Comprehensive Asset Allocation Software |
| Site Information (is listed below. The financial planning software modules are on the right-side column) Confused? It Makes More Sense if You Start at the Home Page Price List of All Financial Planning Software Modules How to Buy Money Software in General Discounts on Financial Plan Software for Financial Planning Advisers and Money Managers New Financial Planner Starter Kit Professional Investment Portfolio Building Kit Financial Plan Software Support Financial Planning Software Updates Site Info, History, Ordering Security, Privacy, FAQs Questions About Asset Allocation Software? Call (800) 658-1824 or Send E-mail to support@toolsformoney.com Free Downloads and Money Tools Free Sample Comprehensive Financial Plans Free Financial Software Downloads, Investing Tips, and Tutorials List of Free Financial Plan Module Demos Selected Links to Other Relevant Money Websites The World's Best Free Retirement Calculator Other Free Retirement Calculators List of Most All Free 401k Calculators Free Bond Yield to Maturity Calculator Our Free Financial Calculators |
Prices and ordering information are at the bottom. The Investment Models and this Comprehensive Asset Allocation Software are two different programs
Guideline Asset Allocation Mix
Calculators This is a do-it-yourself money management system for individual investors and the only complete (non-model-based) turnkey investment portfolio building system for financial professionals. It's the "only one" because it performs many valuable functions that others don't, as you can read about on the financial software reviews. So if you're thinking that NaviPlan, MoneyTree, or MoneyGuidePro allows you to do this high-value work with their primitive and barely-functional asset allocation modules, you are very much mistaken! Individual investors will need to open their own discount brokerage account and make their own trades, as we don't custody client accounts like a local adviser. What a turnkey system means is that all you have to do is insert the key (buy it), and then turn the crank (read the directions), and the machine spits out the finished product all ready to use in the Real World (actual investment portfolios).
This image sums this investment strategy up better than anything else: Summary This Excel-based asset allocation software is used for best matching an investment portfolio to an individual investor's life. For investors managing their own money, you are the client in the text below. For investment advisors: After fact finding, you input client life factors to calculate the recommended percentages of eight major asset classes. Then you input investments currently held. The difference between what they should hold vs. currently hold is displayed. Then you shuffle investments around in the proposed section to generate the recommended portfolio. You can input future assumed rates of return, changes to the mix, contributions, and withdrawals to project portfolio values into the future. Then all of the usual asset allocation information, charts, and portfolio statistics are displayed for evaluation. Program Operation in Detail The color-coding and arrangement of the major asset classes makes it easier to understand. Asset classes go from safe to risky as you read left to right. Also, safer asset classes are blue and risky assets are red. The first few sheets calculate an investor's general asset allocation guideline. In English, what percent they should hold in each major asset class; like cash, bonds, stocks, and international. Each allocation mix calculator uses slightly different life factor combinations to calculate the recommended mixes. There is a matrix for working individuals (and couples without children), working families, and retired investors. These mix calculators use the five most important life factors that determine how someone should spread their money between major asset classes. The most important is Investment risk tolerance category, found by using an investment fact finder. These matrices generate ~500 different asset allocation mixes - more than any other asset allocating program. This is why there are no historical returns posted, like there are for the investing models. After calculating the recommended allocation mix, you then input currently held investments. Here you can account for all of the investors' holdings at the same time (all personal and tax-qualified accounts for everyone). Other investment software usually can't accommodate this, so important investments are usually just left out (real estate rentals, collections, privately-held stock, etc.). This discombobulation causes many problems, resulting in not holding the recommended mix, which results in sub-par performance. What investments you want to input are not limited to what's in a database (like Morningstar and most everything else). Just so you know, this investor software does not come with an investment database, so you cannot do things like input tickers, and then see historical returns or past data on any investment. The calculated portfolio mix is then compared to the allocation mix currently held. Discrepancies display in both dollars and percentages for each asset class. This guides shuffling investments around