Performance Analysis

Executive summary

Performance Analysis

History has provided many instances where professional money managers with the best intentions either negated to resist external or internal pressures or simply had obtained power and social status that they used to satisfy self-serving interest, the adherence to process and procedures are the tools that can limit such influences. Attribution analysis is critical toward recognition of these unfortunate realities and places the emphasis on performance and identification of the associated risk.

Performance analysis should be fund sponsor’s critical tool and ultimate objective identifier regarding a fund’s investment policy. Fund manager’s knowledge and skill affect active management decisions that impact fund risk management and alpha. Attribution analysis results highlight investment strengths and weakness that decision maker can utilize to focus attention on risk and performance. The fund manager also benefits since performance evaluation is an objective investigation of the fund management investment process and impact on alpha and finally, performance analysis supplies the evidence to determine whether the investment program is being effectively managed.

Relationships are critical and fund sponsors rely on these relationships to identify and retain professional money managers that they trust and have the best intentions. It is true that past performance is the best indicator of future performance and past performance is no guarantee of future results good or bad; however, it is not just about performance but the investment process and active management decisions that impacted performance achieved. Simply put attribution analysis is extremely important to understanding risk adjusted performance and answers the question where is the value added.

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Service Methodology

Service methodology is composed of 4 distinctive steps: The first step is pre-consulting to meet with fund sponsors’ key decision makers to learn and understand their current performance measurement process and reporting frequency. The purpose of this initial step is to determine if the fund sponsors current performance measurement process and reporting frequency is applicable and sufficient.

The second step, if the analytical results of step one identifies areas of concern, is to establish conditions of satisfaction and justify the importance of performance evaluation and the performance evaluation process.

Because performance evaluation involves measurement and assessment of the outcomes of the investment management decisions and process. The third step is to separate performance evaluation into its distinctive components, performance measurement, i.e. calculate portfolio performance based on investment-related changes in the portfolio’s value over specified time periods, performance attribution, i.e. analyze the sources of performance (“returns”) relative to a designated benchmark and their impact on performance and performance appraisal, i.e. critiquing whether returns were achieved due to skill of the investment manager or random chance and assessing magnitude and stability of funds relative performance.

Attribution analysis is a repetitive process and as a management control tool it is important that it does not become normalized and dismissed. In the fourth step, assessment of macro attribution performance is conducted to determine if quality control processes and procedures regarding asset allocation decisions are appropriate, evaluate the information utilized to make asset allocation decisions at the fund sponsor level and assess the current knowledge, understanding, and analytical skills of the asset allocation decision maker or team to determine areas of reinforcement.

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Service Options

Companies can elect whether they just require Appleton Greene for advice and support with the Bronze Client Service, for research and performance analysis with the Silver Client Service, for facilitating departmental workshops with the Gold Client Service, or for complete process planning, development, implementation, management and review, with the Platinum Client Service. Ultimately, there is a service to suit every situation and every budget and clients can elect to either upgrade or downgrade from one service to another as and when required, providing complete flexibility in order to ensure that the right level of support is available over a sustainable period of time, enabling the organization to compensate for any prescriptive or emergent changes relating to: Customer Service; E-business; Finance; Globalization; Human Resources; Information Technology; Legal; Management; Marketing; or Production.

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Service Mission

Service Mission Statement: To provide fund sponsors attribution performance analysis process improvement and or implementation tools that will permit fund sponsors to better measure and understand returns produced relative to appropriate benchmarks in an effort to identify true performance in risk adjusted terms.

Mr. Turner is an experienced multi-billion-dollar portfolio administrator. Having obtained the level of lead trust and funds services analyst at one of the nation’s largest financial institutions where he trained many analyst and was recognized as a risk analysis and process standardization subject matter expert. Mr. Turner is a continuous learner having received his undergraduate BBA degree in economics and finance, from Eastern Michigan University, he has earned multiple master degrees, recently a Master of Security Analysis and Portfolio Management degree from Heider Business School at Creighton University and an MBA at Hult International Business School in Cambridge, MA where he worked as a management consultant on an action project for a fortune 250 company.

