61

Frequently Asked Questions / IAM's User Preference Settings

« Last post by Peter Willms on August 17, 2018, 09:49:11 AM »

 
Investment Account Manager’s User Preferences

Preferences Backup Data Settings:

    Allows user to set Prompt for Backup Reminder: after every session, after every other session, or after every five sessions.

    Automatic Backup: use this setting to run the backup process as you exit Investment Account Manager. The backup process will be performed to your desired destination folder. If you have set the destination to a removable media source, be certain the required media is in place for the backup process.

    Tax Lot Settings: when creating Investment Account Manager backups, individual tax lots for each portfolio are also saved as unique files under the directory you create your IAM backup files.  These tax lot files will be located under the backup folder \ IAM_TaxLots_date.  Users can set a preference for these files: Save Tax Lots to CSV files,
Save Tax Lots to Excel files or Do not save tax lots during backup

Preferences Data Provider Settings:

    Investment Account Manager includes an optional data feed to access QuoteMedia®. This optional service helps to complete descriptive information for stocks as they are added to Investment Account Manager. This includes access to fundamental stock data such as dividends per share, earnings per share, stock sector, stock size, etc. for common stocks.

Preferences Home Page Settings:

    Update market prices each time the home page is refreshed.

    Prompt before updating prices from home page.

    Check for updates when Investment Account Manager starts.

    Performance Index to show on the Home Page.

    Bypass Price Alerts on Startup.

    Prompt to update current prices with more recent historic prices.

    Prompt to create historical prices when updating current prices.

    Disable Portfolio 'Year to Date' Performance Calculation.

    Automatically update current prices with prices from broker files.

    Run IAM in maximized screen view: this option will start Investment Account Manager in full screen mode.  The default startup screen size is 80%.

Preferences Report Settings:

    Report Disclaimer: use this setting to enter a report disclaimer to be used globally for all reports. The disclaimer serves the important purpose of reminding users of the practical limitations of the program and we recommend you include a disclaimer. Note: if you are using the noncommercial-user version of Investment Account Manager, this disclaimer is inactive and can't be changed.

    Report Heading: use this setting to enter a report heading to be used as a global default for all reports. Note: You can override the global setting prior to printing any individual report.

    Preview Magnification: use this setting to set a global page preview magnification level. Settings range from whole page up to 150%. Note: You can adjust the magnification setting each time you preview any individual report.

    Report Margin Setup: use this setting to globally set the report margins for report printing. The following margin settings are used as defaults:
Top: 0.50 Bottom: 0.25 Left: 0.25 Right: 0.25

    Sort Default: The sort feature enables you to quickly arrange the list of assets currently in the system. You can set the default sort order globally to: most recent use, symbol, name, or type.

    Fiscal Year Ends in the Month: use this setting to globally set the reporting periods for a fiscal year-end other than December.

    Set Session Date: use this setting to change the session date. This date will be the date defaulted into date entry screens, and printed on all reports.

    Include printer Setup: use this option to be prompted with the printer setup dialogue form prior to printing reports. You'll be able to select a specific printer, quality preferences, and other printer options.

    Show negative values in red: select this option to show negative values, such as losses, in red on reports.

    Appraisal Report Quantity: select a default for how many decimals to show for quantity on Investment Account Manager's Appraisal Report either whole numbers, 3 decimal places or 5 decimal places.

    Basis Report Quantity: select a default for how many decimals to show for quantity on Investment Account Manager's Security Basis either whole numbers, 3 decimal places or 5 decimal places.

    Maximum rate to check for high IRR's: use this option to set the maximum rate for the Internal Rate of Return iteration process.  The default rate is typically good for most investment activity, but in some cases, lowering this maximum rate can improve the speed of the IRR calculation.

62

Transactions / IAM's Global Transaction functions - stock split, spin off, merger, etc.