to reach the proposed allocation mix, and justifies replacing poorly-performing investments. The proposed new portfolio can be as close to the calculated mix as you want. It can also be way off to accommodate various constraints, and that's fine. It shows how much money is in personal, qualified, and combined portfolios by asset class. It also generates guideline, current, and proposed pie charts to show where the portfolio is now, where it should be, and how to get there. Portfolio Projections and Forecasts These sheets provide complete control over all parameters 75-years into the future. No other investment software allows you to evaluate portfolios in this much detail. The Future Data Input sheet allows total control of: Contributions and withdrawals by asset class in each of the 75 years. Totals for everything are displayed by asset class. You can control exactly where money comes from and where it goes every year. This allows you to evaluate strategies like living off fixed income during retirement, while letting equities grow untouched. It allows you to change the asset class mix for both current and proposed portfolios independently in each of the 75 years. This is useful for evaluating strategies like becoming more conservative in later years. You have total control over how both current and proposed portfolios grow. In each of the 75 years, you can set the rate of return to be different for all eight asset classes. This automatically performs annual rebalancing because it takes the ending year's balance, and then divides it by the manually input mix (or defaults to the base mix), when it calculates the next year's allocation. Being able to control these three parameters allows you to evaluate the long-term effects of different investment strategies like no other asset allocation software can. After this future data is input, you can see the annual results on the Asset Class Returns Forecaster sheet. It displays: 75 years of growth, after contributions and withdrawals, using different assumed asset class returns and allocation mixes. Both the weighted and unweighted returns of current and proposed portfolios. Both dollar and percent change of current and proposed portfolios from the previous year. This sheet makes it easy to compare different scenarios, because it combines all future assumptions together in a logical format. The Asset Returns sheet allows you to enter a different rate of return for every asset / investment independently. It displays: Each investment's percentage of all personal and qualified assets, and the total portfolio. This is also shown for current and proposed portfolios. Both weighted and unweighted returns of current and proposed portfolios. This is also broken down into personal and qualified. The percentage both personal and qualified portfolios are of the combined portfolio. This is also shown for current and proposed portfolios. Comparisons of current and projected portfolio rates of return so you can see the effects on the whole portfolio when you swap out just one investment. The Asset Forecaster sheet then uses this asset level data to forecast the portfolios for 75 years, both in numeric and graphical form. This enables you to evaluate the long-term effects of making one trade. Portfolio Statistics Calculators This is a very scaled-down version of most portfolio optimizers / analytics software selling for over $1,000. It displays: The custom reference asset's: Beta, Alpha (Jensen), R-squared, Treynor Ratio, and Sharpe Ratio. The reference used for these comparisons can be any of the four benchmarks (S&P 500, Barclays Aggregate Bond, MSCI EAFE, or even a custom benchmark that you would manually input). Statistics from a user-defined benchmark index. This allows you to compare the custom reference asset to anything you want. The custom benchmark index, and/or the custom reference asset, can be one investment or a portfolio of hundreds. This allows you to input investments to see how they've moved compared to the major asset classes (or the custom benchmark) over selected time frames. This helps decide whether or not adding the investment will make a portfolio perform better or worse (AKA more efficient or optimized). If it has low correlations and good returns, then adding the investment will reduce the portfolio's overall risk and probably increase returns at the same time. Correlation coefficients (r) of the reference asset compared to the S&P 500, Barclays Aggregate Bond Index, the MSCI EAFE Int'l stock index, and your custom benchmark index. Calculating these numbers was the main reason for building the sheet - to let you input investments and see how they've moved compared to the major asset classes over time frames that you can select (on a quarterly basis going back to 1976). Average / Median / Minimum / Maximum rates of return and standard deviation over the selected time frame. Growth of any amount of money over the selected time frame. This displays similar information as old Ibbotson charts showing "Growth of $10,000" since a very long time ago. It's updated monthly for the S&P 500, Barclays Aggregate Bond Index, MSCI EAFE Int'l stock index, our Moderate Model, and our Moderate Model funded with benchmark indices. Our Moderate Asset Allocation Model's