Mr. Turner has significant experience in building and modifying financial models to accurately reflect portfolio performance and understands that performance must be measured against risks assumed and to thoroughly understand how to maximize risk adjusted returns, allocate capital to investment management firms and various professional money managers fund sponsors should rely on attribution analysis as a management control system. Mr. Turner utilizes multiple approaches to delivering the subject matter; however, understanding and listening are the core of his methodology as he attempts to build on current systems through process improvement or implement attribution analysis tools and techniques that will permit fund sponsor to better align their strategic objectives and monitor risk adjusted performance. Mr. Turner has experience in the automotive, banking, chemical and financial services industries.

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Service objectives

The following list represents the Key Service Objectives (KSO) for the Appleton Greene Performance Analysis service.

1. Client Evaluation
   The importance of this service objective is to stress to clients the importance of utilizing applicable performance evaluation methods. Fund sponsors can move past the noise and focus their effort on maximizing gains, minimizing losses and or reducing risk exposure to an acceptable target. It is imperative that risk exposure correspond with alpha and the relative distinction between alpha and beta is of immense importance to fund sponsors and portfolio managers. In cases where fund sponsors rely on fund managers, their financial institution or other financial institutions to provide fund performance analysis that is on a non-risk adjusted basis-this is fundamentally incorrect and can result in inadvertent performance evaluations, macro and micro attribution error and unjustifiable performance related fees. Furthermore, it is critical that performance is measured on a risk adjusted and applicable benchmark basis which is the foundation of this service objective. Risk-Adjusted performance analysis is the tool that gives fund sponsors an objective “quality control” methodology and should be part of the investment management process and thoroughly documented within the Investment Policy Statement (IPS) and fund sponsors that receive fund performance on a risk-adjusted basis should have the capability to critique performance evaluation reports. Fund sponsor identification and complete understanding of the portfolio managers investment management process, strategy and associated risk should precede any prior performance results when deciding to select a specific portfolio manager for a particular investment mandate or several portfolio managers across multiple asset categories.
2. Fund Monitoring
   The purpose of this service objective is to develop methods that can assist fund sponsors with evaluating and identifying fund managers that are or are not adhering to their strategic investment directive. As such, it is critical that fund evaluation periods are conducted on regular intervals e.g., monthly, quarterly, semi-annual and annual. In fact, risk adjusted performance analysis may be required weekly in situations of continued risk adjusted over and under performance. In addition, as needed reconciliation and investment style analysis is critical toward early identification of non-compliance which can result in strategy re-evaluation, capital at risk reallocation and or reassigning of portfolios. The Investment Policy Statement (IPS) should have specific risk-adjusted performance language that trigger performance evaluation period changes given portfolio manager’s performance. Early identification is essential to avoiding unjustified management fees and perhaps significant portfolio losses. Obviously, risk of loss is inherent with all investments and volatility of markets are uncertain which is why risk-adjusted performance assessment periods should be driven by relative performance factors and not by fund manager convenience. Furthermore, performance evaluation is a relative concept which is why appropriate benchmarking is critical. A benchmark should have clearly defined identities and weights of securities or factor exposures constituting the benchmark, represent an investable passive alternative, benchmark returns should be readily calculated and on regular intervals, be appropriate for the investment manager’s investment style or area of expertise, be reflective of the portfolio manager’s current investment position and knowledge of the securities or factor exposures composing the benchmark, known to all stakeholders prior to the performance analysis period, accepted and acknowledged by the portfolio manager as an appropriate determinate of performance.
3. Data Quality
