Import investments?

[mbaniewicz]

I am on an advisor trial. So far, so good. I'd like to organize all of the investments my clients hold in a CSV file and import it into FM. I have a spreadsheet organized with symbols, CUSIPs, name (as I would like them to appear on reports), asset types, investment types, tax status, etc. I was able to import, but only via a transaction import. Everything looked as I was hoping.

I linked up my first account/portfolio as a sub-portfolio underneath the master (I imported the transaction file into the master portfolio). Pershing is the custodian. I downloaded all available position and transaction history. When the download completed, the names on my investments reverted to the custodian nomenclature (not what I imported into FM).

Any insight to importing investments and not having the custodian override my preferences?

Thanks,
Mark

[Mark]

Hi Mark,

When you import from a custodian (like Pershing) the properties of any newly created investments will come from the custodian. The properties of any existing investments will not be changed. Are you seeing something different than this?

[mbaniewicz]

Mark,

Thanks for the quick reply. I used a CSV template to import all the investments. I set it up according to the protocol set forth (UD,SYMB,CUSIP,NAME,ANUM,BNUM,CNUM,etc.). I tried to define as much as I could about each investment (asset type, tax status, etc.). To get the import to work, I learned that I have to set up some sort of transaction (leaving ANUM,BNUM,CNUM off the CSV left me with an error). I set a purchase of one share for each, at a price and commission of zero. I imported into the master portfolio (all my clients will be set up as subs ... is that the best route to go?).

I then imported the history from Pershing with the username/password from Pershing Advisor Solutions. The nomenclature and some other detail defaulted back to the info from the custodian import.

Thanks for your patience. So far I really like the software, but I'm still learning my way around.

Thanks,
Mark

[Mark]

Hi Mark,

It sounds like when you imported from Pershing you created new sub-portfolios for the accounts, and the new investments were created in these new sub-portfolios. You weren't updating the existing investments that you imported from CSV into your top level sub-portfolio. When you do this, you are creating new investments (even though you have the same symbol for other investments in the top level sub-portfolio), and the properties come from the custodian for new investments. You can use "Edit / Symbol List..." to quickly change any properties (like Name, asset type, etc) for all investments with the same symbol.

[mbaniewicz]

Thanks Mark. That makes sense. That is likely the issue. I will try that.

Another question. Default cash account. Management fees are causing the cash account to show unrealized losses and the TWR calcs are showing negative figures (see attached photos). Is there any way around this?

When I do a portfolio appraisal, I'd like to show the cash position, but marked at 1:1 (basis vs. value) without unrealized losses (due to management fees falling under the "reinvested account fee" code).

I'd also like to show the true TWR of the cash account, with the management fees applying to the entire portfolio, not just the cash position.

Any suggestions?

Thanks again,
Mark

[Mark]

Hi Mark,

If you record management fees in your cash investment, they will affect the performance of the cash investment. Normally you record management fees as a negative reinvested distribution of type "account fee". This reduces the cash balance, and penalizes the performance of cash due to this fee. It then also applies to the sub-portfolio when calculated at that level. If you don't want to see the performance hit in cash you could create another investment called "management fees" or something like that, and put the account fee in there, and then record a sell of cash and a buy into this new management fee investment. This would keep the management fee investment at a balance of 0, and the cash would just see a sell, so the performance penalty is not in cash, it would be in the management fee investment. The net effect on the whole portfolio would be the same, as when you put the fee into cash.

[mbaniewicz]

Great! I will try that. Thank you.

Back to the investment import first, online broker import second. I imported all the investments, with all the fields defined to my liking. I set up a sub portfolio with my first client, imported the transactions and positions from Pershing, and the Pershing nomenclature resided in the sub account, while the nomenclature I defined resided in the master portfolio. Checking the symbol properties, the name reads <N/A - Differs Among Investments>. Do I need to manually rename every investment, in every sub portfolio, for every client?

Thanks,
Mark

[Mark]

Hi Mark,

No. When you use "Edit / Symbol List..." and change any of the properties, this applies to all investments with that same symbol. You only have to change it once. You probably want to hold off making any changes until you import everything, so you can just change it once for all your clients.