monthly returns (since inception of January 1999) are input into the Reference Asset's input area. This is so you can see the portfolio statistics of a portfolio that's being used in the Real World. Then the same Moderate Model funded with appropriate benchmark indices is input into the Custom Benchmark area. This shows an example of allowing the proper calculation of portfolio statistics, like alpha, of investment strategies. You would delete these returns and input data for portfolios, or assets, that you're evaluating. Graphs 16 graphs are set to display 25-years of data, and you can change them to display any range in the 75-year window. They are all totally under your control, and show: Growth of both current and proposed portfolios by asset class. It uses a stacked area graph so you can see detailed growth by asset class. A simple graph to show Current vs. Proposed annual portfolio values. An annual net contribution and withdrawal graph. A bar graph to display current and proposed annual rates of return. Pie charts showing asset allocation mix snapshots. Four-asset class mix tables for current, guideline, and proposed portfolios. Forecasted current and proposed allocation mix pie charts for years 5, 10, 15, and 20. You're able to change which years they display. There's no protection, so you can change anything and make all of the new charts and graphs you want to. Unique Strengths of this Asset Allocation Software We listened, and all of the features you've been asking for are done. So if you can think of a feature that isn't on the demo, and doesn't have anything to do with going online, a portfolio optimizer, or database of historical returns, then you'd get a free copy (if we decide to add it). The most valuable feature, that other vendors don't have, is that it allows you to produce portfolios that are ready to be implemented in the Real World. Other than having a database of historic asset returns and a portfolio optimizer, this investment software does everything, and more, compared to other vendors. To get these missing functions requires spending $750 to $2,500 more (and then paying that over and over annually to keep it working). FYI: Asset allocation software that claims to have a Monte Carlo simulator, is just using the wrong terminology. The correct terminology is portfolio optimizer. We use Morningstar Principia for their mutual fund database to pick the mutual funds every month, and that's all. It costs around $675 annually, and they raise their prices ~15% every year. The point is between Principia and our money software; you're able to perform most all of the needed portfolio management functions (other than trading, as you'll still need to hire a discount broker, or for advisors, a custodian for that because we don't hold or work with client money). If you just have Principia (or any other investment software), then you'll still have to develop your own money management strategy to do anything useful with it. Morningstar Principia allows you to input, model, backtest, see and compare all of the useless past portfolio statistics (like beta), but you'll still have to come up with, and then input an investment strategy first. It does not do this for you. Even if it did, then you also still have to choose funding vehicles to fund the asset classes / strategy, as it doesn't do that either. It's the tool used to help evaluate and select one investment vehicle over another, but it's just a tool, it's not going to make any recommendations about anything at all for you. Having Morningstar but with no strategy to model is like putting a teenager in the cockpit of the space shuttle and expecting it to fulfill a space mission and come back in one piece. All of the power, tools, controls, and vast computer databases to do the jobs are there, but.... This investing software gives you both a flexible investment strategy, and the funding vehicle recommendations, but doesn't have the database needed to evaluate strategies, nor the investment vehicles used to fund it (AKA backtesting or historical modeling). Here's the short version of why that's not needed anyway: "Past performance is no indication of future performance." In other words, you can use Principia's (and the best optimizer's) vast databases and spend hundreds of hours selecting a perfectly optimized funded investment strategy that beat everything else on the planet over X time frame. The problem with that is when you actually buy it in the Real World, there's a 75% chance that just having a monkey throw darts at several Vanguard Index funds will outperform it going forward. You can pretty much guarantee that anything that worked in the past will not work out near as well as you thought it would in the future. We know because that's exactly what we did for a living full-time from '92 to '03 - which all led to the creation of both this software and the investing models. The bottom line is that everything that looks cool using past data will usually always fail miserably when implemented in the Real World. Yes, this means that most all backtesting is both futile and useless. You won't even need Principia if you have our system, because everything is already done for you. The only other thing you or your practice may need is portfolio