Performance Perspectives Blog

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

The ever befuddling world of materiality

The ever befuddling world of materiality

Today's post was inspired by an op-ed piece in this weekend's WSJ: "Madoff Got Away, But Netflix Won't," by Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. Jenkins discusses how Netflix CEO Reed Hastings' Facebook post that the company's "customers had streamed a billion hours of video in the...

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Minimum requirements for Karnosky-Singer attribution

Minimum requirements for Karnosky-Singer attribution

Many software vendors and custodians claim to offer the Karnosky-Singer multi-currency attribution model, but do they really?The name has become synonymous with a robust approach to identifying the contributions from currency movements on a portfolio's excess...

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Filling in the gaps of performance … or not!

Filling in the gaps of performance … or not!

My son, Chris, and I had a preliminary meeting with someone who is looking to obtain compliance with the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS(R)). He left his prior firm and has recently created an account that is being managed in the same fashion as those he...

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Blending MWRR & TWRR

Blending MWRR & TWRR

The same question has come up twice in the past week, so I thought it worth posting.A manager manages several different accounts for the same client. Some returns are money-weighted (MWRR), some time (TWRR). The manager wishes to consolidate the accounts to present a...

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Bottom up attribution

Bottom up attribution

A colleague asked me for some details on bottom up attribution. I then asked for the context in which he was speaking, since knowing the context is important.If we're talking about a "bottom up" manager, who doesn't take allocation into consideration, one could argue...

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A different kind of attribution

When I teach our Performance Fundamentals and Attribution classes, I often say how we frequently borrow concepts from other places: attribution is just one example. We didn't come up with the idea of attributing an event to a cause, or determining how various causes...

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Getting the words right

Getting the words right

My wife and I recently came across this sign on the front door of a medical facility where we had an appointment. If we are obligated to follow these instructions, we must attempt some other means to gain access to the building. No doubt when the creator of the sign...

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