AssetBuilder Inc. Registered Investment Advisor - Simple Investing. Smart Future.

Every advisor and investment company--like Fidelity--seems to configure their statements in a different set up--sometimes my advisor sends out info one way for the monthly statement and differently for the quarterlies... some of the info I would like to see is usually not there and I try to look it up on my own from info on-line but it is not always convenient or that easy to find (at least for me). But I admit that what I would like to see/know other people might not consider that significant or helpful.  I would like to know how my particular investments rank within their sectors (like Large Blend or Emerging Markets), how profitable that sector was for the quarter/the year/past 3 years, and how it compares to other sectors and the Dow in general.  Is that info not generally considered necessary?

Would Scott or anyone else care to give a list or criteria for what info should be included when you get a periodic analysis/valuation from your financial analyst/company that really give more than just the minimal up/down gross amounts, the fees, and deposits or withdrawals.

Thanks in advance...

Minimal information would be the percentage gain/loss for the month and YTD for your account with a seperate box containing comparable measures for indexes that are likely to be a proxy for your account plus an indication of the yield on any cash in the account.

I've always liked the Morningstar percentile performance scale for mutual funds. It gives you an indication of relative performance. It's what I use in my columns because it is widely available information.

The problem with providing information is that there is little agreement on what is essential and useful among providers and there are great differences in the sophistication of the recipients. Some people are hungry for benchmarking information. Many others could care less. Their only concern is whether they have more, or less money at the end of a time period.

Scott