Benchmarks: Do we really need them?

I was recently asked by New Model Adviser to contribute to a piece on benchmarks.

They particularly wanted to know my opinion on three issues:

Do advice firms need a specific index to benchmark investment performance for their clients?

Is it sufficient just to ensure that the client is on track to achieve their financial goals? and

Is it OK for firms have a benchmark that they use internally but don’t really use with the client?

I’ve just written a post for our sister site, The Evidence-Based Investor, on this subject:

Darling, benchmarks are sooooo last year

And here’s the article in New Model Adviser:

Sound advice: To benchmark or not to benchmark?