management and CRM software. What we feel nobody should use is a portfolio optimizer or a Monte Carlo simulator for investment management or retirement planning. Detailed accounting of everything investors' hold is needed to match portfolios to their lives. Being able to input and evaluate an investor's total holdings, and not being limited to only investments the vendor allows or is in their database, is extremely valuable. This is also critical for managing risk. This is the only asset allocating software that will allow you to account for and evaluate an investor's complete picture all at once. When you only account for investments that you're getting paid for, this tips investors off that you only care about making money from them. When you account for everything (e.g., their 401ks), then it tips them off that you do actually care about them as clients. With our investing software you're free to use individual securities (stocks and bonds), ETFs, real estate, life insurance sub-accounts, closed-end funds, index funds, CDs / checking accounts, 401(k) funding options, non-publicly traded securities, coin collections, hedge funds, or any kind of derivative like options. This is the only asset allocator system that gives you complete control over the entire process. You can rename the eight major asset classes to be whatever you want, instead of being stuck with what the vendor limits you to. You can also delete or add major asset classes. Inside of the major asset classes, you can use unlimited sub-asset classes. For example, inside the far right major asset class (bucket) we recommend mutual funds for seven sub-asset classes. You can define what life criteria are used to calculate the mix, and what the mix of asset classes will be, by changing the numbers on the calculation matrices. Recommended allocation mixes are now under your control. This means you can show prospects how they were generated instead of having to say, "I don't know why you should have 10% in high yield bonds, the computer did it!" People prefer transparency to mysteries, so this will help raise your closing ratio. You are free to have your proposals be different than what the program recommends. Other investing software only prints out hard-wired presentation data that can't be customized. With ours, you can use your own judgment to modify everything - including the program's recommendations (which is why they're just called Guidelines). Once the current portfolio is input, then you shuffle investments around in the proposed section until what you recommend matches the guideline asset allocation mix. The accuracy is up to you. You can propose holding 12.1% or 50% of something when the calculated mix calls for 20%, and it doesn't matter. Being off like this helps wake people up if they don't want to sell a large holding that they should. If they insist on holding too much of something, having the report show their mix being way out of balance usually results in them reconsidering. In most cases, the wise one reads the text that explains the reports, and wakes the stubborn one up. You make more money when this happens, because it means more assets under your management. You have complete control over making the program fit your way of doing things. You can edit, move, add, delete anything; insert text or pictures of people smiling, or whatever you want to make it work for you. With other investment software, all you can do is input, click print, then you're stuck with whatever it prints out. It's just a mostly-unprotected Excel spreadsheet, so you have total control over the printed reports. This allows you to control any Real World situation that will come up. Now you can manage money, and investment managers, the way you want without any limitations. This also helps allow clients to understand what you're doing. The level of detail when it comes to breaking down investments into asset classes is up to you. You can distribute the contents of an investment like a mutual fund into asset classes it actually holds, or just ignore it by putting everything into one asset class. For example, if a large-cap growth fund is really 5% cash, 10% value, 75% growth, and 10% int'l stocks, you can account for this detail. Or you can put 100% into the large-cap growth bucket to keep it simple. You also have total control over how both current and proposed portfolios grow in the future, because you control each asset class, or each investment, over the 75-year window. This accounts for contributions, withdrawals, changes in asset class mix, and rates of return. It's visually logical and makes more sense than other investment software. Proposed investments that are slated for reduction or sale are one color, and investments that are slated to be bought or added to, are another. This color-coding makes it easy to understand then convert recommendations into trades. The differences in the projected current and proposed portfolio values stand out like a sore thumb via numbers and charts. This makes it fast, easy, and logical to get critical bottom lines across. This then translates into Real World action. Read about importing investment holdings data from the web How to get around compliance if they don't approve our money management systems Download the Free Asset Allocator Demo To download the demo, right click on the link below,
