61

Talking Stocks, Funds and ETFs / Portfolio Building 101

« Last post by Peter Willms on November 11, 2019, 01:14:01 PM »

When building investment portfolios the utmost importance must be given to several critical questions.

What is the objective of the portfolio (i.e., retirement saving, college funding, etc.)?   
  >...Taxable or tax deferred portfolio?
What is the risk tolerance?
  >...How much volatility is tolerable?
What is the time horizon?
What are the income requirements?
Who is the portfolio manager?

Which type of portfolio are you building?
  >...Conservative for income: 75% fixed income, 15% equity, 10% cash
  >...Conservative for growth: 55% fixed income, 25% equity, 10% cash
  >...Moderately risk: 35% fixed income, 55% equity, 10% cash
  >...Aggressive risk: 25% fixed income, 65% equity, 10% cash
  >...Very aggressive risk: 90% equity, 10% equity

General rules:
  >...Younger investors usually are more risk tolerant than older investors due to portfolio time frame.
  >...Households with high income may be more risk tolerant.
  >...Equities are usually more risky than fixed income investments.
  >...Asset allocation has the greatest bearing on portfolio performance.
  >...Larger net worth portfolios may be more risk tolerant than smaller portfolios.

How to create the portfolio:
  >...What is the dollar amount of the portfolio?
  >...Invest dollars according to desired asset allocation mix.

Possible portfolio selections:

Fixed income ETFs-
   SPDR® Portfolio Intermediate Term Treasury ETF (SPTI)
   Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF (VGIT)
   SPDR® Portfolio Short Term Treasury ETF (SPTS)
   Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF (VGSH)

Equity ETFs-
   SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust (SPY)
   Vanguard Large-Cap ETF (VV)
   SPDR® S&P MIDCAP 400® ETF Trust (MDY)
   Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF (VO)
   SPDR® S&P® 600 Small Cap ETF (SLY)
   Vanguard Small-Cap ETF (VB)
   SPDR® Portfolio MSCI Global Stock Market ETF (SPGM)
   Vanguard ESG International Stock ETF (VSGX)
   SPDR® Portfolio Emerging Markets ETF (SPEM)
   Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO)

Ongoing maintenance - Regularly rebalance to stay within original asset class percentages.

Investment Account Manager software is designed to help investors build suitable, profitable portfolios.  We encourage interested investors try our free 90 demo version www.investmentaccountmanager.com.

Note: All asset allocation scenarios are for hypothetical purposes only and are not intended to represent a specific asset allocation strategy or recommend a particular allocation. Each investor's situation is unique and asset allocation decisions should be based on an investor's risk tolerance, time horizon, financial situation and market conditions. All investing is subject to risk, including the possible loss of the money you invest.

62

Announcements / Blog Post - The Inherent Value of Global Diversification

« Last post by Forum Administrator on November 01, 2019, 09:03:01 AM »

Highlights:
> Investors have a natural bias to invest domestically.
> Exposure to international stocks can improve portfolio performance over the long term.
> How best to invest internationally is a subject of considerable debate.

Ahh, home sweet home. That feeling of security and warmth of a place we are all so familiar with. For many of us, the house we grew up in is considered sacred as we have a powerful connection to the places and environment that shaped us. In fact, researchers using fMRI brain technology found key areas of emotional processing in the brain that are activated by places that individuals have strong emotional ties to....

https://www.investmentaccountmanager.com/products/the-inherent-value-of-global-diversification/

63

Announcements / Blog Post - The Purpose of Diversification: A Review of the Past 49 Years

« Last post by Forum Administrator on October 09, 2019, 10:18:16 AM »

Diversification is for folks who don’t know the future - which is all of us. Think of it this way, if you knew the future perfectly would you ever diversify your portfolio? Of course not. You would simply pick the single ticker that was destined to produce the highest return...     

https://www.investmentaccountmanager.com/products/the-purpose-of-diversification-a-review-of-the-past-49-years/

64

Announcements / Blog Post - Managing Your Investment Portfolio Roster

« Last post by Forum Administrator on September 10, 2019, 09:20:54 AM »

With the NFL 2019 season underway,  we here at Investment Account Manager thought to offer an approach for managing your investment portfolio, much like the general manager of an NFL team manages their team roster. Considering the holdings in your investment portfolio as your ‘roster’ may help you to identify the role of each holding within your portfolio...

https://www.investmentaccountmanager.com/products/managing-your-investment-portfolio-roster/

65

Announcements / Blog Post - Avoiding Investing Pitfalls...

