Getting to the Heart of Investing - Financial Stewardship That Meets Client Objectives

摘要

The purpose of this article is to introduce (or perhaps to reintroduce) a philosophy and structure of performance and financial stewardship that puts the interests of the client's funding goals at the forefront of investment decisions. As our performance metrics become more complex and we dive down deeper and deeper into the accuracy of returns, the availability of data, and the automation of numbers, it is important to take a step back and reflect on what it is we are trying to accomplish. Each of us has a fiduciary duty of loyalty, prudence, and diligence which we owe to the clients who entrust their financial assets to our care. This is true for both investment managers and performance measurement staff. The focus of performance professionals has traditionally been on individual products and funds. We receive very little training in the total portfolio and relatively little training in methods to evaluate our success in meeting our client's financial goals. We are advocating that performance professionals develop a broader perspective than just the individual products. This may not fall on one performance professional's shoulders but the collective team to be aware of the ultimate client goals.