Investment restriction
Benchmark-relative limits (active weight)
A benchmark-relative limit bounds the active weight of each group: the portfolio's weight minus the benchmark's weight. A policy might allow ‘no active weight beyond plus or minus 5% of the benchmark’ for each asset class or country. Acclimetry subtracts the benchmark weights supplied with the rule from the portfolio's weights and tests each listed group against its band.
benchmark_relativeBenchmark-relative limit
How policies word it
Benchmark-relative clauses let a manager deviate from a reference portfolio within set limits. The reference may be a market index or the owner's own policy benchmark, such as 60% equities and 40% bonds.
- By asset class: equities within plus or minus 5 percentage points of the policy benchmark.
- By country or region: no country more than 3 points over or under its index weight.
- By issuer: no issuer more than 2 points above its index weight.
Sector is not one of the grouping attributes. A sector-relative clause can be tested only where sectors are held in one of the listed attributes.
- No asset class may deviate by more than 5 percentage points from its policy benchmark weight.
- Country weights must stay within plus or minus 3% of the index weight.
- Active weight in any single issuer may not exceed +2% of the benchmark.
- The equity allocation may range from 5 points below to 10 points above its 50% benchmark weight.
How it is measured
Active weight is the portfolio's weight in a group minus the benchmark's weight, both in percent of NAV. The result is in percentage points: 55% against a 50% benchmark weight is +5.
The rule version holds the benchmark's name, its as-of date and a weight per group, each with its own active bounds. Only listed groups are measured; a listed group the portfolio does not hold reads as a full underweight.
Each group returns its own result, with the active weight, headroom and the holdings that contribute most.
When it is breached and what follows
An active weight above the hard maximum or below the hard minimum is a breach, so overweights and underweights both count. Market moves create passive breaches: the portfolio drifts while the supplied weights stay as recorded.
Breaches join a case with assignment, escalation and service-level clocks. When the index weights move, a new rule version records the new weights, with maker-checker approval.
Proposed rebalancing trades can be checked against the same bands in Trade Impact before execution.
Data the check reads
- Benchmark weights per group, with the benchmark's name and as-of date, supplied in the rule version
- The grouping attribute of every holding, such as class, country or issuer
- Active hard and warning bounds per group, in percentage points
- Market values for every holding
Rule parameters
Active weight (portfolio minus benchmark) per group must stay inside the approved band, using supplied benchmark weights.
| Parameter | In the platform | Options and help |
|---|---|---|
| attribute | Grouping attribute | class, subClass, type, subType, strategy, currency, country, countryCode, region, continent, issuerCountry, issuer, issuerGroup, counterparty, counterpartyGroup |
| benchmarkName | Benchmark name | |
| benchmarkAsOf | Benchmark as-of date | |
| weights | Benchmark weights | |
| exemptClassNames | Exempt classes |
Methodology choices
- Active weight = portfolio weight − supplied benchmark weight, both in percent of NAV.
Parameter names, methodology text and result-code meanings are shown exactly as the platform states them.
Worked examples, run by the engine
Stocks at 550 of a 1,000 book against a 50% benchmark weight is +5 active, inside a ±10 band
Rule template:benchmark_relative attribute: classbenchmarkName: Vector composite indexbenchmarkAsOf: 2026-06-30weights: group=Stocks, weight=50, hardMin=-10, hardMax=10
| Holding | Class | Market value |
|---|---|---|
| EQ | Stocks | 550 |
| BD | Bonds | 450 |
| Group | Status | Value | Bounds | Headroom to the hard bound | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stocks | Compliant | 5% | – | 5% | WITHIN_LIMITS |
WITHIN_LIMITS: The measured value sits inside every approved bound.
Largest contributors: Stocks → EQ 55%
These are the product's own test cases for this template, evaluated by the Acclimetry rule engine (backend commit 8197063). The build fails if any result changes.
