In this weekend's Wall Street Journal there's an article by Roger Kimball about John Gross, who recently passed away. Don't know John Gross? You're not alone: he was an anthologist, editor, reviewer, and apparently much more. And, he had an insatiable appetite for...
Performance Perspectives Blog
Thoughts on performance measurement from David Spaulding and other members of our team.
“I believed that one day I would find time to read everything”
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Be our guest, be our guest…
Earlier this month I mentioned that we would begin to host "guest bloggers."Well, I was asked to be a guest blogger for Statpro's blog, and the first part of my post appears today (the second will appear on Thursday)! The post deals with the GIPS(R) 2010 changes. I...
Is net-of-fee performance supplemental information?
One of the most confusing areas of GIPS(R) (Global Investment Performance Standards) is "supplemental information." Since firms are required to label this information, it's important to know what it is. In essence, it's any performance-related information that...
Make 2011 a year of epiphanies!
My last post of 2010 dealt with some epiphanies I had relative to performance measurement, and how they altered my thinking regarding money-weighting, the aggregate method for composite returns, and asset-weighting composite returns. Well, today is the Feast of the...
Gross or net???
A client recently suggested that whenever a firm shows money-weighted returns (with the possible exception of private equity and direct real estate) the returns should always be net-of-fee, since they're representing how the client is doing. I think this makes sense....
Holiday Greetings
Our office, like many, will be closing early today, and we won't be open tomorrow. And so, I want to take this opportunity to express my wishes that you and your family have a Merry Christmas. Our country remains at war and we have many brave service members who are...
Premature embracing?
In Tuesday's Wall Street Journal there was an article on heart treatments which have begun to be questioned because of problems that have arisen. It points out that this "reflect[s] a persistent phenomenon in medicine where doctors and patients embrace new technology...
Accuracy in reporting
We all by now know of Madoff's illicit activities, which resulted in many victims, the most recent being his older son who took his life last week. But even Bernie can't compete with the leader of North Korea in reporting HIS performance. Okay, maybe I accept the 300...
Unintended consequences
Performance attribution seeks to identify how a manager's decisions contribute to their returns; and while there is sometimes controversy about using at a model that analyzes things separate from these decisions, there can often be benefits as a result of seeing how...
The table is turned on me
Over the past 14 years I've conducted numerous interviews for The Journal of Performance Measurement(R); these have always been great moments and have allowed me to meet some very interesting folks. I was honored when IPA asked to interview me. Please check it out!