   Identifying, evaluating and determining data quality is highly important. Because data quality ultimately determines the accuracy of measuring performance and it is critical that appropriate data collection methods are utilized as calculated returns of various investments can significantly distort fund and portfolio manager performance. The purpose of this service objective is to recognize data quality issues such as rate of return reliability, collection of market transaction data regarding equity, fixed-income securities, liquid and illiquid transactions, valuation and cash flow recognition. Consistency and confidence in the data quality cannot be stressed enough. Fund sponsors must clearly identify and evaluate data quality and reliability on an ongoing basis. Internal and External data quality checks should be conducted on regular intervals and randomly if data quality concerns have been problematic in the past. By utilizing data warehouses or business management applications fund sponsors can be confident that they are using best practices and that data quality procedures are incorporated in the attribution analysis and performance evaluation process. Questions such as what data is required, where is the data obtained, how much data, is the data accurate, can data accuracy be improved and what rules and processes are required to ensure that data is accurately maintained from establishment through historical reference (data storage). Fund sponsors and portfolio managers must identify and eliminate data errors at their source to have complete confidence in the attribution analysis and performance evaluation process. Simply put data should be Correct, Complete and Current.
4. Behavioral Bias
   Artificial Intelligence (AI) usage and acceptance is growing within the financial services spectrum. At the present, most fund sponsors rely on people to make investment objective, policy and asset allocations decisions. As such, being human, behavioral biases and their implications can affect investment policy and asset allocation choices, risk-adjusted performance evaluation can be used to identify, evaluate, and reduce cognitive errors and emotional biases at the fund sponsor level. The purpose of this service objection is to recognize that cognitive errors and emotional biases are factors that arise when individuals must make difficult decisions specifically under conditions that require considerable time and cognition, and in many cases where courses of action can have undesirable effects. Decisions that are made under the tenant that they are “acceptable” can lead to incorrect choices within the macro attribution process such as fund sponsor’s risk tolerance, fund sponsor’s short and long-term expectations concerning investment risks and returns, fund sponsor’s liabilities, missed investment opportunities or worst substantial investment losses. Identifying, categorizing and explaining these behavioral biases can assist fund sponsors and portfolio managers as cognitive errors tend to be more “correctable” than emotional biases. Emotional intelligence is important and intuition can be an invaluable quality; however, spontaneous driven decisions that are a result of beliefs, attitudes, and feelings can be highly problematic as fund sponsors attempt to identify and distinguish between competing investment strategies and fund managers. Although, cognitive errors are not the result of predetermined attitudes or beliefs they often are the result of inaccurate reasoning, inferior information or advice and education thus most cognitive biases can be mitigated or corrected with education and or training to be able to better recognize and evaluate information and or advice.
5. Attribution Analysis
   What does it all mean? Analyzing fund assets, fund structure, and fund manager style against fund sponsor investment strategy directive, investment policy documents and applicable performance benchmarks, quantitative and qualitative metrics can be used to measure risk adjusted alpha and assist fund sponsors and portfolio managers in the achievement of the funds directive, mitigate acceptability heuristics, conformity and groupthink assessment bias. The purpose of this service objective is to establish or improve risk-adjusted performance analysis and examine strategic fund management alignment with risk. Here we answer questions such as 1) What was the fund’s (account’s) performance, 2) Why did the fund (account) generate the identified performance, and 3) Is the fund (account) performance a result of chance or investment manager skill. Ultimately, the purpose of performance evaluation is to evaluate investment manager skill and to determine whether retention of their services is warranted or otherwise no longer reasonable for the fund sponsor’s investment objective and critique fund sponsor’s performance as well. This service objective is the capstone and observed results are from choices and decisions made during the evaluation period. What you see here are the consequences of those prior choices and decisions but perhaps what is more important is the knowledge gained can be readily utilized to critique, establish and or improve current performance evaluation processes and or procedures that will directly affect future choices and decisions. And with continued training it is highly foreseeable that best practices can be established throughout the organization.

