INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT: FUNCTIONS
STEPHEN NGUYEN
Title: Performance Analyst
Current employer:
RMB Asset Management
Previous employers:
London & Capital Asset Management
Are there certain skills you would consider useful for your job?
University: Royal Holloway,
Good quantitative and Excel/VBA skills are useful.
University of London
Degrees: Bachelors in Mathematics
How do you think the role you’re in now will change over time?
Professional qualifi cations:
CFA Level III candidate
The need for performance analysis will play a major role in the
asset management industry overtime. This is due to the
demanding nature of clients worldwide and performance analysis
What attracted you to this career path?
will serve as a good functional support for fund managers.
Being able to apply various quantitative skills/techniques on
a daily basis is something I enjoy.
Do you have advice for someone intending to pursue the same
career path?
What are the major challenges you face in your position?
As with any career path, it is important one must always give
Ensuring that all analysis is performed accurately and in a
100% effort, dedication and try to learn as much as possible by
timely manner.
being open minded.
Fundamentally, the function involves
calculating the returns on portfolios
“Numbers are really important, but they
and making sure they are correct, and
therefore requires a high degree of
are only half the story. Being numerate is
numeracy. Techniques such as
attribution analysis and risk adjusted
returns are used to understand whether
not that useful unless you can
the reward is suffi cient, given the risk
taken. Th e fi rst stage, says Bacon, is
measurement, the calculation of
communicate well” Rick Di Mascio, Inalytics
returns. Th e second is attribution,
where risk attribution and risk analysis
ex poste and ex ante is conducted. Th e performed, and how you did against the believes a lot more can be done. “What
third and fi nal stage is valuation, benchmark. It’s a reporting function; it’s we do is analyse every decision that the
feedback, and control. a record of history. You either won or managers take, every purchase, sale, long
“Graduates do go straight into these you lost.” position on a daily basis and pull out
roles, and it’s a good area for graduates to He believes that while attribution their systematic strengths and
enter the profession. Many performance analysis helps to explain what the weaknesses. You cannot analyse whether
measurers will take the CFA,” says results were, they don’t tell you why a manager is likely to do well in the
Bacon. Th ere are also external you may have lost the game. “While future unless you analyse every decision
performance measurement companies, we believe that performance that they ever take. To put it another
like Statpro, where a career can be attribution is absolutely critical, it’s the way, we’re running the forensics.”
developed. past. To make a judgement on the Candidates entering the industry need
Rick Di Mascio, chief executive and future you really need to understand to be aware that performance
founder of Inalytics, another what skills the managers have and how measurement is changing all the time.
performance measurement company, they played the game.” “Numbers are really important, but they
says that performance measurement is It is inevitable that much performance are only half the story. Being numerate is
now almost a regulatory function, in that measurement is backward looking. By its not that useful unless you can
“you have to demonstrate how you have very nature, it has to be. But Di Mascio communicate well,” says Di Mascio.
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WWW.CFAUK.ORG CAREERS GUIDE 2009 37
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