Investment Management Using Portfolio Management Software

What Is Investment Management

Investment Management is defined as management of various securities and assets in a professional manner, so as to meet certain specified goals of the Investors.

Securities are commonly known as shares, stocks, bonds etc.

Assets can include real estate, jewelry etc. Investors are either institutions such as insurance companies or corporations, or private investors such as individuals.

Thus, an Investment Portfolio is the list of the financial investments held by an investor taken collectively.

What Is Investment Portfolio Management

Investment Portfolio Management is the process in which an investment portfolio is acquired and maintained. There are various professionals (individuals and organizations) which specialize in this function.

They advise their clients about the securities and assets that may be acquired, and when they may be disposed of for a profit, or to avoid a loss. Most professional investment portfolio managers even do this process themselves, for their clients.

Another thing for an investor to consider is the term of investment. This refers to the amount of time he is looking for to generate his financial objectives. So the investor can either be looking for short term, medium term or long term goals which will give him quick returns, steady returns and long range returns respectively.

It is the job of the investment portfolio manager professional to ensure that such returns are gained by the investor.

Ideally, these portfolio managers suggest investing in a portfolio which will ensure all the three types of returns from all the three types of terms of investment. This ensures an ‘all rounder’ portfolio which will benefit the investor on various levels. Thus, they advise clients ‘not to put all their eggs in one basket’ and diversify their investments into different forms.

Thus, these professionals need to be very proficient at what they do. They must be aware of the varying trends of the market, the underlying forces in the market trends, different aspects of financial analysis etc. There are even different learning institutions offering a variety of courses, degrees and certifications for becoming a qualified investment portfolio manager.

Role Of Investment Portfolio Management Software

Today’s world of emerging technologies has also evolved to create softwares which will help investors manage their investment portfolios. To illustrate this fact, let us look at the different features which most investment portfolio management softwares will provide.

A good investment portfolio management software will often offer the following features:

• Management of Investment Records: A software will help you keep a record of the investments made and disposed of with dates and times, often linking to the exact trades. This record helps you when you are calculating your monthly or annual income from the portfolio.
• Accounting: Different types of accounting methods will often be supported by the software, thus helping the investor at the times when he has to do financial record keeping for paying his tax returns.
• Different Portfolios: A investment portfolio management software will often have the facility of making and storing relevant information for a number of portfolios. So an investor may keep separate records of his short term, medium term and long term investments, or even certain goal-specific investments (like tax saving oriented investments, or house purchase oriented investments). A good software will often offer numerous to unlimited number of such portfolios to be made and maintained.
• Real Time Prices: A investment portfolio management software will most often show real time prices of the shares and stocks in the market in which the investor is dealing in. This real time price ticker may also incorporate several features such as tracking the shares which the investor has invested in, or is tracking for future investment purposes. The graph may also show various markers for ‘Buy’ or ‘Sell’ prices. For this purpose though, the investor must be connected to the Internet.
• Financial and Technical Analyses Graphs: The investment portfolio management software will also show the real time information of the share prices in the form of different charts based on different types of financial analysis methods (such as a 12 month moving average chart). A good software will offer several of the preferred charting methods, and an option for the investor to choose the method as and when he wants. The charts can also show historical data for the investor to conduct his own analysis.
• Real Time Price Alerts: While making a trade using the software, the investor must be able to specify certain price alerts such as stop loss, buy and sell. As soon as the trade occurs, the investor must be alerted (either with a pop-up window) if he is online at the time, or with e-mail or mobile alerts (if he is not online).
• Support For Multiple Currency Trades: For investors who trade in global markets, a software must support multiple currency trades.
• Generation Of Various Types Of Reports: The software must offer a variety of reports which can be printed out for record keeping or for the purposes of filing tax returns. Most of the softwares offer this feature. So depending on the kind of reports you want, the investment portfolio management software that you choose to buy must offer those reports.
• Try Before You Buy Feature: This is probably one of the important features of a investment portfolio management software which one can download and purchase over the Internet. This feature allows the investor to download a trial version of the software, and try it out for a few days to see if the features etc. offered are in line with what he is looking for. If they are, then the investor has to make a payment and then unlock the software so that he can continue to use it beyond the trial period. Thus, the investor doesn’t end up buying a software which he finds is not what he is looking for, or is not comfortable using.

The investment portfolio management software should thus make the life of the investor easier and simpler, where once he keys in his trade, the software takes care of the rest. And at the end of the day, he can see the records of what he has done and how much money he has made.