Stocks at 650 of a 1,000 book against a 50% benchmark weight is +15 active, over a +10 cap
Rule template:benchmark_relative attribute: classbenchmarkName: Vector composite indexbenchmarkAsOf: 2026-06-30weights: group=Stocks, weight=50, hardMin=-10, hardMax=10
| Holding | Class | Market value |
|---|---|---|
| EQ | Stocks | 650 |
| BD | Bonds | 350 |
| Group | Status | Value | Bounds | Headroom to the hard bound | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stocks | Breach | 15% | – | -5% | ABOVE_HARD_MAXIMUM |
ABOVE_HARD_MAXIMUM: The measured value exceeds the approved hard maximum, beyond any stated tolerance.
Largest contributors: Stocks → EQ 65%
These are the product's own test cases for this template, evaluated by the Acclimetry rule engine (backend commit 8197063). The build fails if any result changes.
A benchmark group the book does not hold is −20 active against its 20% weight, under a −10 floor — an underweight breaches too
Rule template:benchmark_relative attribute: classbenchmarkName: Vector composite indexbenchmarkAsOf: 2026-06-30weights: group=Property, weight=20, hardMin=-10
| Holding | Class | Market value |
|---|---|---|
| EQ | Stocks | 1,000 |
| Group | Status | Value | Bounds | Headroom to the hard bound | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Property | Breach | -20% | – | -10% | BELOW_HARD_MINIMUM |
BELOW_HARD_MINIMUM: The measured value falls below the approved hard minimum, beyond any stated tolerance.
These are the product's own test cases for this template, evaluated by the Acclimetry rule engine (backend commit 8197063). The build fails if any result changes.
Equities at 68% against a 60% benchmark weight are 8 points overweight, beyond the ±5 band; bonds are 6 points underweight, also a breach.
Rule template:benchmark_relative attribute: classbenchmarkName: Policy benchmark (60/35/5)benchmarkAsOf: 2026-09-30weights: group=Equities, weight=60, hardMin=-5, hardMax=5, warnMin=-4, warnMax=4 · group=Bonds, weight=35, hardMin=-5, hardMax=5 · group=Cash, weight=5, hardMin=-5, hardMax=5
| Holding | Class | Market value |
|---|---|---|
| Global equity fund | Equities | 680,000 |
| Sterling bond fund | Bonds | 290,000 |
| Sterling deposit | Cash | 30,000 |
| Group | Status | Value | Bounds | Headroom to the hard bound | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equities | Breach | 8% | – | -3% -4% to warning | ABOVE_HARD_MAXIMUM |
| Bonds | Breach | -6% | – | -1% | BELOW_HARD_MINIMUM |
| Cash | Compliant | -2% | – | 3% | WITHIN_LIMITS |
ABOVE_HARD_MAXIMUM: The measured value exceeds the approved hard maximum, beyond any stated tolerance.BELOW_HARD_MINIMUM: The measured value falls below the approved hard minimum, beyond any stated tolerance.WITHIN_LIMITS: The measured value sits inside every approved bound.
Largest contributors: Equities → Global equity fund 68% · Bonds → Sterling bond fund 29% · Cash → Sterling deposit 3%
Computed at build time by the Acclimetry rule engine (backend commit 8197063); the same code runs in the product.
Interpretation traps
Points, not percentages of the weight
A ±5 band on a 20% benchmark weight allows 15% to 25%. A relative band, such as ‘within 25% of the benchmark weight’, must be converted to points for each group.
Supplied weights go stale
The rule holds the weights as at their as-of date and does not fetch index updates. Schedule a review as a manual obligation and supersede the version when the weights move.
Unlisted groups are not tested
A group missing from the weights list has no active band. An off-benchmark asset class is then unconstrained unless another rule covers it.
