He and his wife, Marnie, hold investments in 64 different places. Their burgeoning portfolio includes stocks at numerous brokerages, retirement funds, seven life and disability insurance policies and accounts for their children’s education. From his New York base, Silvan watches more than 20 personal advisory relationships that deal with significant sums, which, under normal circumstances, would require visiting 20 websites and remembering as many passwords, then recording and compiling notes on each site.

TOP VIEW Portfolio management software programs help hands-on investors stay on top of their investments. Offering ease of use, tremen-dous time savings and fast reporting, these Web based systems consolidate all of an investor’s financial data into one online account. Yet, they also come with their own set of risks and difficulties. Despite advanced security precautions, all Web-based systems remain vulnerable to hackers. And, the time required to set up one of these systems and input the required data is considerable.

To assist in this arduous task, Silvan uses a Web-based portfolio management software program called Living Balance Sheet, developed by Guardian Life Insurance Company of America. This system consolidates all of Silvan’s personal financial data on a secure server that Guardian maintains. He accesses this server—and the portfolio management software it houses—using nothing more complex than the standard Web browser on his personal computer. "I love it," he says. "Having everything in one place is quite remarkable."

Affluent investors such as Silvan who need to stay abreast of their myriad investments often find themselves drowning in data. In a recent customer survey, Northern Trust found that for investors with assets ranging from $100 million to more than $1 billion, four of the top seven wealth-management challenges involved handling financial data and generating reports. Increasingly, these individuals are turning to software packages that can aggregate, analyze and report on their assets.

Some of these portfolio management technologies, or PMTs, are developed and sold by software companies, while others are designed in-house by financial services firms that offer them to their customers. Many of these systems are Web-based, which means users can access them anywhere they can connect to the Internet. The benefits of PMT software are obvious: ease of use, tremendous time savings and rapid reporting. Yet they also come with their own set of risks and difficulties. By consolidating their financial information, investors potentially make life easier for hackers who, should they penetrate a system’s security, will find a trove of account numbers stored in one convenient location. Furthermore, the time required to set up one of these systems and input the required data is considerable—think tax season, without the levity.

The benefits of portfolio management software are obvious: ease of use, tremendous time savings and rapid reporting.

But for many individuals and families, the benefits—specifically convenience—outweigh the risks and front-end hassles. "I find it very helpful, useful and satisfying to be able to go online 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and see that this is how my stocks are doing, this is how much money I have, these are the details on all of those funds," Silvan says.

Data Aggregation:
Feeding the Beast
PMT software performs three basic, very useful functions: It gathers performance data from all accounts into a holistic portfolio view and consolidates this information in one file; it enables users to create reports from all of this data; and, finally, it performs analysis on the performance of all invested assets—and on the managers who oversee them.