Benchmark selection rule

This one is not written up yet

The definition above is the short version. A full explanation — how it works, a worked example and the exam traps — is still being written. In the meantime the chapter below covers it in context.

Written up from the same chapter

• BenchmarkThe independently published index a scheme's performance is measured against, chosen to match its investment objective, asset allocation and strategy, and disclosed in the Scheme Information Document.
• BetaHow sharply a share moves relative to the market index — beta 1 moves with the index, above 1 amplifies it, below 1 dampens it. The standard measure of systematic risk.
• CAGRThe single smoothed annual rate at which a starting value would have to grow, compounding each year, to reach the ending value over a given period.
• Sharpe ratioReturn earned above the risk-free rate divided by standard deviation — how much reward an investment produced for each unit of total risk its holder had to live with.
• Standard deviationA measure of how far returns typically stray from their own average — the standard statistic for total risk, counting company-specific and market-wide causes alike.
• Systematic riskThe part of an investment's risk that comes from economy-wide forces moving every asset at once — it cannot be diversified away, and it is the only risk the market pays you to carry.