« Last post by Peter Willms on August 17, 2018, 09:05:23 AM »

Global Transactions - Investment Account Manager allows for easy and accurate posting of global transactions. These include:

Global Transactions:
    Global Income - Apply a declared cash dividend to all portfolios holding the stock
    Global Spin-off - Company ABC issues shares in Company EFG
    Global Stock Dividend Distributions - 10% stock dividend is declared resulting in   additional shares
    Global Stock Split - 2:1 stock split
    Global Merger- Company 123 is taken-over by Company 456

IAM’s global transactions adjusts any or all portfolios within the program to reflect the global activity.  For instance, if you hold XYZ stock in several portfolios, and XYZ declares a 2:1 stock split, Investment Account Manager will automatically adjust each portfolio to reflect the stock split. Specifically, each lot of the security will be adjusted appropriately, maintaining tax-lot integrity.

To access IAM’s Global Transactions function, select Transactions Menu Global | Transactions Activities.

When completing the various windows, it is required to complete each of the yellow shaded dialogue boxes.  If you do not have the required information at hand, it will be available on the issuing company’s website under Investors Information.

63

Transactions / Copy or Transfer securities to another Portfolio

« Last post by Peter Willms on August 16, 2018, 02:10:14 PM »

Moving Securities - IAM's Edit Menu

The Copy a Security to another Portfolio choice is used to copy all the transaction records (purchases, sales, income, etc.) of one security in a portfolio, to another portfolio being monitored within Investment Account Manager. This choice copies the entire transaction history from the original portfolio to the destination portfolio. It allows you to remove the security from the original or not.

The Transfer a Security to another Portfolio choice is used to transfer either a portion of a security holding, or an entire position, to another portfolio being monitored within Investment Account Manager. It can also be used to deliver holdings out of Investment Account Manager (i.e. to a charity).

The transfer feature can also be used to step up the basis for inherited shares from one portfolio to another portfolio. The feature allows the user to select the basis to assign to the transferred securities.

64

Transactions / Tracking Equity Options within Investment Account Manager

« Last post by Peter Willms on August 16, 2018, 01:55:35 PM »

IAM WITH EQUITY OPTIONS
Equity options are contracts between buyers and sellers providing certain rights or responsibilities on the opposite parties. It is beyond the scope of this manual to explain the mechanics of option trading, but for those interested in learning about using options as investments, visit the CBOE website User Guide: http://www.cboe.com/aboutcboe/cboe-com-user-guide

IAM can track the following:
Opening Buy: An Opening Buy transaction is a purchase (going long) of the option. Opening buys enable you to control the rights on shares of an underlying security, providing the right to purchase (call) or sell (put) at a pre-defined exercise price on or before the expiration date. Opening buy transactions are followed by: a closing sale, the exercised rights, or expire worthless.

Closing Sale: A Closing Sale transaction is the sale of a previously purchased (opening buy) call or put option.

Opening Sale: An Opening Sale transaction gives is the sale of option rights to someone else. This is also known as writing (or granting) the option. You are 'selling' the right to buy from you (i.e. call away) or sell to you (i.e. put to you) the underlying security at the strike price and shares per contract on or before the expiration date. An opening sale is treated as a 'short' position on Portfolio Manger reports and is shown as a negative quantity.

Closing Buy: A Closing Buy transaction is the purchase of a previously sold (opening sale) call or put option.

Assignments, exercises, expiration of Options: all of these transactions, and their required tax adjustments, are handled within Investment Account Manager.

65

Reporting / Collective Reporting with Investment Account Manager

« Last post by Peter Willms on August 16, 2018, 01:36:24 PM »

The Ability to combine your portfolios on Investment Account Manager's many reports is a powerful feature. In order for any portfolio management tool to be effective, it is essential to thoroughly provide a collective understanding of how your portfolios are integrated, and how the overlap. This information will allow you to analyze important questions:

1). Collectively, am I over/under allocated?
2). Am I diversified?
3). Do I hold concentrated positions?
4). Are the securities I own held in the right accounts — i.e., in deferred vs. taxable?

Investment Account Manager allows users to track an unlimited number of portfolios, each in its unique database file, transactions are segregated by account. This provides the user the ability to design portfolios by objective, and to track by individual investment account.

For Unified Account Management purposes, IAM helps allows the combination of portfolios on the program's many reports. This powerful ability keeps the user focused on multiple investment accounts relate.