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Testimonials

Sherwin – Williams

“As a result of the outstanding work he did for Sherwin-Williams, I strongly recommend Mr Turner. His focus, dedication, intensity, and hard work were unmatched during the project he undertook for us while he was earning his MBA at The Hult School. His work was thorough and insightful. He was undaunted by the enormity of the assignment, and unintimidated by the executives he interacted with during the project. And thus, I expect Mr Turner to be one of those executives in the near future.”

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Bank of America

“I worked with Mr Turner for a few years at Bank of America. He is very detail oriented and always produced quality work. He understood his product mix and was considered a subject matter expert with his CDO deal responsibilities. He trained a number of other analysts in a best practice approach for the company.”

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LaSalle Bank

“I was consistently impressed by both Mr Turner’s attitude towards his work and his performance on the job. His interpersonal and communication skills allowed him to develop productive working relationships with both our counterparties and our team members. Mr Turner had the listening skills necessary to extract information from our counterparties while performing financial assessments. He also demonstrated the analytical skills to diagnose problems and devise viable solutions. His ability to remain unflustered during frenzied periods proves his ability to work well under pressure.”

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Flagstar Bank

“As a commercial client for the Bank, Mr Turner took great care in providing the Financial services that our company needed to be successful. Mr Turner worked with our CFO to meet all our needs in the area of finance and banking. Mr Turner delivered the needed services on time and at very competitive rates. I recommend him to all who may be looking for a quality banker.”

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Guaranty Bank

“I was working with Mr Turner for all my needs at Real Technologies USA, based out of MI state. He was always nice to me whenever I visited the bank, not to mention completing wire transfers / adjusting credit limits for the Line of Credits, allowing for the general operational features permissible within the norms of the banking regulation. Mr Turner is a people person, and polite towards his customers and clients. On many occasions, I watched him help and take extra time with his customers and clients. Last but not the least, I would always seek him out when I had business at the bank. I wish him all good luck.”

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More detailed achievements, references and testimonials are confidentially available to clients upon request.

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Industries

This service is primarily available to the following industry sectors:

Banking & Financial Services

Banking and Financial Services continues to play a critical role in our economy and nation’s economic future. Banks are intermediaries, that is, they are between savers of capital and individuals and entities that seek capital and their health and soundness is vital as the “Great Recession” reminded us. Today, the United States Banking Industry holds over $15.4 trillion dollars in assets, according to data compiled by SNL Financial. As economic activity continues to expand and financial markets reach new highs this value can only increase. With increase valuation and economic activity comes added risk and uncertainty. Fund sponsors within banking and financial services understand all too well these concerns and the pressures that exist within many financial institutions to meet and or exceed quarterly earnings estimates which is why fair and accurate attribution analysis is extremely important to understanding the risk accepted to achieve the performance result.

Banks and Financial Institutions are in the business of managing risk and fund sponsors should completely understand the risk banks and financial service firms manage on their behalf. Attribution analysis gives fund sponsors the ability to truly understand performance of fund managers and identifies the real contribution of the manager’s investment decisions with regard to overall investment policy, asset allocation, security selection and activity. The U.S. banking and financial service industry will continue to lead the world as they continue to create and develop new services and innovative products to meet the ongoing and critical challenges of their customers and clients.

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Consultancy

Consultants provide professional advice in multiple fields, typically on a specialized basis including IT, HR, M&A, Investments, Management and much more. Prestigious firm such as McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, and The Boston Consulting Group are highly sought after by institutions and candidates. Consultants and Consulting firms are engaged to solve strategic operational, sales, and finance problems and or design and implement strategic initiatives that add long-term value. Their ability to assess, gather, organize, and quantify information and data is highly critical toward long-term project success and perhaps more important organization stability. According to Source Global Research, the U.S. consulting market grew 7.7 percent to reach nearly $55 billion in 2015 and ironically, consulting to the public sector remains the poor relation of the industry – with a disappointing 2.6 per cent growth to $6bn, as public sector investment sunk to the lowest level in over 60 years.

This is a key finding since public sector pension funds provide retirement income for millions of people and still is a critical source of retirement income for thousands of individuals employed in the public sector across our nation today. Given estimates that some public pension funds are underfunded risk and performance related concerns can only add to an otherwise difficult situation. Attribution analysis can provide clear insight that can lead to investment strategy reassessment, reallocation of investment capital and or reassurance.

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Manufacturing

With the Great Recession in the rear-view it is difficult for some to believe that the health of the U.S. Manufacturing Industry is quite strong and possibly stronger than it has ever been. According to Economic Research compiled by the St. Louis Federal Reserve Manufacturing Sector Real Output Quarterly Index (OUTMS) Q4 2016 registered a value of 129.35 which was higher than its pre-Great Recession peak value during Q1 2008 of 129 and 32.6 percent higher from its trough of 97.55 in Q2 2009. This is a strong signal that U.S. manufacturing is indeed leading the economic recovery. With U.S. manufactures investing in new technologies such as 3D printing, Augmented Reality, Robotics and, Internet of Things (IoT) U.S. manufacturing has become highly technical and efficient. The fact is U.S. manufacturing is undergoing a technological revolution and the the incorporating of information technology (IT) U.S. manufactures are now producing more goods with less labor. Economic Research compiled by the St. Louis Federal Reserve All Employees: Manufacturing Index (MANEMP) January 2017 observation was 12,341 which reflects manufacturing labor continued weakness from the index’s peak of 19,553 in 1979; however, is higher than the 11,475-trough reached in December of 2009.

