FM does not seem top track accurately

[mpozesky]

Hello. I am struggeling with this program. I purchased the individual system to help me and that did not do what I wanted. A few weeks ago I purchased the more advanced version.

I cannot seem to correlate the data proovided by FM with any other source of online data when it comes to short and medium term performance results of an indidivudal investment. Let me give you an examole. VIMSX (Vanguard Nid-Cap Index) have grown over 7% so far year to date. When I generate a report which shows year to date performance on FM, it shows a return of 3.67% (I am using the %GAIN-AI(btw) columb to get this number. A smiliar difference appears between the numbers provided by other financial instutions (e.g. Fidelity) and the FM on almost every level. I have tried 6 month performance, 3 month performance, etc.

Perhaps this program is just too complicated for me. After all, I only have a Phd in engineering so I guess I can't be expected to figure this out. Please tell me what I am doing wrong. I have invested $300 so far to manage a large portfolio but I have struggeling with this program since I bought it in October 2012.

If I sound frustrated, I am sorry, but I am. MPozesky

[Mark]

Hi mpozesky,

Sorry to hear about the frustrations, I can help. There are a lot of performance figures available, so you do have to make sure you're requesting the one you want, and that your data is recorded properly. To continue with your example, I just set up an investment for VIMSX and retrieved historical prices from Yahoo to run a couple reports. I see the fund is up 7.21% YTD.

Some important points about the performance figures:

- When you are looking at any of the %Gain figures these are not time weighted. They are strictly dividing, and ignoring the time aspect of money. There are a variety of different %Gain numbers available, so you can see the online help for a description of each one, but the they are all non-time weighted.

- To get a time-weighted performance figure, you want to use either the TWR yield or ROI yield. The TWR yield is time weighted, but ignores external flows of money. The ROI yield is your earned rate on your invested money. It is both time and money weighted.

To run reports for a certain time period you want to make sure you have pricing data for that time period. Open up your VIMSX investment in the Data Register. Change the "Data Type" to "Prices", and look to make sure you have all your prices available for the time period of interest. For example, if you want to calculate YTD, you should have a price recorded for 12/31/12 and 1/25/13.

In your case you were looking at %GAIN-AI(btw). You can see the equation for this in the online help. This figure is looking at your "Out Of Pocket" (OOP) gain, and includes accrued interest. So, if you bought/sold within this time period (YTD) that will affect the value reported.

If you were to look at the fields: %Gain-F (btw) or TWR (btw) these ignore your invested amounts, and report on the intrinsic performance of the investment. Both of these will report 7.21%, given you have correct closing prices recorded for 12/31/12 of $22.47 and 1/25/13 of $24.09.

You can also look at an "Investment Performance" report, which shows these %Gain-F and TWR fields. This report is based off share price, not your invested money.

If you want to see how your invested money has performed, you can use the "Portfolio Peformance" report, or create your own version using a Custom report. To see this, use the ROI (btw) field in a Custom report, or look at the "Yield" column in a Portfolio Performance report. Both of those are showing the ROI Yield for the date range of the report. Make sure to set the date range of the report to YTD, if that is the time period you're interested in.

Hopefully this helps steer you in the direction you want for your analysis. If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask for help.

[mpozesky]

Thank you Mark...Sick with me....I am trying to get a conceptual level understanding of how these calculations work.