Overview
Response Charting and Benchmarking with AUM and Track Record is a Power BI reporting view that turns the responses submitted through your DDQs into interactive charts you can adjust on the fly, so you can see how a manager or fund has changed over time. The dashboard can chart and benchmark many types of response, with AUM and Track Record being two of the most valuable to follow over time.
These give you two distinct, separate lenses on any manager or fund:
- AUM (Assets Under Management) tells the fund size story, showing how assets have grown or contracted over time.
- Track Record tells the performance story, showing investment returns over time.
Each lens is analyzed on its own, with flexible chart types, display values, and aggregations that adapt to the question you are asking. AUM and Track Record answer two different questions: how much capital a manager has earned the right to manage, and how well they have managed it. Keeping them separate lets you establish scale first, then validate it with performance.
Why use it
- Replace static pitch-deck figures with the manager's own reported history across the full reporting window.
- Spot consistent growers, volatile performers, redemption pressure, and concentration risk during screening and due diligence.
- Adjust the chart type, display value, and aggregation to answer a specific client or committee question without exporting data elsewhere.
Where to find this Report?
From the left navigation panel, go to Analyze then Power BI Reports. On the Select a Dashboard dropdown, choose Response Charting and Benchmarking with AUM and Track Record.
Building a chart
Start by choosing a question from the Questions dropdown, such as AUM or Track Record for a fund. Set the reporting window with the As of Date range and the Change Date Range control, and use the AUM Date or Track Record Date range to control the historical window shown on the chart. The Filters button refines the dataset and Reset clears your selections.
Choosing a view
The view toggle on the right depends on the lens. For AUM, switch between Aggregated and Compare Entities. For Track Record, switch between Single Entity and Compare Entities. Start on the summary side, Aggregated or Single Entity, for the big picture, then move to Compare Entities to break the result out and compare entities directly.
AUM in the Aggregated view, with period-over-period change labels
Entity views
In Compare Entities, a toggle in the top right of the chart switches between four chart types. Pick the one that answers the question in front of you.
- Trend plots each entity as its own line over time. It shows trajectory, momentum, and volatility, and highlights divergence when lines separate. Best for spotting patterns, cycles, and whether entities move together or apart.
Trend, comparing entities as lines
- Side by Side shows grouped bars per period for a direct comparison of absolute values. Best for period-specific comparisons, such as which entity was largest at year-end.
Side by Side, grouped bars per period
- Stacked shows a single bar per period whose height is the combined total, segmented by each entity's contribution. Best for tracking a combined total while seeing which entities drive it.
Stacked, a combined total segmented by entity
- % Contribution normalizes every bar to 100% to reveal each entity's relative share over time. Best for monitoring concentration. It is available with the Actual Value display value only.
% Contribution, every period normalized to 100%
Display values
The Display Value dropdown controls how each value is presented.
- Actual Value is the default and the anchor for every other mode. It shows the raw reported value with no transformation: a dollar balance for AUM, a return percentage for Track Record. Always start here to confirm the real magnitude before switching modes.
- Percentage Change shows the period-over-period movement rather than the value itself. Use it to spot acceleration, sudden inflows or outflows, or sharp reversals. Large percentage swings can come from a small base, so validate anything you find back in Actual Value.
- Cumulative shows the compounded return from inception rather than a single period. It applies to Track Record only, where it appears as the orange line on the right axis, answering what a dollar invested at inception would be worth today.
Aggregation types
When a chart combines multiple reported values, the Aggregation Type dropdown controls how they are brought together.
- Total adds all reported values together. It applies to AUM only, where dollar balances sum to a firm-wide figure.
- Average (Mean) is the unweighted arithmetic mean, where each entity counts equally regardless of size.
- Median is the middle value when ranked, and is more robust than the average when one entity is an outlier.
- Min shows the lowest reported value across entities in each period.
- Max shows the highest reported value across entities in each period.
The Aggregation Type options: Total, Average, Median, Min, Max
Filters
Use the filters at the top of the dashboard to frame the question before reading the chart.
- Currency sets the reference currency for the values shown. Keep it consistent across entities when comparing AUM.
- Gross/Net applies to Track Record. Choose Net for allocator conversations, since that is what investors actually receive, and Gross to view performance before fee impact.
- Entity Name selects which entity to show in the Single Entity Track Record view.
- As of Date controls which DDQ submissions are included, with the Change Date Range control to adjust it.
- AUM Date and Track Record Date set the historical window of the underlying values shown on the chart.
For finer control, the Filters button opens a panel that narrows the chart data itself. You can restrict it to a single entity, or filter by entity type, template, category, sub-category, tags, responder firm, or a custom field of the underlying responses. Reset clears any selections you make.
The Filters panel: narrow the chart to specific entities, templates, tags, and more
Reading Track Record
For a Track Record question in the Single Entity view, the chart shows period returns as green and red bars on the left axis and the orange cumulative line on the right axis. Use the Entity Name filter to choose the entity. The two axes are independent: the left axis is the period return and the right axis is the compounded cumulative return, so they should not be compared directly against each other.
The Single Entity Track Record view, with period-return bars and the orange cumulative line
Analytical guardrails
The dashboard only offers the options that are mathematically sound for the data you are viewing, so a chart cannot suggest a conclusion the underlying data does not support.
- Cumulative is offered for Track Record, where returns compound, but not for AUM, which is a point-in-time balance rather than a flow.
- Total applies to AUM, where dollar balances add up, but not to Track Record, where return percentages cannot be summed into a meaningful figure.
- % Contribution requires the Actual Value display value, since relative share is only meaningful against raw reported values.
Saving and Exporting
Save your setup by using “Save View” if you frequently view a certain chart adding filters so that you do not need to configure it again later. Use the Saved views at the top of the dashboard (for example, DV's default view) to switch between saved configurations.
Click on the export button to download the data in PDF, PPTX or PNG format.
A practical workflow
A reliable way to read a manager is to establish scale first, then validate it with performance.
- Open an AUM question in the Aggregated view with Actual Value to confirm the manager's size and overall growth trajectory.
- Switch to Percentage Change to surface sudden inflows, outflows, or reversals worth questioning.
- Move to Compare Entities and use Stacked or % Contribution to see which entities drive the total and whether concentration is building.
- Open a Track Record question in the Single Entity view and read the orange cumulative line to assess whether performance justifies the capital the manager has gathered.
Example use case
An allocator screening a multi-strategy manager opens an AUM question in the Aggregated view with Actual Value. The firm-wide trend shows steady growth, so they switch to Percentage Change and notice an unusually large jump in one period. Moving to Compare Entities and the % Contribution view, they see a single strategy has grown from roughly half of firm AUM to three quarters of it, signalling rising concentration. They then open a Track Record question for that strategy in the Single Entity view and read the orange cumulative line to judge whether sustained performance supports the inflows, turning a data point into a specific due diligence question for the manager.
Tips and Things to Know
- Actual Value is the anchor. Confirm magnitude there before trusting a Percentage Change reading, because a swing from a small base can look dramatic.
- In the Single Entity Track Record view, the left axis (period return) and the right axis (cumulative return) are independent and should not be compared directly against each other.
- For Side by Side comparisons, a tighter date window keeps the bars readable. A window of around two to three years works well for AUM, and twelve to eighteen months for Track Record.
- In the Trend view, a much larger entity can visually dwarf smaller ones. Hover for exact values when one line dominates.
- Cumulative applies to Track Record and Total to AUM, and % Contribution needs Actual Value.