RBC Global Services Rolls Out New Performance Measurement Database

The Benchmark(tm) Investment Analytics group (BIA) of RBC Global Services, Institutional & Investor Services (IIS), announced the release of a new and expanded suite of portfolio universes the Benchmark Universes which will enable institutional investors to better evaluate the performance

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The Benchmark(tm) Investment Analytics group (BIA) of RBC Global Services, Institutional & Investor Services (IIS), announced the release of a new and expanded suite of portfolio universes – the Benchmark Universes – which will enable institutional investors to better evaluate the performance of their investment managers within their industry peer groups. This is the latest in a series of developments emerging from RBC Global Services’ strategic acquisition of the performance measurement business from SEI Investments Canada.

With a database of more than 2,500 institutional investment accounts and 160 investment managers across the country, BIA now offers clients industry analysis and intelligence from the most extensive returns database in Canada. As part of BIA’s strategy, the universes have also been equally weighted according to mandate and product, in order to ensure the consistency, integrity and overall value of the resulting data. The result is a sophisticated, valuable measurement tools for clients.

The Benchmark(tm) Performance Measurement service includes a new set of 21 investment manager universes. Mandate and style-specific universes have been developed to provide clients with a further level of analysis, giving them the ability to monitor the relative performance of their investment managers compared to specific mandates with comparable investment strategies.

The new set of investment manager universes are complemented by an enhanced set of 29 plan sponsor universes. “Our comprehensive universes provide clients with the broadest and most relevant coverage in the Canadian marketplace,” said Robert Boston, Director of Advisory Services, BIA. “Our clients asked for a greater number of representative universes to help them make informed decisions. Today’s announcement is the latest example of our continuing commitment to delivering the performance measurement tools clients are asking for.”

The enhanced BIA universes replace those previously provided to RBC Global Services clients by the Canadian Trust Universe Comparison Service (CTUCS).

This new product offering is also responding to client requests for universe transparency. To ensure that clients are aware of the composition of each manager universe, BIA provides extensive details on the data collection process, universe construction methodology and sample size of each universe.

“Clients have asked for transparent methodologies and universes that are representative of peer group performance,” said Boston. “Benchmark Performance Measurement meets these requirements and provides the most comprehensive universes in Canada.”

The enhanced indices were recently released for the third quarter of 2001.

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