Are you searching for an efficient way to manage your share investments? Moving beyond the limitations of excel spreadsheets, an online portfolio tracker is a smart solution.
These dedicated share portfolio management platforms not only save time but also enhance the accuracy of your portfolio's performance assessment.
An online portfolio tracker is a sophisticated digital tool essential for managing share investments. It transcends the limitations of traditional spreadsheets by offering real-time updates, comprehensive tax reporting, and a detailed overview of your entire portfolio's performance.
This advanced platform keeps you well-informed and flexible in the ever-fluctuating world of share trading, a critical advantage since investing in shares is not a passive activity. Share values constantly fluctuate, necessitating close monitoring and timely adjustments to your investment strategy.
At its core, portfolio management involves the continuous tracking and assessment of your share values, enabling you to make informed decisions based on market trends.
For instance, in response to significant dips in certain stock values, you might decide to reallocate your investments, selling some shares and purchasing others. This proactive approach is key to maintaining a healthy and responsive portfolio.
Moreover, effective portfolio management extends beyond mere tracking of share prices; it encompasses a thorough understanding of your fiscal responsibilities. This includes the accurate reporting of capital gains or losses and keeping track of dividend payments.
An online portfolio tracker streamlines these processes, ensuring you stay on top of your financial obligations and make the most of your investments.
There are a few different strategies for managing a share portfolio. Which one you choose will depend on the value and complexity of your portfolio, how much time you have and your budget. Some of these options include:
The Deloitte 2024 investment management outlook highlights several key trends and strategies relevant to share portfolio management.
| Response | |
|---|---|
| I don't have any investments | 38.75% |
| Monthly | 25.6% |
| Daily | 16.73% |
| Twice a year | 10.06% |
| Yearly | 4.18% |
| Never | 3.29% |
| Every few yrs | 1.39% |
Here are the key advantages of using a dedicated portfolio management platform instead of relying on an excel spreadsheet to keep track of your shares:
A portfolio tracking platform will help you import your trading data automatically from your online share trading account, instead of having to manually enter the data yourself. Plus, it will keep up-to-date with share prices in real time in the one place, without you having to keep an eye on your shares individually.
Your online share trading platform will only track the performance of the shares you’ve bought through that broker. If you’ve bought shares with other brokers or investment apps, or if you also own other assets or are trading different financial products, these won’t be included in your online broker’s platform. An external portfolio management tool can help you pool all your investments into one place so you can see how your portfolio is tracking as a whole.
Dividends are great when they land in your bank account, but it’s easy to forget about them when you’re looking at how your shares are performing. Some share tracking platforms allow you to include dividend payments and dividend reinvestment plans into your portfolio performance, to give you a better idea of how your shares have performed overall.
Share tracking platforms help you meet your tax obligations by creating reports on your dividend income and any capital gains you’ve realised throughout the financial year. These reports can help you spot opportunities to offset any capital gains with any capital losses you’ve made, reducing your tax bill.
Portfolio management platforms are particularly useful for SMSF trustees who have strict investment and tax reporting obligations with the ATO. These platforms can help trustees develop detailed, up-to-date reports on all the investments held by the SMSF as well as all the income generated from these.
If you’ve got more than 10 holdings, it’s quite easy to make mistakes if you’re reporting their performance manually in a spreadsheet. An online share portfolio management tool removes the possibility of human error.
Portfolio management platforms offer a suite of market reports, broker recommendations and detailed stock analysis reports that aren’t often available through your online broker. These platforms also give investors access to an online community of investors from around the world to share trading ideas and reports.
To get started, you can compare the platforms featured in the table above and go to their sites to create an account online.
If you're just getting started with share trading and aren't looking for a portfolio management platform just yet, check out our guide on how to buy shares instead.
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