More on Peer Groups: Simple v. Custom, Dynamic v. Static...

On Friday, I described the difference between a Dynamic and a Static Peer Group. How does this relate to Simple v. Custom? Let's take a look.

Simple Build: this is great for credit unions that want to hand-select a list of credit unions to use as a Peer Group. This is pretty common...a CEO has a set of credit unions s/he likes to keep an eye on. Use simple build to just select them one-by-one.

What does this have to do with Dynamic v. Static? Well, all Simple Build PGs are considered "static" because the only criteria you chose was the credit unions themselves. The program stores the secret-ID and you're off to the races.

Now, with Custom Built PGs, you have a choice. You can save the criteria (all CUs between $20 and 50 million, in California, who use Fiserv as a DP) by choosing "Dynamic"; or you can chose "static" so you can compare the performance of these same 28 credit unions over time, even if at some point they grow above the $50m or chose a different Data Processor. (Try to build this group...see if you get the same answer...)

One thing to note: when you save a Custom Built PG as a Static PG and you decide to edit it at any point in the future, Peer 2.0 will open the PG using the Simple Build feature. (Confused?) That's because when you chose "Static" it just saved the secret-IDs...so the next time around, Peer doesn't remember the criteria you originally selected. It would be cool if it did (eg. It still opens in Simple Build but says "the original criteria was..." But that's for the upgrade list. Daniel? are you listening? :))

One last thing: custom peer groups are saved with a (D) or an (S) after the name...can you now guess what that stands for?

Tomorrow....Custom graphing.