While there are big things going on in the investing world to discuss, I wanted to first tell you about a big change here at Computerized Investing. This edition of CI is my first as editor. Last month, Wayne Thorp announced that he would hand the reins over to me so he could go on to tackle the content strategy of AAII. I am lucky to follow in the footsteps of an excellent mentor, who has transformed Computerized Investing through the years and taught me many things along the way. Thank you for all your help, Wayne! But, more on my plans later.

We often talk about cyber-security at Computerized Investing. This is not to sound monotonous or due to a lack of possible topics; it’s because cyber-security issues affecting investors are popping up more often in the news. The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, August 26, that a “computer glitch” was preventing hundreds of mutual and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from providing investors with the values of their holdings; this subsequently complicated the trading in some of the most widely held investments.

The glitch reportedly stemmed from a breakdown earlier that week at Bank of New York Mellon Corp., the largest fund custodian in the world by assets. U.S. money-market mutual funds run by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., exchange-traded funds offered by Guggenheim Partners LLC and mutual funds sold by Federated Investors were all affected. Morningstar Inc. said that 796 funds were missing their net asset values on that Wednesday. Consequently, ETFs were more expensive to trade, investors’ ability to trade popular investment vehicles accurately was hindered and fund companies were rushing to price securities.

While the system was back up and running by midday Wednesday, Bank of New York Mellon had a backlog of net asset values to calculate.

A running tally of the companies, mutual funds and ETFs affected by the glitch can be found in this Wall Street Journal article. If any of your holdings were affected, I suggest calling the fund company to see what the next steps are. If you overpaid for an ETF or a mutual fund due to the glitch, a refund may be in order.

A Little Bit About Me

I have been with AAII since college, a whopping three years ago. I started as an intern then took on additional responsibilities as a research analyst, only to join the company full time last year as a financial analyst. I oversee AAII’s Dividend Investing Newsletter, Quarterly Mutual Fund Update and the AAII Stock Screens. In November, I will be speaking at the AAII 2015 Investor Conference in Las Vegas on the first steps of stock screening.

In terms of my personal life, I spend most of my time hanging out with my dogs—a four-year old American bulldog and a one-year old lab-mix (I think she’s half monster)—trying to fix things around my newly purchased condo in Chicago (who knew this homeownership thing would be fun!?), or reading study materials to pass the CFA exams.

With new responsibilities comes new ambition and drive. I am determined to bring interesting, thought-provoking educational content to Computerized Investing.

However, this process starts with you, the readers. Over the years, I have learned that sometimes all it takes is one idea. I have talked to many members and received feedback, of course, but I want more. I want to know what you want. I want to know what we are doing that you don’t like (yes, I said it) and I want to know what we are doing that you do like.

Looking for New Ways to Fulfill CI’s Goal

The “About” section of Computerized Investing reads:

“Computerized Investing is the premiere service for individual investors looking to harness the power of technology to become more effective managers of their investments. As a service of The American Association of Individual Investors (AAII), CI is committed to educating its readers on how to use technology to aid in the investment analysis, tracking and management process.”

That is our goal: To help individual investors harness the power of technology to become more effective managers of their investments.

This may mean implementing new columns or creating new tools, and I’m okay with that.

Speaking of new columns, this month we are adding an Interviews section. Within the Interviews section will be a column called 10 Questions, a short interview designed to show a more personal side of individual investors, whether that is AAII staff members, family, friends, portfolio managers, options traders or perfect strangers. Questions are designed to uncover people’s favorite financial websites, tools and software, but we also include a couple “fun” questions. Each interviewee chooses one question to ask the next interviewee. For this month’s edition, I interviewed Hareesh Jayanthi, my coworker and assistant financial analyst at AAII.

We also will be looking for “guest” writers, whether for the CI Blog, or for columns within Computerized Investing. To kick this off, Edward Groberski, a software engineer at Enablon, reviewed Copper River Co.’s Journeyman Laptop Bag for our Gadget Corner this month; it’s a rather good-looking bag, if I do say so myself.

I have also reached out to Stock Rover, a website that has been mentioned in CI’s Best of the Web, to brainstorm on some collaboration ideas for the CI Blog. Stock Rover recently updated their Web application and launched a brand new financial platform called Stock Rover Markets, which is definitely worth checking out.

I created a couple of new threads on AAII’s Discussion Boards for those who want to provide some insight for us. This could include features you like or don’t like, things you want more of, or possible guests you may want to hear from. Many readers have developed their own tools over the years on their computer. Do you have an interesting spreadsheet you’d want to share? Perhaps a website we haven’t mentioned? Let us know.

Send us an email at CI@aaii.com or check out the AAII Discussion Boards.

That being said, I am excited to bring everything I’ve learned to Computerized Investing. It will be difficult to follow in Wayne’s footsteps, who took over for previous CI editor John Bajkowski (now AAII’s president). While the task ahead is difficult, you can count on me to give you my very best.

Thank you ahead of time for your feedback, questions, comments or concerns.