With manufacturing jobs now entering a high technological phase advanced skills will be required and many individuals will be relying on assistance from retired parents and grandparents thereby placing even more emphasis on the performance of pension funds and fund sponsors investment strategies and risk capital allocations. Attribution analysis is the tool that can asset fund sponsors with these efforts.

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Automotive

The automotive industry is as strong as it has ever been as reflected by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting that U.S. motor vehicle production reached 12.1 million annual vehicles in 2015 representing a 1.12% increase from the trough of 5.7 million vehicles produce in 2009. The fact that U.S. automotive manufacturing is the second largest in the world, behind China, is a major reason why manufacturing in the United States has rebounded strongly in the past 7 years and is positioned to be even stronger in the future. However, there are some disruptive trends in the U.S. automotive industry that may make the ride a little bumpy as consumer preferences alter how automotive manufactures design and incorporate consumer demands such as integrated technology platforms, rideshare, urban redevelopment, and regulatory shifts into their products. Still, manufacturing requires labor inputs and that signals employment opportunities both physical and increasingly technical.

According to data compiled by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, as of January 2017, the U.S., automotive industry employed over 4 million people and the fact that many of these individuals participate in defined pension benefit plans, fund sponsors are relying on capital managers to produce adequate returns to meet current and future obligations and accurate attribution analysis importance is critical to identifying satisfactory risk adjusted performance that fund sponsors can rely on to make strategic capital allocation decisions. The future of U.S. automotive manufacturing is bright and current and former industry employees are looking to their fund sponsors to make tough decisions that impact their quality of life during retirement. Objective calculated assessment of fund managers perform is paramount to the achievement of the promises made to these employees and provides fund sponsors with a dynamic internal decision-making tool to critique internal decisions and the decision-making process.

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Chemicals

According to the American Chemistry Council, (“ACC”), “The business of American chemistry is strong, and getting stronger, and the ACC should be optimistic given that the Department of Commerce reported 2016 Q3 seasonally adjusted after-tax profits for selected U.S. chemical manufacturers totaled $138.3 billion on seasonally adjusted sales for the quarter totaling $1,564.4 billion. 2017 industry growth forecasts is 3.6 percent and 4.8 percent in 2018 there is no questioning U.S. chemical manufacturers and “American chemistry” are on the move as described by Kevin Swift chief economist of ACC.

With many of the world’s largest chemical producers are U.S. manufacturers, for example Dow Chemical, LyondellBasell Industries, E.I. Du Point de Nemours, and PPG Industries, that employ approximately 811,000 individuals according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (“BLS”), many of these individuals participate in defined pension benefits plans and fund sponsors are relying on capital managers to produce adequate returns to meet current and future obligations and accurate attribution analysis importance is critical to identifying satisfactory risk adjusted performance that fund sponsors can rely on to make strategic capital allocation decisions that will meet and or exceed the cash outflow requirements of these defined pension benefit plans. Objective calculated assessment of fund managers perform is paramount to the achievement of the promises made to these employees and provides fund sponsors with a dynamic internal decision-making tool to critique internal decisions and the decision-making process.

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Locations

This service is primarily available within the following locations:

Atlanta GA

Atlanta is ranked as the 39th most populous city in the U.S. However, it feels much larger than that. In fact, Atlanta’s Metropolitan Statistical Area is the 10th largest economy in the Unites States and 18th largest economy in the world, generating $339 billion USD of economic activity in 2015 according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (“BEA”) and comparable to the $331 billion USD of economic activity generated by Egypt in 2015 as reported by the World Bank Global Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”) rankings. Furthermore, Atlanta ranks 4th in the number of Fortune 500 companies headquartered within its city limits. Companies such as Coca-Cola, The Home Depot, United Parcel Post (UPS), Delta Airlines, The Southern Company, SunTrust Banks, Inc., First Data Corporation and PulteGroup. Atlanta’s diversity of business industries has permitted it to maintain its status as the “Capital” of the Southeast. With over 110 million travelers passing through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the most traveled airport in the world, Atlanta is become a major center for international trade and with given the significant influence of public and private universities such as Emory University, Georgia Technical Institute, University of Georgia and Georgia State University many see Atlanta as the “Silicon Valley of the South” and the new center for high tech companies. Given the number of fortune 100, 500, and 1000 companies within Atlanta’s Metropolitan Statistical Area attribution analysis improvement and or implementation is critical for fund sponsors specifically private and public pension funds. As Atlanta continues to utilize its dynamic leverage of Fortune 500 companies, standard of living and innovative approach to fostering a welcoming business climate there is every reason to expect that Atlanta’s economy will continue to grow and prosper.

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Baltimore MD

Baltimore is ranked in the top 30 largest cities in the Unites States by population with approximately 621, 000 people living within the city limits. However, the Baltimore Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget, registers approximately 2.7 million people. Baltimore’s Metropolitan Statistical Area generated $181 Billion USD of economic activity in 2015 dollars according the Bureau of Economic Analysis (“BEA”) which is comparable to the $182 billion USD of economic activity generated by the Czech Republic in 2015 as reported by the World Bank Global Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”) rankings. Baltimore is domiciled in Montgomery County, Maryland which has 21 federal government agencies, such as U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to list a few. In addition to the federal and state government offices, John Hopkins Medical Institution, MedStar Health, Giant Food Inc., John Hopkins University, Black and Decker Northrop Grumman Corp., Constellation Energy Group, and Port of Baltimore are some of Baltimore’s major employers. In fact, Baltimore’s proximity to Washington DC, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Philadelphia, and the Port of Baltimore’s location gives Baltimore a unique economic platform that has permitted per capita GDP growth of 1.35% since 2001 according to BLS.gov. As Baltimore continues to reshape its local economy, the diversity of Maryland’s economy from military contracting, agriculture, manufacturing, and natural gas production Baltimore’s Metropolitan Statistical Area economic prowess should continue to improve and many fund sponsors within its Metropolitan Statistical Area can benefit from attribution analysis improvement and or implementation specifically private and public pension funds.

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Boston MA

Boston is one of the major banking and financial services metropolitan areas in the world. Finance and Insurance Industry Finance and insurance is one of the larger industries in Boston, making up 11.8% of total employment in 2010. This ranks finance and insurance 3rd amongst the 20 major industrial sectors identified by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The finance industry includes business activities such as banking, credit intermediation, securities, and other financial investments. Employment Today, Boston’s finance and insurance industry employs more than 78,000 people. Overall, the industry has experienced a fluctuation of job gains and job losses over the last decade. There are approximately 3,000 Financial Managers employed in Boston, accordingly to Boston Redevelopment Authority. Banks, insurance companies, money managers, and brokerage firms account for $36 billion, or 9 percent, of the state’s total economic output, according to the study by Mass Insight, a Boston research firm and PricewaterhouseCoopers, a global consulting firm. Boston Globe.com 2013. In addition to Forbes.com, Boston’s Metropolitan Statistical Area generated $397 billion USD of economic activity which ranked 9th in the U.S. according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (“BEA”) and is comparable to Thailand which generated $395 billion USD of economic activity in 2015 according to the World Bank Global Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”) rankings. In fact, Boston is undergoing an urban revitalization and given the number of major universities such as Babson, Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, Hult IBS, MIT, Northeastern, University of Massachusetts and Suffolk to list a few there is no reason to believe that Boston’s economic power and prowess will not be sustainable into the foreseeable future. Boston and its Metropolitan Statistical Area are major banking and financial centers and fund sponsors in the area can benefit from attribution analysis improvement and or implementation specifically private and public pension funds.

