It’s 2024 and investment firms have access to all the gadgets they could only wish for 20 years ago. Performance departments are running efficiently and performance analysts spend their day analyzing returns and acting as a the feedback mechanism that performance is supposed to be to the front office. Well, if only that were true.
In reality, performance teams still suffer from many of the same issues they suffered 20 years ago. To say things have not gotten better would be misleading. Systems have improved and additional resources have been provided to performance. In 2024, even with the number of systems available, performance teams still need tools to deal with specific tasks that current systems can’t provide. Whether it is using excel and customizing certain tasks that provide quick access to the analyst to allow them to better review and analyze returns or having specialized knowledge available to assist performance departments on a need to basis, so as to not overwhelm the analysts, these tools are still very much needed.
Systems don’t always work the way they are supposed and the vendor is not always able to provide you the solutions, even if you’ve outsourced your performance to them. They are always time where an analyst must dig deep into the numbers to determine the source of the issue. This is time consuming and creates delays in reporting and impacts the quality of the reports.
For any smooth functioning team, you always need smaller customized tools in your toolkit to better operate. While the majority of the systems do take care of most of your needs, they are not a complete solution. Performance teams need to develop their own tools and have additional access to performance resources to have a complete toolkit to better manage their day-to-day.
In performance, you don’t get congratulated for getting the returns right, but you do get reprimanded for getting them wrong, so make sure you have everything you need.
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