If for example, you have both tax deferred and currently taxable accounts within Investment Account Manager, and you were interested in better understanding the overall asset allocation of all of your holdings, you would select Investment Account Manager's Asset Allocation Report and include all of your portfolios on that report using the report setup screen. Within seconds, Investment Account Manager will produce a report showing your combined portfolios' allocation by asset class (cash, bonds, stocks and other), by stock industry sector, and by stock size (large, medium or small cap).

66

Frequently Asked Questions / Understanding IAM's Historical Price Libary

« Last post by Peter Willms on August 16, 2018, 12:57:14 PM »

Historic Prices

The Historic Prices library stores the historical security data. enabling users to recreate portfolios as of a specific date. for instance, you might want to review your portfolio as of past date, or review a from-to report.

Price history, earnings, dividends, etc. are maintained in the historic library, and users can derive reports for the historic date to derive portfolio values, performance, etc. After you have created historical prices for a date in this library, that date will be available for reporting.

Historic Price Library organizes all the information for securities stored for an as-of-date entry. Columns can be sorted by left double-clicking a column header, or moved by using a single left-click of the mouse and then dragging the column to a new location. The Look For window allows users to search for a specific item in the left-hand column.  You can filter the Historic Asset Library to show all securities, or filter by specific portfolio by clicking the drop down arrow to the right of the filter box, selecting the portfolio, and then selecting the Go! Button.

Add New Date: use this choice to create an as-of-date entry. Users are prompted to enter a date, and Investment Account Manager will then cross-references all portfolios to determine which assets owned on the date entered. After the historic library has been created for this date, Investment Account Manager will connect to the Internet and attempt to retrieve prices for the date. For each date created, Investment Account Manager will use the information currently stored in the current library data to update the historic library. Prices will be retrieved for the historic date, and any prices not found will be returned with a market price of $1. These will need to be manually updated by the user.

Important Note: when creating month end historic price dates, always use the calendar month end date.  Investment Account Manager will find the proper prices for the most recent market closing date, and store the prices using the calendar date.  This is required for deriving month end portfolio performance returns.

Delete Old Date: use this choice to remove an as-of-date entry from the historical prices library.

Default Settings: use this choice to reset the historic prices table to default column widths and order.

Delete All History: use this choice to clear all stored historic price dates.  New users should use this choice to delete all sample historic price dates included with the Investment Account Manager demo version sample data prior to creating historic dates for their own investment portfolios.

Update Prices: use this choice to update prices for the historic date using the Internet. Be sure to check prices returned. It is also used to re-update prices in the event securities are added after the last update.

Export: use this choice to export an existing historic price date to a file. This permits the user to create a historic price file for use on another system. The file is in comma separated format (csv) providing symbol, date, price, dividend, earnings, and beta (as found in the asset library).

Print: use this button to print the Historic Price library information. Securities are organized on this report based on the column sort order last selected by the user. To sort columns, left double-click on a column header. For example, if you want to organize this report based on past price/earnings ratios, use a left-double click on this column.

Delete: use this button to delete individual assets from the Historic Price library. Do not remove an asset from the historic list if the asset was held in any portfolio as of the date. Removing this security will result in inaccurate historical reports for the as-of-date.

Add: use this button to manually add assets directly to the list to reflect securities owned in portfolios for the historic as-of-date entry. Important Note: if you have already created the prior year-end historic price date for the year-to-date range, but then enter purchase activity for a new asset to this portfolio for this prior year (out of sequence), be certain to update the stored price in the Historic Price Library for this prior year-end date. The priced used for performance will reflect $1.00 unless this issue was previously entered to the historic price file.

The Edit/Update Tab shows the security information for the highlighted asset in the historic asset list tab. Users can edit on this tab the existing information as necessary. Also provided is a link to the Yahoo! Finance Historical Quotes page for the selected issue.

Use the Save button to record changes.

Use Cancel to ignore changes.

Important: Anytime you add purchase transactions proceeding the dates found in your existing historic asset library, the security involved is added to all the required libraries with a $1.00 price. Either manually change the price, or use the update prices to retrieve via the Internet.

