Viroqua DeSoto, CFA, is reading a discussion in an online forum about the construction and purpose of composites in performance reporting. She finds these statements from participants:
Statement 1: The purpose of composites is to let investors know how well a firm has performed managing different types of securities or investment strategies.
Statement 2: A managed portfolio should have a performance history of at least one year before the firm assigns it to a composite.
With respect to both statements:
DeSoto should agree with Statement 1 but disagree with Statement 2. Reporting on the performance of composites gives clients and prospects information about the firm’s success in managing various types of securities or investment styles. The firm should identify which composite each managed portfolio will be included in before the portfolio’s performance is known, to prevent the firm from including portfolios selectively and artificially creating composites with superior returns. |