‘Performance Groups Need to Add Value’

Daniel Carey at Insight Investments says that performance teams must strive to provide deeper levels of information to help portfolio managers.

(Daniel Carey, head of performance, North America, Insight Investment, says that he is looking forward to the PMCR 2026 conference and to his involvement in the session on “Making Cutting-Edge Attribution Actionable for Portfolio Managers & Client Teams.” He’s been a panelist and moderator before, but this time around, he says that the panel will make clear the many benefits that attribution brings to the investment process, especially as it helps portfolio managers better understand their over- and under-performance results.)

Professional Background & Expertise

Q: Can you tell us a bit about your role and what your day-to-day looks like at Insight Investment?

A: I am the head of performance in the U.S., managing a team of seven people responsible for reporting performance and attribution. On a day-to-day basis, my team produces reports used by the organization, mostly portfolio managers, client reporting and marketing professionals. We also respond to ad-hoc queries from the organization.

Q: What’s a recent project or initiative your team has worked on that has made the biggest impact for your organization?

A: We are in the process of changing attribution providers to get better attribution for less cost.

Q: What is your dream project?

A: My dream project would be overseeing a global project that would deliver streamlined systems and processes to enable scaling of the business.

Session Insights

Q: What inspired you to participate in PMCR 2026 and join the session on “Making Cutting-Edge Attribution Actionable for Portfolio Managers & Client Teams?”

A: I have been a panelist and moderator for the past two years and have enjoyed the experience. I felt this session was good for me to participate as a panelist because I truly believe attribution benefits the investment process by helping the portfolio managers understand their over/under performance at a detailed level.

Q: What do you think makes "Making Cutting-Edge Attribution Actionable for Portfolio Managers & Client Teams" especially relevant for today’s investment operations landscape?

A: Beyond just suppling rates of returns, performance groups need to help the portfolio managers add value. They can do this by supplying reports and data from an attribution system that helps break down the results from the portfolio manager’s decisions.

Industry Challenges & Trends

Q: What’s one of the biggest challenges your team or clients are facing right now? Can you fill us in on how you are approaching it?

A:  The volume of data is overwhelming. We use Tableau to organize and present the key data we need to analyze.

Q: How do you foresee technology (A.I., blockchains, digital assets, automation, data analytics, etc.) reshaping your area of expertise over the next year or two? Are there any major shifts you are preparing for?

A: Harness A.I. to help find issues with outliers with holdings and transactions, pricing or duplicates, to help resolve issues with performance and attribution results. I don’t see any major shifts but I do see practical applications of A.I. and automation that can make people’s work lives easier.

Q: Which technology has impressed you? Which technology has disappointed you?

A: Data visualization platforms such as Tableau have impressed me and we use it to create daily attribution dashboards. Some attribution providers’ user interfaces are slow and makes retrieving data exasperating.

The PMCR Experience

Q: What are you most excited about learning at PMCR?

A: Hearing about any practical A.I. processes that can help in the performance and attribution space to make the performance team’s experience better with large amounts of data.

Q: What do you hope attendees walk away with after hearing your session?

A: I hope attendees learn a bit about the intricacies and challenges of fixed income attribution and its overall value to the investment process.

Getting to Know You

Q: What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about you?

A: I lived in Asia earlier in my career and can speak some Mandarin, though very rusty now.

Q: What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve ever received (or would share)?

A: Expand your professional network whenever you can. Conferences are great ways to expand. Also, under-promise and over-deliver whenever possible.