The Wall Street Journal posted the following yesterday: Well, to me this is a reason for performance measurers to celebrate.  Why?, you might ask: because:  we’re mathematicians.  Wikipedia defines a mathematician as “a person with an extensive knowledge of mathematics who uses this knowledge in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematics is concerned […]

We’re wrapping up our “mini” GIPS® survey, but first want to hear from you! It’s REALLY fast to do; we only ask four questions:1. Your Name/ Company/ Title 2. Does your firm currently claim compliance with the GIPS® standards? 3. Do you want to see a guidance statement that will outline “sunset” provisions for various […]

I took most of this week off so that a friend of mine and I could go to the Masters golf tournament in August, GA. Our wives came along, though they stayed at our hotel location (in Savannah, GA) while we headed to yesterday’s final practice round and par-3 tournament. It occurred to me that […]

This morning, I had to phone in a prescription refill to our pharmacy (CVS). They have an automated system that allows you to enter a number associated with the prescription, which makes the process pretty simple; simple up to one point, at least for me. My wife is picking it up, and said she’d do […]

Yesterday’s WSJ had a book review on The Unpersuadables,  by Will Storr. It isn’t clear that I have much interest in the book, though the ideas summarized in the review are intriguing. The reviewer, Michael Shermer, identifies some of the folks highlighted in Storr’s book: unpersuadables, such as David Irving, who deny certain things that […]

We are hosting a “mini” survey, and would like your thoughts, IF your firm claims compliance with the Global Investment Performance Standards. There are really only two questions. It should take you only a minute or so to complete it! The first deals with sunset rules. The second is about the use of Q&As to […]

A client sent us a question that I am a bit surprised hasn’t been asked before: which country’s risk-free rate should be used when investing across countries? For example, if a US domiciled investor has a Japan-based asset, when we calculate the Sharpe ratio, should we use a US risk-free rate or one from Japan? […]

Recall that the GIPS(R) (Global Investment Performance Standards) Executive Committee (EC) issued a “Q&A” that introduces a change to the Standards, allowing firms to remove disclosures of composite name changes after five years.  During the recent EC open meeting call, I asked if it’s possible to see additional GIPS requirements receive similar “sunset provisions.” The […]

Of late, my colleagues and I have been involved in numerous conversations on the subject of benchmarks; in fact, I’m about to conduct a focused study for a client on their benchmark construction policies and procedures. I conducted a GIPS(R) (Global Investment Performance Standards) verification for a firm who occasionally uses benchmarks solely for “reference” […]