In another enhancement to the new Investor Hub, My Portfolio helps you better track exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds. A+ Investor subscribers can now create a custom view from more than 200 fund data fields.
This allows you to select the data that matters most to you as opposed to having to rely on your broker or fund company’s default view.
The custom fund view complements the A+ Grades already available in My Portfolio.
The first step in building a custom fund view is to create a portfolio in My Portfolio, which is located in the AAII Investor Hub. If you haven’t used My Portfolio yet, it is very easy to get started.
To set up a portfolio, just go to My Portfolio and click on the Create Portfolio button.
You can either enter ticker symbols directly, upload a spreadsheet saved in the CSV file format, or sync to your broker and/or mutual fund account.
Broker and mutual fund integration is provided via the Plaid network. Plaid is a widely used application in the financial industry. It provides just your portfolio holdings in the accounts you choose in a read-only format. AAII cannot alter or edit your brokerage holdings. (Read the Brokerage Integration Security FAQs for more details on brokerage security with Plaid.)
In My Portfolio, open the portfolio you want to create a custom view for. Then, either select Create Custom View from the View drop-down menu located above your portfolio holdings or click on the plus sign located to the right of the menu.
The Custom View Builder window that pops up groups the data fields by category: AAII Grades, Funds and SI Pro. The Funds category lists the data fields you can use to build your custom fund view. The SI Pro category shows the data fields available for stocks.
A data field is added to a view by clicking on it. A+ Investor subscribers can choose as many data points as they like.
Start creating your view by adding performance metrics. Calendar-year returns, including year-to-date performance, are located by selecting Annual Returns from the menu on the left-hand side of the Custom View Builder pop-up window.
You may notice that your options include NAV and price returns. NAV returns include the change in net asset value over the selected time period and assume a reinvestment of all income and capital gains distributions. Price returns are based on changes in market prices and assume a reinvestment of all income and capital gains distributions. Mutual funds only have NAV returns, while ETFs have both NAV and price returns. This is because ETFs are bought and sold throughout the trading day, whereas mutual funds are only bought and sold based on their end-of-day net asset value.
Trailing, or annualized, returns are accessible by selecting Trailing Returns from the left-hand menu. These include returns for one month, three months, year to date and one year. Annualized returns are available for three years, five years and 10 years.
You can add associated grades for calendar-year or trailing returns by opening the Returns Grades (NAV or price) submenu and selecting the year or period. The performance grades are based on returns relative to a fund’s peers. Grades of A are assigned to funds whose returns rank in the highest 20% of their category. Grades of F are assigned to funds whose returns rank in the lowest 20% of their category.
All other ETF and mutual fund quantitative traits are located in the Characteristics category. These include portfolio composition, fees, distributions and risk measures.
Take a moment to type in a name for your custom fund view in the box located at the bottom of the pop-up window. Then, select the Save View button. The pop-up window will close, and you will see a list of your custom views.
To adjust the order in which the data fields appear or to change one or more criteria, click on the pencil icon located to the right of the view’s name. The Custom View Builder pop-up window will open again for editing.
Any data field included in your custom view can be moved via the Selected section on the right-hand side of the Custom View Builder. Simply click and hold on the dots just to the left of the data field’s name and drag it up (which moves it further to the left side of the view table) or down (which moves it further to the right). You can also remove a data field from your view by clicking on the “x” located to the right of each selected data field.
Once you are done making adjustments, select the Update View button to save your changes.
After you have created your view, My Portfolio gives you options for how you view it. You can access it directly in the Investor Hub on AAII.com. You can also download the Investor Hub app to the device of your choice, including iOS and Android phones and tablets. Alternatively, you can export the data to a spreadsheet.
As a reminder, A+ Investor subscribers also have access to stock grades, portfolio diversification analysis and portfolio-specific insights for any portfolio. See the My Portfolio User Guide for more details on these features.
Grouping your portfolio view by asset type is now available. This separates your My Portfolio view into as many as four segments: stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and cash and bonds. You still have the ability to view your portfolio as a single table, if you prefer.
If you haven’t already started taking advantage of the AAII Investor Hub, we encourage you to do so today. The new changes make My Portfolio even easier to use and more timesaving. Keep an eye out for the release of other new features to the Investor Hub to help you get more out of your A+ Investor subscription. Log on to the AAII Investor Hub with your AAII credentials to get started.
