The following brief article takes a look at some of the benchmark issues associated with assessing portfolio performance. It is an interesting article for anyone who has questions about how to evaluate their investment performance.
Assessing Portfolio Performance: Choose
Your Benchmarks Wisely
You can't help but hear about the frequent ups
and downs of the Dow Jones Industrial Average or the S&P 500 index. The
performance of both major indexes is widely reported and analyzed in detail by
financial news outlets around the nation.
Like the Dow, the S&P 500 tracks the stocks
of large domestic companies. With 500 stocks compared to the Dow's 30, the
S&P 500 comprises a much broader segment of the stock market and is
considered to be representative of U.S. stocks in general. Both indexes are
generally useful tools for tracking stock market trends, but some investors mistakenly
think of them as benchmarks for how well their own portfolios should be doing.
However, it doesn't make much sense to compare a
broadly diversified, multi-asset portfolio to just one of its own components. Expecting portfolio returns to meet or beat
"the market" is usually unrealistic, unless you are willing to expose
100% of your life savings to the risk and volatility associated with stock
investments.
Asset allocation: It's personal
Just about every financial market in the world
is tracked by one or more indexes that investors can use to look at current and
historical performance. In fact, there are hundreds of indexes based on a wide
variety of asset classes (stocks/bonds), market segments (large/small cap), and
styles (growth/value).
Investor portfolios are typically divided among
asset classes that tend to perform differently under different market
conditions. An appropriate mix of stocks, bonds, and other investments depends
on the investor's age, risk tolerance, and financial goals.
Consequently, there may or may not be a single
benchmark that matches your actual holdings and the composition of your
individual portfolio. It could take a combination of several benchmarks to
provide a meaningful performance picture.
Keep the proper perspective
Seasoned investors understand that short-term results may have
little to do with the effectiveness of a long-term investment strategy. Even
so, the desire to become a more disciplined investor is often tested by the
arrival of quarterly or annual financial statements.
The main problem with making decisions based on
last year's performance figures is that asset classes, market segments, or
industries that do well during one period don't always continue to perform as
well. When an investment experiences dramatic upside performance, it may mean
that much of the opportunity for market gains has already passed. Conversely,
moving out of an investment when it has a down year could mean you are no
longer in a position to benefit when that segment starts to recover.
On the other hand, portfolios that are left
unattended may drift and begin to take on too much risk or become too
conservative. Rebalancing periodically could help bring your asset mix back in
line with your preferred allocation.
There's
really nothing you can do about global economic conditions or the level of
returns delivered by the financial markets, but you can control the composition
of your portfolio. Evaluating investment results through the correct lens may
help you make appropriate adjustments and effectively plan for the future. This
is why we use analytical research services like Morningstar Fund Research, Lipper
and Advisory
World to help analyze performance and to make sure that the funds we
use:
- · Have competitive fees
- · Are doing well compared to their peer group
- · Have not gone through recent management changes
- · Do not overlap other funds we use.
If you have questions or concerns regarding this
article, please feel free to call our office at 201-843-0044.