Result codes this check can return
| Code | State | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| WITHIN_LIMITS ✓ | Compliant | The measured value sits inside every approved bound. | – |
| ABOVE_WARNING_MAXIMUM | Warning | The measured value has crossed the early-warning maximum but not the hard limit. | No breach yet; the early-warning band exists so the position can be managed before one. |
| BELOW_WARNING_MINIMUM | Warning | The measured value has crossed the early-warning minimum but not the hard limit. | No breach yet; the early-warning band exists so the position can be managed before one. |
| ABOVE_HARD_MAXIMUM ✓ | Breach | The measured value exceeds the approved hard maximum, beyond any stated tolerance. | Remediate the exposure, or record an approved waiver against the case. |
| BELOW_HARD_MINIMUM ✓ | Breach | The measured value falls below the approved hard minimum, beyond any stated tolerance. | Remediate the exposure, or record an approved waiver against the case. |
| CONSERVATIVE_MISSING_DATA | Breach | Data was missing and this rule version's approved unknown-data policy is conservative_breach, so the gap is treated as a breach rather than as Not Evaluated. | Supply the missing values; the reading is deliberately pessimistic until you do. |
| EMPTY_PORTFOLIO | Not applicable | The portfolio held no positions at the evaluation moment. | – |
| NOT_IN_SCOPE | Not applicable | This rule version does not apply to this portfolio — the portfolio is outside the version's stated scope. Recorded so that "considered and out of scope" can be told from "never run". | – |
| AGGREGATE_MEMBER_NOT_ACCEPTED | Not evaluated: data quality | A portfolio in the measured set has no authoritative snapshot, so the set-level number cannot be stated. | Accept the named portfolios' snapshots. A partial set produces no aggregate. |
| MISSING_POSITION_DATA | Not evaluated: data quality | One or more positions had no readable value, and the partial numbers do not prove the outcome either way. | Supply the missing valuations. The platform will not fabricate a zero to produce a reading. |
| SNAPSHOT_NOT_ACCEPTED | Not evaluated: data quality | The portfolio's newest snapshot awaits data-quality review; only accepted data may produce an authoritative result. | Accept, override or reject the snapshot on Data & Quality. |
| SNAPSHOT_REJECTED | Not evaluated: data quality | The portfolio's newest snapshot was rejected, so there is no authoritative data to measure. | Load a corrected file. |
| STALE_POSITIONS | Not evaluated: data quality | The newest snapshot is older than the organisation's staleness threshold. | Load current positions, or revisit the threshold on Data & Quality ▸ Policy. |
| STALE_PRICES | Not evaluated: data quality | A holding had no price on the position file and its approved price was older than the organisation's price-staleness threshold, so it was left unvalued. | Load a current price for the holding, price it on the position file, or revisit the threshold on Data & Quality ▸ Policy. |
| AWAITING_EXTERNAL_DATA | Pending external data | An approved input is late but still inside the organisation's grace window. This is not a pass and not an exception. | None yet. If the delivery does not arrive, this becomes a data-quality exception. |
| BAND_HAS_NO_BOUNDS | Not evaluated: unsupported | A band in this rule version states neither a minimum nor a maximum, so there is nothing to decide against. | Supersede the version with bounds on the band, or remove it. |
| METHOD_NOT_SUPPORTED | Not evaluated: unsupported | The rule version asks for a measurement method this engine does not implement. Declared rather than approximated. | Choose a supported methodology, or treat this limit as a manual obligation until the method ships. |
| EVALUATOR_ERROR | Not evaluated: system error | The evaluator raised an error. Surfaced as a visible result rather than as silence. | Report it. A system error is never a pass and never a compliant reading. |
✓ seen in the worked examples. The rest come from the platform registry’s own scan of the template source.
Acclimetry evaluates the active weight of each listed group, in percentage points of NAV, using the benchmark weights supplied with the rule version. It does not load index constituents or weights from index providers. It does not compute tracking error, active share or risk-model measures.
Questions
Is a ±5% band relative to the benchmark weight or in percentage points?
In percentage points of NAV. A 20% benchmark weight with a ±5 band allows 15% to 25%.
Where do the benchmark weights come from?
They are supplied with the rule version, with the benchmark's name and as-of date. When the index weights change, a new approved version records them.
How does this differ from an asset allocation range?
An allocation range bounds absolute weights, such as equities between 40% and 60%. A benchmark-relative band bounds the difference from a stated weight, which is the same test while that weight does not change.