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Chicago IL

Chicago is one of the major banking and financial services metropolitan areas in the world and one of the 12 largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. in November 2016. Chicagoland generated $641 billion USD of economic activity in 2015 which ranked Chicagoland 3rd on the list of 20 U.S metropolitan according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (“BEA”) and comparable to Saudi Arabia which generated $646 billion USD of economic activity in 2015 according to the World Bank Global Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”) rankings. Professional and Business Services account for 16.2% of the State of Illinois total employment and is a growing sector in Chicago adding 23,200 jobs from November 2015 to November 2016. Financial activities are still one of the three “supersectors” in Chicago despite losing 6,500 jobs in 2016, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). WBC, states that Chicago has one of the world’s largest and most diversified economies, with more than four million employees and generating an annual gross regional product (GRP) of over $561 billion. The city is an efficient economic powerhouse, home to more than 400 major corporate headquarters, including 9 in the Fortune 500 according to Fortune.com and 36 Fortune 500 companies make their headquarters in the Chicago Metropolitan Area according to World Business Chicago. Among the most diverse economies in the nation, Chicago is a key player in every sector from risk management innovation to manufacturing to information technology to health services and has a long history of being a global financial center. Universities such as the University of Chicago, Northwestern, University of Illinois, DePaul, Loyola, and Illinois Institute of Technology are major reasons why Chicago and its Metropolitan Statistical Area are major banking and financial centers and fund sponsors in the area can benefit from attribution analysis improvement and or implementation specifically private and public pension funds.

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Detroit MI

Detroit is the largest city in the state of Michigan and one of the largest metropolitan areas in the Midwest. Detroit has one of the largest concentration of UAW retires and pension fund sponsors. Wayne County registered 6,140 finance and insurance jobs losses during the period of 2007 to 2009. Metropolitan Detroit is home to some of the largest corporations in the world including 11 Fortune 500 companies, General Motors (8), Ford (9), Penske Automotive Group (143), Lear Corporation (154), DTE (274), Ally Financial (298), Autoliv (310), BorgWarner (339), Masco (345), Kelly Services (467), and Visteon (470) that generate approximately $400 billion in revenue. Furthermore, “While the Detroit Region remains the center of the automotive world, several of its fastest growing industries are in sectors as diverse as healthcare, defense, aerospace, information technology and logistics,” according to the Detroit Chamber of Commerce. For many reasons, Detroit is currently undergoing an urban revitalization. Universities such as Eastern Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan, Oakland, Wayne State and the University of Detroit Mercy to list a few serve a diverse professional and student body that are contributing toward Detroit’s continued economic sustainability and a major reason why Detroit’s Metropolitan Area ranks 14th generating $246 billion USD of economic activity as measured by GDP in 2015 according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (“BEA”) and is comparable to Chile which generated $240 billion USD of economic activity in 2015 according to the World Bank Global Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”) rankings. Detroit and its Metropolitan Statistical Area are major banking and financial centers and given the number of defined benefit plan participants fund sponsors in the area can benefit from attribution analysis improvement and or implementation specifically private and public pension funds.

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Clients

This service’s current clients or employers include:

Sherwin – Williams

The Sherwin-Williams Company was founded by Henry Sherwin and Edward Williams in 1866. Today, we are a global leader in the manufacture, development, distribution and sale of paint, coatings and related products to professional, industrial, commercial and retail customers. The Company manufactures products under well-known brands such as Sherwin-Williams®, Dutch Boy®, Krylon®, Minwax®, Thompson’s® Water Seal® and many more. With global headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, Sherwin-Williams® branded products are sold exclusively through more than 4,500 company operated stores and facilities, while the Company’s other brands are sold through leading mass merchandisers, home centers, independent paint dealers, hardware stores, automotive retailers and industrial distributors. The Company is comprised of four reportable segments, which together provide our customers innovative solutions to ensure their success, no matter where they work, or what surfaces they are coating. Paint Stores Group operates the exclusive outlets for Sherwin-Williams® branded paints, stains, supplies, equipment and floor covering in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean. Latin America Coatings Group manufactures and sells a wide range of architectural paints, industrial coatings and related products throughout Latin America. Consumer Group sells one of the industry’s strongest portfolios of branded and private-label products through retailers across North America and in parts of Europe, and also operates a highly efficient and productive global supply chain for paint, coatings and related products. Global Finishes Group manufactures and sells a wide range of OEM product finishes, protective and marine coatings, and automotive finishes to a growing customer base in nearly 100 countries.

Sherwin – Williams – Click Here

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