As asset owners operate in an environment of more dynamic asset allocation, heightened governance expectations, greater reliance on both internal and external managers, and the use of overlay programs to manage fund-level risks, evaluating total fund performance and attributing the drivers of returns has become increasingly complex.
We have developed a performance measurement and attribution framework to capture not just the portfolio structure, but the contribution of underlying decisions to the overall profit or loss on fund level. This top-down decision-based attribution model helps to explain multi-asset processes, overlay strategies, and the link between policy and implementation.
By understanding the excess gain of a fund through the contributions of investment decisions, asset owners can identify key factors that drive performance. This is done by modeling the full investment decision process, from strategic and tactical decisions to overlay strategies, manager allocation and security-level choices. This Investment Decision Process (IDP) approach allows for the measurement of each decision’s contribution to the total fund performance.
Download our whitepaper to explore our decision-based attribution model and how it can help you identify the strong and weak points in the investment process, which in turn is useful information to improve future performance.
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Contact
Elske van de Burgt
Managing Director Investment PerformanceRelated Insights
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15 September 2026Measuring and attributing decisions within an Investment Decision ProcessLearn about our approach to measuring investment decisions that enables asset owners to understand decision’s contribution to the total fund performance.
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14 September 2026Overcoming performance measurement challenges in private marketsExplore a more robust approach to measuring and attributing performance across private assets-related decisions to achieve consistency and transparency
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27 August 2026Total Portfolio Lens: A five-part webinar seriesLearn how to apply the TPA approach without redesigning your entire investment model.
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26 August 2026Extending the lens on climate change to capital market assumptions: Asia-PacificWe explore the Asia-Pacific investment community’s views on how climate change is shaping investment decision-making and risk management frameworks.
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25 August 2026Webinar: How CalPERS Put TPA Into Practice
Join our webinar and discover how CalPERS applied the Total Portfolio thinking in their investment processes.
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25 August 2026Webinar: Monitoring and the TPL Approach
Discover how to apply the Total Portfolio Lens (TPL) approach to monitor portfolios using factor exposures, scenarios and portfolio-wide risk measures.
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25 August 2026Webinar: Investment Performance Through a Total Portfolio Lens
Learn how to assess if your fund’s investment decisions contributed to overall fund objectives and how to maintain accountability through a Total Portfolio Lens.
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25 August 2026Webinar: Strategic Asset Views
How can institutional investors evaluate Strategic Asset Views from a Total Portfolio perspective and assess the impact of these views on risk and return at the total fund level.
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25 August 2026Rising economic uncertainty and heightened financial risk – should institutional investors be concerned?Examine the distinctions between economic uncertainty and financial risk in an institutional investment context