Abstract: The method for evaluating investment performance among members of a population of investment alternatives from benchmarks derived internally from that population includes the step of first providing investment performance data for a population having a plurality of investment alternatives each having periodic investment returns. A point of population average for the average of the periodic investment returns and a point of population average for the variance of periodic returns for the investment alternatives population over an analysis period is calculated. The standard deviation of the average of periodic investment returns and the standard deviation of the variance of periodic investment returns for the population is computed. An equilibrium line (10) passing through both the point of population average of the average of periodic returns and the variance of periodic returns for the population and the point of one standard deviation from the point of performance for this population average is constructed.