67

Frequently Asked Questions / Understanding IAM's Current Asset Libary

« Last post by Peter Willms on August 16, 2018, 12:29:30 PM »

IAM's Current Asset Library
As you create and add transactions to portfolios, Investment Account Manager automatically populates the Current Asset Library database. This asset library is utilized by the program to store shared asset-descriptive information, such as name, type, current market price, dividend rate per share, etc. If multiple portfolios own the same asset, the asset-descriptive information is readily available, and other portfolios can then share this information, eliminating keystroke redundancy.

The Current Asset Library stores the most recent asset information that is shared globally by portfolios. This current data is used for deriving values, reports, etc. on current reports (versus historical reporting). The Current Asset List Tab displays (in table format) all the securities currently included in the Investment Account Manager current asset library.

To manually edit or update a security, simply left double-click on that security in the grid. This facilitates name changes, symbol changes, fundamental data updates, etc.

The table can be resorted on a specific column.
Point your mouse to any column heading, the appearance of your mouse will change to a "downward pointing arrow". By left double-clicking your mouse on the column header (or moved by using a single left-click of the mouse and then dragging the column to a new location) you can change the sort order of the table. For example, left double-click on the yield column which will position this as the left hand column. Sort the Current Asset List in either Ascending or Descending order by selecting the appropriate radial dial. The list will be resorted, based on the far-left column field, in either ascending or descending order.

You can filter the Master Asset Library to show all securities in the current asset library, or filter by specific portfolio by clicking the drop down arrow to the right of the filter box, selecting the portfolio, and then selecting the Go! Button.

Use the Default Settings button to restore the asset library table to pre-defined column widths and order.

Print Library: use this button to print a list of assets in the current asset library.

Internet Research: immediately access the Internet for free stock research and news. You can find fundamental variables, recent quotes, industry classifications, company news, technical analysis and much more for the currently selected security.

Delete Not Held: The Delete Not Held Assets feature will "clean-up" your Current Asset List. This feature scans the system, showing those assets without any Current Position records, in any of your portfolios. These assets can then be marked as necessary for deletion. Tip: even though an asset is removed from the Current Asset List, portfolio transaction records (sale, income, original, etc.) recorded in individual portfolio(s) are retained in the portfolio(s). These records are maintained for proper reporting. Deleting from the Master will not affect historical portfolio transaction records.
 
Add: use this button to add securities to the current asset library. You can use this feature to add securities to the list which are not held in any of your portfolios.

68

Support / Using IAM's Utility Program to Repair the Program

« Last post by Peter Willms on August 16, 2018, 11:30:42 AM »

Investment Account Manager's Utility Program is designed to fix problems that might occur when an error is caused by abnormal shut-down, conflict with another program such as a firewall or anti-virus, etc. The utilities repairs these types of issues, as well as providing solutions to other issues.

To access the Utility Program:

Close IAM if it is open.
Select Windows Start Menu | then all apps (programs).
Find the Investment Account Manager 3 program group and open it.
Within the program group, click on IAM3 Utilities.

The following repair utilities are available:

Backup Data: This utility allows you to backup your data from outside IAM. Useful if you cannot open IAM, and do not have a recent backup.

Delete Backup Directories: This will delete the backup directories that you choose. Useful if you wish to cleanup your backup folder. Backups are sorted by date.

Fix Portfolio Memo Fields: If you are getting an error that shows that the memo file is missing or invalid, run this utility. This is error 41.

Pak and Re-index Database: Packing files removes deleted records and compacts notes and data. This will reduce the size of the files and speed up the program.

Portfolio Diagnostic: This diagnostic tool will scan all portfolios in Investment Account Manager, identifying discrepancies between the quantity shown on reports and the quantity calculated on the Portfolio Activity Ledger.

Register Crystal Controls: If you can't get reports to display, you may need to re-register the Crystal Reports controls. This program should find the correct directory to register these controls. You must have administrator privileges to register these controls. When starting the utility program, right-click and choose "Run as Admin".

Register OLE Controls (run as administrator): Re-register all of the OLE (object linking and embedding system to link databases and programs) controls. You must have administrator privileges to register OLE controls. When starting the utility program, right-click and choose "Run as Admin". If the IAM's calculator tool and/or calculator aren't working.

