Benchmark

Benchmark
The performance of a predetermined set of securities, for comparison purposes. Such sets may be based on published indexes or may be customized to suit an investment strategy. The New York Times Financial Glossary

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▪ I. benchmark bench‧mark 1 [ˈbentʆmɑːk ǁ -mɑːrk] noun [countable]
1. something that can be used as a comparison by which to judge or measure other things:

• The newest Treasury bond is the benchmark bond, the one that trades most heavily.

2. COMMERCE a good performance that one company has achieved, that can be used as a standard to judge other companies of the same type:

• Companies need to know how much return they can expect from their IT investments: they need benchmarks to see how their systems are performing.

  [m0] ▪ II. benchmark benchmark 2 verb [transitive] COMMERCE
to use a company's good performance as a standard by which to judge the performance of other companies of the same type:
benchmark somebody/​something against something

• British Steel have benchmarked themselves against the best operations anywhere in the world.

— benchmarking noun [uncountable] :

• Mr O'Neill, a newcomer to the industry, heeds theories of cost control and benchmarking against other industries.

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   A standard used for comparison. A benchmark security is usually the most recently issued security in good size. It sets the standard for the rest of the market. A benchmark issue is highly liquid.

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Ⅰ.
benchmark UK US /ˈbenʃmɑːk/ noun [C]
► a level of quality that can be used as a standard against which to compare other things: »

Apple's iconic iPhone became the benchmark in the market.

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The new report provides a benchmark for food companies around the world.

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The catalog industry can discover new opportunities by comparing its own business trends to industry benchmarks.

 »

They set the benchmark for ethical beauty packaging.

 »

The company sets the benchmark against which other businesses make health care decisions.

► FINANCE a share price, interest rate, etc. that other share prices, interest rates, etc. can be compared against: the benchmark for sth »

This year the benchmark for iron ore is $60 a tonne.

 »

The Merval stock index, the benchmark measure of Argentina's stock market, rose 8.2% yesterday.

 »

The benchmark price of oil dropped from $59 to $53 per barrel.

► IT a computer program that measures the quality and speed of computer software or hardware (= equipment or electronic parts): benchmark program/software/test »

The benchmark tests show that the new machines are only slightly faster.

Ⅱ.
benchmark UK US /ˈbenʃmɑːk/ verb
► [T] to measure the quality of something by comparing it with something else of an accepted standard: »

Being able to benchmark performance is very important for new companies.

 »

The European Parliament has launched a programme to benchmark employment laws across the EU.

► [I or T] to use something as a standard in order to improve your own work, products, or processes: benchmark (sb/sth) against sth »

The company continues to benchmark against the competition.

 »

The results allow the company to benchmark itself against other organizations and identify areas for improvement.

► [T] IT to test the quality and speed of computer software or hardware (= equipment or electronic parts): »

Benchmark the speed of your computer.


Financial and business terms. 2012.

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  • benchmark — (n.) also bench mark, surveyor s point of reference, 1838, from a specialized surveyors use of BENCH (Cf. bench) + MARK (Cf. mark) (1); figurative sense is from 1884 …   Etymology dictionary

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