‘Performance Measurement Found Me’

Michael Beck, an independent consultant, comments on the changes he has seen in a profession that still challenges him to help shape client risk and investment decisions.

(Consultant Michael Beck, CIPM, CAIA, CFP, says that he was drawn to the profession of performance measurement because it challenged him to help shape client risk and investment decisions. Over the years, Beck has seen major changes such as the ongoing demand among clients and investment professionals to retrieve clean, validated data “in a much quicker fashion.” Using the right IT stack and data management support, performance measurement teams are able to facilitate data relayed close to real time and seamlessly. “This is a giant change from the start of my career, when it would only be monthly or quarterly performance provided to clients after a full month after the close date,” he adds.)

Professional Background/Expertise

Q: You’ve spent over 20 years in performance measurement and client reporting. What drew you to this space, and how has your perspective on it evolved over time?

A: As most folks in this space, performance measurement found me more than I was seeking out a role in this space.

These roles seemed very analytical and had the ability to help shape client risk and investment decisions, so that is what interested me in that role. I had a front-office role at a regional bank in Honolulu and was able to transition to a performance role when I decided to move back to the East coast.

The main change for me has been the ability to provide clients and investment professionals with clean validated data in a much quicker fashion. With a proper technology stack and data management, performance measurement can happen in almost real time and provided to clients seamlessly. This is a giant change from the start of my career, when it would only be monthly or quarterly performance provided to clients after a full month after the close date.

Q: In your performance and reporting work, is there something you've implemented that you think more firms should adopt?

A: One aspect that we were able to implement is an overall firm data warehouse. This helps to normalize the data from the accounting and custody systems and provides consistent data elements to the performance and risk platforms.

That upstream process allows the performance returns and investment risk data to be validated specifically for investment returns as the firm is consistently validating the upstream data for issues. This process has allowed for a reduced performance return turnaround time for client reporting and delivery to the investment professionals.

Q: What is your dream project?

A: My dream project would be where a team could implement a full-scale data transformation where the data would be normalized and consistent across all investment performance/compliance/front office information systems and A.I. would be able to identify any issues or exceptions where human touches would be needed to review or update information.

The end result would be daily data that is consistent, validated, and actionable across all platforms and employees within the investment firm.

Session Insights

Q: What inspired you to participate in PMCR 2026 and take part in the “Private Markets Performance: Implementation & Lifecycle Management” session?

A: I was inspired to participate in PMCR 2026 because the private markets ecosystem is at an inflection point. Investors are demanding greater transparency, more consistent performance measurement, and operational frameworks that can scale with increasingly complex portfolios. The conference brings together the people who are actually shaping that evolution, and I wanted to contribute to that dialogue rather than just observe it.

Q: What do you think makes "Private Markets Performance: Implementation & Lifecycle Management" especially relevant for today’s investment operations landscape?

A: With the regulatory changes that occurred last August, long term defined contribution investors are now able to add private investments to their investment plans. This option allows younger, more risk-taking clients the ability to participate in private markets in their retirement plans.

This change will open up the private investment market to many new investors and investment firms who had previously not considered these types of investments. There has been a 2026 project plan for many firms to onboard the systems and data elements needed to manage and administer these types of assets, so it’s important to discuss this information in today’s market environment.

Industry Challenges & Trends

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? Any major shifts you are preparing for?

A: I think that A.I. will be implemented in more tasks but will still be used as a tool that employees can use to help make their jobs and tasks more effective. A.I. and personalization will allow reporting platforms to be much more customizable to each client as to what they value and need be made aware of.

This change alone will help shape the overall client experience and allow for more value-added roles and tasks in reporting and client-facing positions. This is because many in those roles today are dealing with customization that the current platforms cannot handle.

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

A: Multimodal A.I. has been able to move artificial intelligence to another level with the ability to interpret a complex investment risk chart and turn it into a simplified word-based summary based on that chart.

Multimodal A.I. is a type of artificial intelligence that can process and integrate multiple types of data, such as text, images, audio, and video, simultaneously. This capability allows it to perform complex tasks and generate more comprehensive responses compared to traditional A.I., which typically handles only one type of data at a time.

However, there are still limitations to this technology in that very few firms have been able to effectively implement this into their workplaces. There was an interesting research report released in late 2025 from MIT around the issues with the $40 billion in AI investment but only 5 percent of firms are obtaining positive P&L returns on their investment.

Most of the positive A.I. improvements have been when firms partner with external expert A.I. firms and have the ability to focus in on a specific area or task that will utilize A.I. The generative design and simulation tools have been disappointing for back-testing models and risk simulations. They either seem to be ignoring liquidity constraints, failing to consider black swan or fat tail events, and the training data might have biased data which will affect the back-testing model returns.

The PMCR Experience

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

A: I am excited about learning about new and innovative technology that will help reshape the financial industry in years to come. Having attended this conference for many years, I have always felt that I learned a great deal from the presenters, moderators and attendees during the conference that I can implement into my daily work life.

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

A: That the session attendees learn how the Private Market world is changing and how firms are adapting to those changes. The pace of change continuous to accelerate and new and innovative ideas and technology will help firms adapt to an ever-changing Private Investment marketplace.

Getting to Know You

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

A: Having professional athletes in the family has allowed me to travel and see them across the U.S. in arenas from Madison Square Garden to the Honda Center in California.

Obtaining the CFP [certified financial planner] designation has helped me to gain their confidence in my investment and financial planning knowledge since most professional athletes encounter investment and money management issues once they retire from their respective sport.

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

A: The best piece of advice that I have received was from a mentor who had a long career at BMW in both the U.S. and Germany. He always explained to me to look at the long-term aspects of the job that you are currently in and not the day-to-day activity. He also taught me to evaluate your current job every five years and determine if you want to stay in that job or with the company for the next five years.

If there is any doubt about the long-term career prospects or stability or growth of the firm over the next five years, you should reach out to your network to see what other opportunities are out in the marketplace.