PERFORMANCE
MEASUREMENT
BY: MAHA KHAN PHILLIPS
PROFILES BY: SUSANNA ROBINSON, STUART NEWMAN
SIMON BLAKENEY, ASIP
Title: Executive Director
Current employer:
Morgan Stanley Private Wealth
I
t is the department where skill gets
quantifi ed. Put simply, performance
measurement tracks investment decisions
Previous employers:
to see how successful a manager was over a
Threadneedle Asset Management; Invesco Asset
Management
particular period of time. “Performance
University: University of York
measurement has moved from the back offi ce
Degrees: Bachelors in Mathematics and Physics
to the middle offi ce of asset managers, much
Professional qualifi cations: ASIP
closer to the decision-making process. Th e job
of a performance measurer is to answer three
basic questions: what is the return on the
What attracted you to this career path?
portfolios, why have the portfolios performed
I trained to be an actuary and enjoyed the problem solving nature
in that particular way, and how performance
(and time pressure) of pension valuations. I had always been
interested in investment management, so performance analysis/
can be improved,” explains Carl Bacon, CFA,
attribution seemed a good combination of mathematics and problem
chairman of the Statpro Group, the
solving.
performance measurement and analysis fi rm.
He says that performance measurement is a
What are the major challenges you face in your position?
risk control solution. “Th e industry is getting
Securing of money and commitment to projects. Although analysis
more and more complicated. You’re seeing a
and attribution is a high priority at many institutions, it also requires
variety of diff erent investment strategies and
input and commitment from many different areas and the major
instruments, and it’s the job of performance
challenge is keeping all these people on board whilst they have
measurers to understand those instruments
competing commitments.
and the value they provide,” says Bacon.
Performance measurers are at the heart of
Are there certain skills you would consider useful for your job?
an investment company. Th ey provide
The biggest skill is being able to explain the results to people at all information to senior management, portfolio
different levels. You need to be diligent and have good interpersonal managers, and marketing and sales.
skills. Also, you often need to decipher the difference between what
people ask and what they should be asking.
How do you think the role you’re in now will change over time?
“Performance measurement
I expect the role will include a higher IT or team co-ordination
element as portfolios include more exotic products that do not fi t has moved from the back
into existing systems. Teams will assist in the ‘thought development’
of the existing infrastructure, to accommodate analysis relevant to
offi ce to the middle offi ce of
complex portfolios.
Do you have advice for someone intending to pursue the same
asset managers, much closer to
career path?
Ask ‘why?’ as often as possible. Remain fl exible to learning new
the decision-making process”
things (not directly related to the role) and take opportunities to
learn about ‘new’ instruments or ways of constructing portfolios.
Carl Bacon, CFA, Statpro Group
36
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