and then choose "Save (Target) As..." to save to your hard drive. Then find it and open with Excel. Download the non-functional Asset Allocation Software "demo" The free sample comprehensive financial plans show the asset allocation reports in PFD and thus prints better than the demo Download a Word docx that explains asset allocation and the reports to clients and prospects It helps to have the directions printed out while you look the demo over Here's another very old backup piece that helps explain investment terms Be sure to see the sheet that shows what colors should look like. What You'll Get: The big comprehensive asset allocation tool. The small asset allocator tool, which uses the same methodology but only has five asset classes. It also does not have the Sources and Applications of Funds section, forecasting sheets, nor portfolio statistics calculators. It's not shown in the demo, but a demo will be included in your order as an example. The asset distribution calculating tools, as discussed on this page, are also included. The Mutual Fund Picks are included monthly for one year. The Investor Models and then this Comprehensive Asset Allocation Software are two different programs, with different pricing tables. So the most asked question is, "What's the Difference Between this Asset Allocation Software and the Asset Allocation Models?" With the asset allocation software, unlike allocation models which exist before someone is around to invest in them, the investor submits various life factors needed to calculate a custom allocation mix that reflects their life situation. So it's not just using one of a few generic pre-existing model allocations (there's dozens of asset class mix combinations). Model portfolios only take one life factor into account - investment risk tolerance category. This is determined by filling out and scoring multiple-choice questions in an investment fact finder. There's little-to-no "work" involved. You just determine risk tolerance, allocate money according to the model's asset class weights, and then make the trades. The asset allocation calculator also takes risk tolerance into account as the most important factor in determining the mix, but it also uses a few more life factors. The current investment mix is then compared to the recommended mix of asset classes. Then investments are shuffled around to create the proposed mix (the new investment recommendations, AKA proposed snapshot). It then displays current and proposed snapshots that can be analyzed and compared. Then future projections can be made given various assumptions. This allows complete control over every aspect of the asset allocation process. Model portfolios only show investment recommendations (the proposed snapshot), and mostly ignores the currently-held investment portfolio. So with the comprehensive asset allocation software, there's work involved in creating an investment portfolio that's custom tailored to fit the investor's life. This makes it best suited for larger clients that are paying enough to make it worth doing the extra work (or doing it for your own money). Our portfolio models only use 16 asset classes, and the asset allocation calculator accommodates an unlimited amount (but we screen mutual funds for 21). The models have less asset classes to minimize the amount of money needed to buy everything. It's currently ~$100k to buy the Moderate Model (less for the other models because they don't use every asset class). You don't subscribe to the allocation software, because it doesn't change monthly. It's best to subscribe to the models to keep portfolios updated with both fresh funding vehicles and allocation changes (and new models). Both systems let you use only your favorite mutual fund families. For example several, like Fidelity, Vanguard, T. Rowe Price, and Oppenhiemer, have over a dozen asset classes. For DIY investors, the choice of using the investing models or the asset allocation software shouldn't be governed by how much money you have. It should only depend on how much time and work you're willing to put into matching the portfolio to your life. Using the portfolio models is fast, easy, and simple. Once you know your risk tolerance category, everything is done except making the trades. The asset allocation calculator is much more complex, and will take an extra minimum hour to create your investment portfolio, but it will match your life much better. Disclaimer: This financial plan software is designed to allow financial planners, investment managers, other financial services professionals, and investors, to demonstrate and evaluate various financial strategies in order to help achieve their clients', or their own financial goals. Investment strategies, results and any other information presented on the website are for education and research purpose only. There are no guarantees that any of the software will perform this function. The investment choices and services on this site are provided as general information only, and are not intended to provide investment, tax, legal, financial planning, or other advice. This site is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security, which