« Last post by Forum Administrator on August 19, 2019, 10:08:58 AM »

Even the most experienced of investors, including professional advisors, occasionally overlook the fundamentals of investing, often resulting in negative consequences for their portfolios, and investing clients...

https://www.investmentaccountmanager.com/products/avoiding-investing-pitfalls/

66

General Discussion / Re: Mkt Price Taxable Bonds

« Last post by Forum Administrator on August 06, 2019, 09:24:29 AM »

Bob,

We do not offer any sort of automatic free pricing functions for corporate bonds, they are not available for automatic download, those would need to manually updated by you in the current asset library...

Matt

67

General Discussion / Re: Allocation = US Stocks NOT

« Last post by Forum Administrator on August 06, 2019, 09:23:12 AM »

You can define for a stock if it is foreign under the asset library menu | current asset library | select the stock | then the edit tab, to select the check box to classify as 'foreign security'.  If you have any additional questions, please contact our support team directly at techsupport@investmentaccountmanager.com.


Matt

68

General Discussion / Mkt Price Taxable Bonds

« Last post by mopat on July 31, 2019, 01:03:25 PM »

Have a number of corporate bonds in portfolios.

Their market prices do not seem to update.

I put their CUSIP in for symbol; is this correct/wrong?

Does software update these prices?

thanks, bob

69

General Discussion / Allocation = US Stocks NOT

« Last post by mopat on July 31, 2019, 01:00:33 PM »

Just started using your software; I did read through your forum pages, but (so far) could not figure out:

All stocks came out as "Asset Class--U.S. Stocks"

       For example:  Accenture ACN, Bank of Nova Scotia BNS, Nestles NSRGY, Telus TU are not US companies; am I missing something?

70

Options / Using Covered Calls With IAM3 Individual

« Last post by Forum Administrator on July 17, 2019, 10:56:09 AM »

Investment Account Manager 3 Individual:  Using Covered Call Options
 
Investment Account Manager 3 Individual can track both long and short option transactions. The use of options in an investment portfolio can help to reduce risk, increase leverage, or both. Given the market indices are at all-time highs, now might be an ideal time to consider using such strategies to improve your investment results.

One popular option strategy is known as covered call writing.  Using this strategy, the investor attempts to reduce portfolio risk and increase portfolio income by giving up potential future gains on a stock holding (all or partial) within the portfolio. In this strategy, the investor sells the right to another investor (selling a call), to buy the stock owned (underlying security) at a predetermined price (strike price) within a predetermined time period (expiration date) for an agreed upon price (option price is known as the option premium).   Using covered call options offers an effective strategy to reduce over concentrated positions in an effort to rebalance your portfolio to targeted goals.

For example, if an investor owns 400 shares of XYZ which currently trades at $100/share, the investor could sell 1 covered call option giving the right to another investor to 'call away' 100 shares of XYZ at $110/share within 90 days. The seller of the call might receive a premium of $4.00/share at the time of the sale. The receipt of the $400 ($4 x 100 shares) increases portfolio income, but also limits the potential gain on these 100 shares to $110 for the next 90 days.  If XYZ has become too over concentrated in your portfolio, this provides an effective way to reduce the position, while realizing some additional gains and premium income, should the option be exercised.

If you utilize options within your portfolio, you’ll be impressed with IAM3’s superior functionality in tracking option transactions, and handling the complicated tax treatment they may involve. Option costs, pricing and values are maintained. And whether the call option is either closed by the seller, expires worthless, or is exercised by the buyer of the option, IAM3 Individual will accurately make all necessary tax and underlying stock basis adjustments automatically to satisfy record keeping requirements.

NOTE: An investor using options MUST have their investment account approved for option transactions. Before doing so, your financial institution will provide option information to help you understand the characteristics and risks of options. There are many sources for further information regarding option strategies. One of the best can be found at the Chicago Board of Options Exchange website - http://www.cboe.com/education/getting-started.