Welcome Back,

In today’s forum discussion, we’ll explain how to use Investment Account Manager with BetterInvesting’s Lipper fund data feed.  You’ll find this compatibility helpful for completing necessary entries for any exchange traded and/or mutual funds you might own as they are added into Investment Account Manager, or for updating newer information.  IAM is provided with a 30 day free trial subscription to BetterInvesting’s fund data feed for you to try out these time-saving features.

First, let’s look at how BI fund data is used when entering a new fund to the IAM asset library:

• Start IAM v2.0.
• Select the Asset Library Menu | Current Asset Library choice.
• Select the Add button.
• For Symbol, enter DODGX.            
• For Security Type, select the drop down arrow and select Mutual Fund.
• You’ll notice a pop-up that prompts to use BetterInvesting fund data for completing descriptive information for this mutual fund.  Click ‘connect’.
• IAM will now download for DODGX descriptive information automatically, such as name, objective, and other information. 
• Click on the ‘save’ button.
• Just below the ‘objective’ drop down, click on the link to add_edit diversification characteristics link.
• Notice a form is shown with the ‘drill-down’ allocation details for this new mutual fund DODGX.  This information is used when deriving portfolio allocation reports.  Use the Help button for further details on the allocation percentages shown and how they are used by IAM reports.
• Click on the ‘OK’ button when ready to close this form.
• Select ‘exit’ to close the asset library.

Just as the case for updating all stocks in IAM with StockCentral data, users will want to also update all funds within IAM’s asset library to reflect more recent information.  To do this:

• To now update all funds within your Investment Account Manager asset library, select the Asset Library Menu | Update Data | BetterInvesting Mutual Fund Data Service. 
• A grid will next show all funds in the Investment Account Manager library. 
• Click on the Update button to begin the download of BI data to Investment Account Manager. 
• Once completed, an updated grid will show the newly downloaded data.  Use the Help button to review the data displayed, and when ready, click on the Import button. 
• Just like that Investment Account Manager has been updated with most recent BI fund data.

The BetterInvesting fund data feed is an important tool for managing your investment portfolios if you own exchange traded or mutual funds in one or more accounts (taxable, IRA, etc.).  By including fund compositions in your allocation analysis, you are able to get a complete understanding of your current allocation, and when compared to targeted goals, identify rebalancing needs.  To measure the impact ETFs and mutual funds have on your portfolio allocations, review the IAM allocation reports listed under the reports and graphs menu.  For drill down details on a report, simply left double-click on an underlined type, sector or size to view the contribution to the allocation by each holding in your portfolio.

This concludes today’s topic.  Please ask questions on the described features.  Tomorrow is open for any specific features you might like to review in more detail so feel free to make suggestions.

Matt