Two ways to measure a manager

Article Excerpt

Fund-rating companies generally take one of two approaches to evaluating fund managers and their funds. The quantitative approach focuses on the returns achieved by fund managers over varying time periods; in most cases, this approach adjusts those returns for the risks a fund manager takes on. The aim is to find funds that achieve consistent, risk-adjusted returns. In contrast, the blended approach considers several factors, aside from a fund’s returns, that might impact a fund manager’s performance. They include portfolio construction, the manager’s track record, and fees and expenses. While it is interesting to see which fund managers were honoured at Thomson Reuters Lipper Fund Awards, the selection criteria are mostly backward looking and often poor predictors of future returns. returns…