PortfolioCenter Smart Sets based on performance

Q. Is there a way create a Smart Set in Portfolio Center using data other than the standard and custom fields?  We were hoping to generate sets based off client performance for analysis.  We would like a set based on gross individual portfolio performance for a specific historical interval, say year to date. After reviewing a Global Performance Review report, I’d like to look at the transactions and statements of clients within specific performance subsets without having to manually add them to a set.

A. At this point, PortfolioCenter Smart Sets can not be based on calculated data — which includes performance data. However, you probably have a data field that correlates to performance returns.  The Model and/or the Objective Field are likely candidates.

Let’s assume the performance returns of portfolios with the same investment philosophy (aggressive, conservative, balanced, etc) fall within the same range.   If you created Smart Sets based on the data field that notes your investment philosophy, working with that set would allow you to work with portfolios that have similar performance.

Here’s how I tested this theory on one of my databases.

• First I ran the Global Performance Summary on all the portfolios using the time period year to date and saved it as a comma-separated file (CSV).
• I opened the CSV file in a spreadsheet, sorted the data by Return and removed all the headers and extraneous formatting.

Now I needed to compare performance to the Objective field.  While at this point PortfolioCenter will not allow you to add either the Model or the Objective field to the Global Performance Summary, you have two options for achieving that goal.

1. You can create a custom field that for your investment philosophy (which may duplicate another field) and add the custom field to the Global Performance Summary.  If you are not currently using the Objective field, this is a great option.   Create your custom field and use the Data Manager to quickly populate it.  You could even tweak these fields as necessary to maintain a correlation between performance and your Set.

2. Or you can take advantage of your spreadsheet capabilities. If you already have the Objective field in use and prefer to keep your database lean, using a spreadsheet is the better option.  I opted to use a spreadsheet.

• I used the Data Manager to export the portfolio list including account numbers and Objective to a spreadsheet.
• With that portfolio data in one tab and my exported Global Performance Summary  in a second tab, I used a simple lookup table  to quickly create a list of accounts that included their objective and performance return.

As I suspected I found a loose correlation between the performance return  and Objective — enough that I could then work with a set based on Objective in PortfolioCenter.  As an added bonus, it also allowed me to quickly spot performance outliers within an Objective.

Resources:

Working with Portfolios, Groups & Sets
Working with Portfolio Data Manager
What are Custom Fields and how can I use them?
Working with Smart Sets

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