parents
I am listening to Dale Carneige's How to Win Friends & Influence People, a book I read about 15 years ago, and wish I had read 40 years ago. In it, he references this little poem, which I think all parents can benefit from. I wish I had heard it 40 years ago,...

The art of predicting
I purchased Nate Silver's The signal and the noise a few months ago, and it's been patiently waiting for me to crack its cover. Well, I finally did, and I am very much enjoying it, as I suspected I would (it was reviewed last year in the WSJ).I will no doubt turn to...

Two ways to form a balanced portfolio
One of our verification clients has the following situation, which I think is interesting. They have a client who has their money invested in three classes: equities, bonds, and real estate. Because the firm wishes to utilize carve-outs, they've constructed three...

Changes… the 2013 CIPM Expert Curriculum
This blog post summarizes the changes at the Expert Level of the "New CIPM Program."Expert LevelLast year, the topic area weights were broken into three broad areas:Ethics and Professional Standards (15%)Performance Evaluation (50%)GIPS (35%)Ethics is still given...

A donation to ALSF
Last year, TSG announced its intention to contribute a portion of the sale of (1) a book that was missing part of the reference section (Handbook of Investment Performance Measurement, 2nd edition), which we offer at a huge discount (turning lemons into...

We don’t need to comply with GIPS to win institutional business!
We thought the industry pretty much agreed that compliance with the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS®) was a virtual requirement for asset managers targeting the institutional market, especially in the States, but we’ve recently encountered a couple firms...