All asset-intensive organisations have some sort of asset performance targets in place. How legitimate are these targets? Are they achievable given the resources and span of the control of the manager responsible? Are they fair? Is it clear how targets for asset performance measures should be set? Drawing on performance measurement literature and current practice, we identify factors to be considered in setting targets for asset performance metrics. The resulting framework comprises four steps: 1) the identification of factors influencing the performance metric, 2) the identification of interventions within the control of the asset manager that could influence the metric, 3) data collection and statistical analysis to identify the influence of these interventions, 4) simulation of future performance of the metric to establish targets or ranges of acceptable performance. The framework is illustrated using an asset performance metric, pipe blockages, for asset managers of regional waste water assets. Findings are: 1) target setting involves a deep understanding of what influences the metric, and this requires data collection, cleaning and validation, as well as liaison with experts, 2) the importance of establishing how the metric can be influenced by factors beyond the immediate control of the asset manager, this affects its legitimacy, and 3) the opportunity presented by simulation to provide target ranges appropriate for the variability in many asset performance metrics. The absence of expected relationships raises questions about the appropriateness of the metric, the effectiveness of the work and/or the data quality. Asset managers should be careful setting targets to asset performance measures. The process developed in this paper can be used to inform target setting activities. @en