Ultraperformance (translation of ultrarendimento) is an advanced concept of performance that goes beyond mere financial profit to include a series of positive, non-monetary but measurable effects generated by investment in the real economy. It normally goes hand-in-hand with a conception of a company in which people are central and all stakeholders - shareholders, employees, clients, suppliers and the local community - are involved. It promotes seeing monetary returns in the light of sustainable economic, social and environmental principles, where company success is viewed in a medium/long-term perspective.

Origins

Combining the prefix "ultra" (from the Latin, "go beyond", "beyond there", "further") and the noun "performance" ("the relationship between what is obtained and what is used") refers, in a single word, to the non-monetary benefits that positively influence the entire community linked to the business, touching on the rights of individuals and social impact, the development of responsibility and individual and collective expertise, environmental respect and protection through placing importance on and promoting the local community.

The term was coined by Filippo La Scala, founder and CEO of Garnell SGR, as part of the launch of the first alternative investment fund (AIF) for the agri-food sector. The idea was to refer to the totality of benefits produced by private equity fund investments that focus on having an impact on the real economy.

The classic investor paradigm was of allocating resources effectively because of a financial asset's favourable risk-yield ratio - this is the traditional binomial at the basis of financial market investment strategies. For such an investor, the search for ultraperformance and/or the hope of generating such is the third dimension, that additional discerning factor used in assessing the suitability of one's portfolio building choices. It is an aspect that can lead to a significant paradigm shift in investment approach.

The global instability of the financial system and exceptional market volatility clearly show the growing gap between the real economy and illusory financial models. The long history of crises that have afflicted the world economy since the first decade of this century suggests it is essential to RESOLVE the dilemma between effective risk management and the generation of adequate yields, while also returning finance - to use of the words of Nobel Laureate Robert J. Shiller in his “Finance and good society” - to its original role of "the science of goal architecture".

A new set of metrics

Various studies have shown how companies that seek to include sustainability in their management approach and to adopt good governance practices in which all company stakeholders are involved are stronger and achieve better, more lasting and more stable results than those companies that merely focus on short-term profit.

To measure the effect of ultraperformance, Garnell and the Ca' Foscari University of Venice Foundation - the first Italian business school, founded in 1868, and a pioneer in economic sustainability research - worked together, as part of the Metrics project, to identify a set of specific indicators that could transparently and synthetically measure, in a way that is easy to understand, the impact on the environment, society and "good governance" of Garnell's investments.

See also

  • Alternative investment
  • Ca' Foscari University of Venice
  • Corporate social responsibility
  • Economic indicator
  • Finance
  • Private equity
  • Robert J. Shiller

Translation of :it:Ultrarendimento from it.wikipedia.org