Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Investment Performance Measurement" conference to their offering.

This practical two day training run by a former senior banker has been designed for anyone who needs to understand the fundamentals of measuring investment performance.

The course explores all aspects of performance measurement including the calculation of returns, impact of different benchmarks and adjusting performance for risk taken. Through the analysis of the best current industry practice you will learn how to set up, maintain and improve performance measurement systems within your organisation.

You will also have a chance to learn about the evolution of the asset and wealth management industries including the latest industry trends as well as some of the findings from behavioural finance.

Agenda:

Day One

Overview and course objectives:

- Trends within the asset and wealth management industries

- Fragmentation of the value chain

- Separation of alpha and beta

- Relative and absolute returns

- The core / satellite approach

- Product commoditisation

- Transparency

- Consolidation

- Rebuilding trust

- Quality of reporting

Case Study: Using behavioural finance to improve the manager/client relationship. The importance of the Investment Policy Statement and clear communication throughout the investment process.

Calculation of returns and key measurement metrics:

- Simple returns

- Money weighted returns

- Time weighted returns

- Annualised returns

- Before or after fees

- Currency impact

Case Study: Understanding the measurement methodologies available and when to use them

Comparison of returns against an appropriate benchmark

- How do you select / construct the right benchmark?

- What are the factors to consider?

- Is a suitable commercial benchmark / index available?

- An overview of types of benchmark/index

- Understanding key benchmark statistics

- What is the cost of investing in the index?

- Some limitations of indices

Alternative approaches:

- Peer Group analysis

- Notional Funds

- Random portfolios

- Understanding excess (arithmetic and geometric) returns

- The impact of management and performance fees

Day Two

Risk

Definition

- The key risk measures and when to use them:

- Ex post and ex ante

- Variance

- Standard deviation

- Sharpe ratio

- Covariance

- Correlation

- Skewness and Kurtosis

Return distributions:

- Drawdown

- Measuring downside risk

- Value at risk

- Understanding different perspectives of risk; the manager and the investor view

- Specific risk metrics for Fixed Income portfolios

Case Study: The importance of information ratios and how to use them

Attribution

- What is performance attribution?

- Why is important to managers and investors?

- The relationship between performance and Asset allocation - the ongoing debate!

- Isolating the return from active management

Some specific challenges:

- Multi currency

- Fixed income

- Selecting the measurement period and multi period attribution

GIPS Perfomance Measurement Standards

- GIPS objectives, characteristics and scope

- GIPS compliance standards

- Performance presentation standards

For more information about this conference visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/8j8dx9/investment