What is included in the number you are looking at?
The Performance Chart report is a quick, easy-to-understand, graphical representation of cumulative investment returns in your client's account or household. This graphical return is expressed in percentage terms. If you are interested in seeing cumulative returns represented in dollar terms, check out the Cumulative Net Investment report.
The returns that are displayed here correspond to the returns displayed in a table format in the Performance Summary report and the Consolidated Summary report. Like all return calculations in Atlas, the methodology closely aligns with GIPS guidelines. If your firm uses benchmarks, you will see those displayed in this graph as well.
In a PDF version of this report, all assigned benchmarks will be included, and the chart will be displayed from inception to current report date. On the web version of this report you can toggle your view between report period and since inception. Additionally, if you change the time period for your report, it will reset the report period to the start of the new period. You can also toggle benchmarks on or off by clicking their name in the graph's key:
Why have we chosen to include and/or calculate the number the way we do?
We created the Performance Chart to be a clear and easy to understand visualization of data that would otherwise have to be interpreted in tables alone. Many of the reasons for including the numbers in the Consolidated Summary and the Performance Summary pertain to this report as well.
Remember: the returns you in this chart use identical calculation methodologies described elsewhere, as do all performance returns in Atlas.
How can this report be used in a client review to help boost your clients' confidence, increase transparency, and answer questions?
The Performance Chart is one of the most commonly used reports in Atlas, regardless of whether or not a firm uses benchmarks or is "performance focused." Consider the following when deciding how best to use the report with your own client reviews:
The performance chart, like the Performance and the Consolidated Summaries, help increase transparency and accountability in the advisor-client relationship
In a bull market, the visualization of historical returns, often with periods of low or negative returns, can be a simple visual reminder to clients that the market isn't always up and they should expect varied returns in the future
In a bear market, the historical trend of a clients account(s) can be a good reminder that periods of low or negative returns are not unusual and to stay grounded in a long term view
If you are using benchmarks (regardless if your firm seeks to beat a benchmark), you can quickly help contextualize returns against a variety of asset classes in the broader market (e.g. a pure stock and a pure bond benchmark showing a broad range of returns that vary widely between each other).
If your firm seeks to beat a benchmark, the visualization of comparative performance, particularly on a cumulative basis, is a way to demonstrate your value and provide accountability over the entire history of your client relationship