Have you ever looked at an investment report and wondered if your portfolio's performance was the result of genuine skill or simple market timing? This book is written for everyday investors, financial advisors, and inquisitive readers who want to look past the bottom line to understand the mechanics of wealth creation. Without relying on dense academic theory or complex calculus, this guide transforms the black box of investment returns into a transparent, understandable narrative, giving you the confidence to interpret financial results with precision and clarity.
You will master the essential toolkit used by professionals to evaluate growth, beginning with the critical distinction between manager-focused time-weighted returns and investor-focused money-weighted returns. As you progress, you will learn how to select appropriate benchmarks, decompose returns into specific decisions-such as asset allocation versus security selection-and determine if your gains justify the risks taken. By exploring concepts like volatility, attribution analysis, and factor drivers, you will develop the ability to separate market noise from actionable insight.
Unlike technical manuals laden with impenetrable formulas, this text prioritizes conceptual intuition and practical application over raw mathematics. Whether you are auditing a wealth manager's performance, assessing a fund, or simply trying to track your own retirement progress, this self-contained guide provides the framework you need. By the final chapter, you will possess a professional-grade workflow for reading reports, spotting