Official definition · 官方定义
“A benchmark is a measure used by individual and institutional investors to analyze the risk and return of a portfolio to understand how it is performing vis-a-vis other market segments.”[1]
— Corporate Finance Institute, CFI Resource Library · corporatefinanceinstitute.com ↗ · accessed 2026-10-25
A benchmark is the reference an investor measures performance against. For a fund it is usually an index; for a bond it is often a government yield. Beating the benchmark is the whole job of active management.
基准是衡量投资表现所对照的参照物。对基金来说通常是某个指数，对债券来说常常是国债收益率。跑赢基准，正是主动管理的全部工作。
Benchmarks decide careers and fee negotiations. A fund that returns 12% in a year when its benchmark returns 18% has destroyed value, even though it made money. The choice of benchmark also flatters or damns: comparing an emerging-market fund with the S&P 500 makes almost any manager look bad in a US bull market.
基准决定业绩评价与费率谈判。基准涨 18% 而基金涨 12%，即便赚了钱，也是毁灭价值。
基准的选择还能美化或丑化业绩：拿新兴市场基金和标普 500 比，在美国牛市里几乎任何经理都显得很差。
| Move变动 | Where it appeared出现位置 | What it means这句话在说什么 |
|---|---|---|
| — | OPEC+ can still set quotas, but it can no longer count 基准价 · 第 5 张术语卡 | Brent for December settled at $117.64, the highest close since April. 基准价是「一篮子预期」的报价，不是某一桶油的成交价。所以它能同时装下战争风险、库存水平和利率预期，也所以它经常显得和现货基本面脱节。 |
| — | Foreign capital flows into US stocks hit record $942bn 基准价 · 第 4 张术语卡 | The article calls the S&P 500 'Wall Street's benchmark' and uses its roughly 20 per cent gain to explain why foreigners kept buying. 同类概念：MSCI World、纳斯达克 100、沪深 300。看「外资买美股」时，标普 500 是回报参照物；若它一年涨 20%，而某国本地指数只涨 5%，资金自然更愿意跨出去。 |
| — | Oil Prices Fall as U.S.-Iran Diplomacy, Regional Tensions Remain in Focus 基准价 · 第 1 张术语卡 | This whole story is two benchmarks drifting apart: Brent settled at $104.32, WTI at $92.41 — a $12.68 gap. 判断方法：看到「油价」先问三件事——是哪个基准？在哪里交割（水运还是内陆库欣）？读到的是绝对价还是价差？本篇真正的主角不是油价本身，而是布伦特减 WTI 的 12.68 美元/桶价差（5 月以来最大）。两者通常只差几美元；2020 年 4 月 WTI 因库欣库容爆满一度跌成负值，而布伦特还在 20 美元上方——同样是「两个价格」的极端案例。 |
Positive return means good performance
Only relative to the benchmark and the risk taken.
Any index works as a benchmark
It has to match the mandate's market, currency and risk.
Beating it once proves skill
One year is noise. Look at the gap after fees over a cycle.
· outperform the benchmark
· tracking error
· benchmark index
· beat the market
· relative return
outperform the benchmark 跑赢基准；tracking error 跟踪误差；benchmark index 基准指数；beat the market 战胜市场；relative return 相对回报。
· benchmark vs index (index is the usual instrument)
· alpha vs beta
benchmark 是参照物，index 通常是承载它的工具；alpha 是超额收益，beta 是市场本身给的收益。
The fund returned X%, against Y% for its benchmark, a gap of Z points.
业绩句：基金回报 X%，基准 Y%，相差 Z 个百分点——against 后面跟的才是参照系。
“Brent for December settled at $117.64, the highest close since April.”
“The article calls the S&P 500 'Wall Street's benchmark' and uses its roughly 20 per cent gain to explain why…”
“This whole story is two benchmarks drifting apart: Brent settled at $104.32, WTI at $92.41 — a $12.68 gap.”