Remove Your Password: This will remove the password from the Investment Account Manager program.

Repair Corrupted Files: If you can't open the program because the program says that it is already running, this should correct the problem. It will also fix other database problems that might prevent you from opening IAM3.

Repair Database: If your program will not open and you get a message that says "File ... rk.dbc does not exist", this might fix the database. It will also fix other database problems that might prevent you from opening IAM3. NOTE: It will not work if you have never packed your database.

Update Program: If you downloaded a newer version of the program, but the program will not update because it is installed under \Program Files, use this program to install the update.

NOTE: You must change the "Unzip to Folder" to the directory where your Investment Account Manager program was installed.

View Error Log: If a program error occurs while using Investment Account Manager, an entry of the error is automatically created in the error log. Any error can be printed or saved to your clipboard to send to technical support.



 

69

Reporting / Batch Reporting with Investment Account Manager

« Last post by Peter Willms on August 16, 2018, 11:05:02 AM »

Batch Reporting
 
The Batch Reporting feature allows users to produce a series of reports for a selected list of portfolios.  Users can define which portfolios to include, and what reports, for specific time periods.

Select Portfolios: select the portfolio(s) to be used for the batch reporting process.  Use the Mark All or Clear All button to select/clear portfolios.

Select Reports: select reports to be used for the batch reporting process.  Use the Mark All or Clear All button to select/clear reports.

Report Period: depending on the selected report, users can select the reporting period for the batch reporting process.  This includes All Dates, Predefined Date Ranges, Custom Date Ranges, or As of Date. 

Start Date: starting date range for selected report period.

End Date: ending date range for selected reporting period.

Report Choice: depending on the selected report, check the additional reporting option as available.  These include: By Monthly Totals, By Holding Period, and Exclude Options. 

Margins: set report margins.

Include Printer Setup: use this option to be prompted with the printer setup dialogue form prior to printing reports. You'll be able to select a specific printer, quality preferences, and other printer options.

Preview Reports: use this option to view a preview of the report prior to printing.

Export to PDF: use this option to create PDF output of the selected batch report(s).

 

70

Fundamental Analysis Tools / Fundamental Analysis Ratios - IAM - Defined

« Last post by Forum Administrator on August 16, 2018, 09:53:07 AM »

The following fundamental ratios will be derived using the data in the Current Asset Library.  These ratios are displayed on the Asset Library Menu | Current Asset library | Valuation Ratios tab.  Additionally, the Fundamentals tab found on IAM's Home Page which also displays this information for the open portfolio.

Current Yield %: if you are an investor seeking income as well as growth, current yield will indicate if the company is paying a dividend, and if the rate of payment is sufficient to meet your requirements. Current yield is calculated by the current dividend per share divided by current market price. Dividend yield is a useful measurement that can be compared to the yield on alternative investments i.e., T-Bills, Money Market Funds, Stocks, etc.) in order to select investments based on their ability to generate investment income. The dividend yield can provide an indication of the safety of the dividend. For example, a higher dividend yield may indicate that the market anticipates lower earnings and a subsequent dividend cut, and this expectation has resulted in a lower market price.

Cash Flow/Current Dividend: the cash flow/current dividend relationship is important because at times, for any number of reasons, a company may not be "earning" their yearly dividend. Investors worried about the sustainability of the dividend should be concerned if the cash flow per share covers the dividend. This is because dividends (and the earning power of a company) are really dependent on the cash flow generated by a firm. The larger the value produced by the ratio, the more secure the dividend.

Dividend Payout Ratio %: this ratio shows what percentage a company is paying out its earnings (current dividends per share divided by current earnings per share. In general, the lower the number, the more secure the dividend. When the current payout ratio is below historical norms, a company will often times gradually increase the rate of dividend growth (resulting in a faster rising current dividend rate) in an effort to get back on track with their history. Likewise, if the current payout ratio is higher than historical norms, a company will gradually decrease the rate of dividend growth (resulting in a slower rising current dividend rate) in an effort to reduce the payout ratio to historical levels.