may be referred herein. Mutual fund recommendations made are suggestions only, and customers should evaluate the suitability of each fund for their own holdings on their own or seek professional advice. They are generic in nature and do not take into account your detailed and complete personal financial facts and needs. You alone are responsible for evaluating the information provided and to decide which securities and strategies are suitable for your own financial risk profile and expectations. Consult with your financial, legal, or tax advisor with regard to your individual situation. Toolsformoney.com is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, tax, or other professional advice. In no event shall Toolsformoney.com be liable to customers for any damages whatsoever, including lost profits or savings, missed gains, or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use, or inability to use, any of the software or information obtained from this website. Financial estimates are generated by using many assumptions made by the program, clients, advisors, and the user. No person or software program can predict the future with any degree of certainty. No warranty as to correctness is given and no liability is accepted for any error, or omission, or any loss which may arise from relying upon data generated from reports produced by these programs. Toolsformoney.com makes no warranty of any kind regarding our site and/or any contents, strategies, portfolios, materials, information, products and services provided on our site, all of which are provided on an as is basis. We disclaim any representation and warranty that our site and its contents, strategies, portfolios, materials, information, products and services are error-free, secure or uninterrupted. We further disclaim any warranty to the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of any content, information and services provided by our site. In no event shall Toolsformoney.com be liable to you or any other party, for any special, consequential or incidental damages suffered by you or such other party as a result of any problems that may arise because of the installation or improper use of this software or presentation of reports produced by this software. All reports generated by this financial planning software are only rough estimates of many possible future scenarios (none of which will occur in the Real World). Furthermore, in no event shall Toolsformoney.com be liable for any damages or injury caused by any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, computer virus, communication line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, alteration of, or use of record, whether for breach of contract, tortuous behavior, negligence, or under any other cause of action. Before investing in an ETF or mutual fund, carefully consider the investing objectives, risks, charges and expenses. For a prospectus containing this and other important information, contact the mutual fund / ETF and read the prospectus carefully before investing. The website is not operated by a broker, a dealer, a registered financial planner or a registered investment adviser. Information provided by the website could be time-sensitive and out of date. There is no guarantee for accuracy and completeness for the contents on the website. Contents are subject to change without notice. There is no guarantee for future results in your investment and any other actions based on the information provided on the website including but not limited strategies, portfolios, articles, performance data and results of any tools. |
Financial Planning Software Modules For Sale (are listed below) Financial Planning Software that's Fully-Integrated Retirement Planning Software Menu: Something for Everyone Asset Allocation Models with Investment Track Record Monthly Updated Mutual Fund Picks TVM Financial Tools and Free Financial Calculators Financial Planning Fact Finders Investment Policy Statement Software Bond Calculators for Duration, Convexity, YTM, Accretion, and Amortization Life Insurance Needs Calculator Rental Real Estate Analysis Software Marketing Seminar for Financial Planners Free Personal Budget Software and 75-year Cash Flow Projector Our Unique Financial Services Fee-only Hourly Financial Planning Consulting Using Custom Benchmark Portfolios to Compare Investment Performance Free Financial Planner Directory Coaching for Financial Planners Listings for Buying or Selling a Financial Planning Practice Miscellaneous Pages of Interest Why We're Better at Financial Planning Software: Reviews, Evaluations, and Comparisons Most Everything Important to Know About Using Asset Allocation to Manage Money is Here How to Get Your Brokerage Account Data to Download into Our Financial Tools About Financial Plan Software Integration Learn About Portfolio Management Software and CRM Software Facts vs. Fiction Regarding Monte Carlo Financial Planning Software About the Perils of Using Efficient Frontier Portfolio Optimizers Information About Calculating Your Investment Risk Tolerance About Using a Discount Broker to Manage Your Own Money (and about custodians for advisors) Investing Tips for 401(k) Plan Advisors and Participants (TSA, 403b and 457 plan investors too) |