Dividend Payout Ratio % 2: this ratio shows an estimate of the forward-looking company payout (current dividends per share divided by projected earnings per share). Comparing the current payout ratio to the projected payout ratio can provide insight into the security of the dividend rate, the expected growth of the dividend rate, as well as the direction of earnings per share.

Price/Earnings (P/E): perhaps the most frequently used ratio to judge the degree of valuation for a security, P/E is simply current market price divided current earnings per share. Some general guidelines in the use of the P/E ratio include:

• The future level of the P/E ratio can be viewed as a function of the current P/E ratio or an average P/E ratio over some period of time.

• The P/E ratio is a function of future expected earnings. The higher the growth rate of earnings expected, the higher the current P/E ratio. An investor will be willing to pay a higher price for a dollar of current earnings if earnings are expected to grow at a much higher rate in the future.

• P/E ratios can change radically and suddenly because of a change in the expected growth rate of earnings. Therefore, the greater the expected stability in the growth rate of earnings per share, the higher the P/E.

• P/E ratios tend to be inversely correlated with inflation.

• High interest rates tend to reduce P/E ratios.

• The higher the P/E ratio relative to the market, the higher the risk.

• P/E ratios vary by industry.

Projected P/E: Projected P/E is simply current market price divided by projected earnings per share. Look for the projected P/E ratio to be less than the current P/E ratio. If the projected P/E is lower, it must be due to higher projected earnings for the stock, a desired condition. If the projected P/E is higher, it must be due to lower projected earnings for the stock, a negative condition. Be sure to compare the projected P/E with the average P/E of past years for an indication of future performance.

PEG Ratio: one of the "Famous Numbers" from Peter Lynch's book One Up On Wall Street4, this relationship compares earnings growth with the price/earnings ratio, the principle being that the market values a stock so that it sells at a price that reflects its earnings potential. The PEG ratio is derived by the Current P/E Ratio ÷ Projected Earnings Growth %. The higher the expected growth rate of earnings, the higher the current P/E ratio ought to be. In general, the P/E ratio of a company that is fairly priced will equal its growth rate. If the P/E ratio is less than the growth rate, the PEG value will be less than 1.0, suggesting a possible bargain; if the P/E ratio is greater than the growth rate, the PEG value will be greater than 1.0, suggesting a premium is being paid for the security. If the PEG ratio is above 1.5, the security may be vulnerable to a sharp drop in price if earnings per share growth departs from investor's expectations.

Market Price/Cash Flow per Share & Return on Cash Flow %: Market price/cash flow per share gives an indication of what ratio a stock is trading at in relation to the cash flow being generated from operations after all cash expenses have been subtracted. To better understand this ratio, the inverse of the ratio can be used to derive the return on cash flow.6 For example, a $10 stock with $1 per share in annual cash flow has a 10-to-1 ratio. The inverse of this 10-to-1 ratio, 10 percent, closely matches the ten percent that an investor expects to receive for owning stocks long term. A $20 stock with a $4 per share cash flow gives a 20 percent return on cash. Look for companies that, given a high sustainable cash flow per share (preferably free cash flow per share), result in an attractive return on cash flow percent.

Market Price/Book Value per Share: the market price/book value ratio gives an idea of how a security is trading in relation to its book value. A low relative market price to book value ratio usually suggests that the company is undervalued. This is because a company's book value represents, all else being equal, the value at which a firm always has the option to liquidate, or sell-off of its assets. A low market-to-book value ratio is seen as providing a "margin of safety" and in some cases, is considered the "floor" supporting the market price. However, it should be noted that as some companies adopt more creative accounting policies and/or as the rules of FASB (Federal Accounting Standards Board) change, the resulting book value may not accurately reflect the market values of assets. Also, the productivity of assets, the combination of assets and entrepreneurial ability often create greater earnings and greater values than the book value of the assets suggests. When considering book value, use a reliable source that provides a good understanding of market values of assets.

Return On Equity: this value shows how much is being earned each year by the company, where the higher the percent returned, the better for the investor (note: a high debt level can also increase ROE, however the return will be riskier). Return on equity is computed by dividing earnings per share by book value per share. As a growth investor, you want to see steady or rising return on equity.