at Financial Technnology Year
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Features in Portfolio Modeling Software
for Portfolio Management
Tools that enable construction of model portfolios, scenario analysis, and strategy backtesting to optimize investment outcomes. These applications support what-if analysis, portfolio construction, and the evaluation of investment strategies before implementation.
We ask vendors to mark their product against our feature list. It is not available for all products and in some cases we have derived data from publicly available sources. The list of features follows. Vendors can add a further 10 key features of their own.
Compliance & Regulation
Features to help ensure portfolios remain compliant with investment guidelines, mandates, and regulations.
- Audit Trail of Compliance Actions
- Complete record of checks, alerts, and actions taken.
- Automated Breach Alerts
- Automatic alerting when compliance rules are violated.
- Compliance Rule Capacity
- Maximum number of distinct rules or guidelines supported.
- Documentation Management
- Archive regulatory, legal, and guidelines documentation.
- Global Regulatory Support
- Support for regional regulatory frameworks (UCITS, 1940 Act, ESMA, etc.).
- KYC/AML Integration
- Built-in or integrated Know Your Customer/Anti-Money Laundering tools.
- Post-trade Compliance Monitoring
- Ongoing monitoring and reporting of breaches.
- Pre-trade Compliance Checks
- Monitor guideline adherence before trades are executed.
- Regulatory Filing Generation
- Automated production of required filings (Form PF, N-PORT, etc.).
- Rule-based Compliance Engine
- Flexible creation and application of investment guidelines.
Data Integration & Coverage
Breadth and depth of data connections, market feeds, and instrument universe.
- APIs for Data Import/Export
- APIs for ingesting portfolio/strategy data and extracting output programmatically.
- Alternative Data Sources
- Integration with ESG, sentiment, macro, or specialty data sets.
- Cloud Data Access
- Web-based, cloud storage, and remote-access options for data.
- Custom Data Mapping
- Support for user-defined instrument or classification schemes.
- Frequency of Data Updates
- How often database is refreshed with new data.
- Historical Data Coverage
- Access to deep historical prices, returns, corporate actions.
- Instrument Coverage Breadth
- Number of securities/instruments supported.
- Market Data Integration
- Integration with major market data providers (Bloomberg, Refinitiv, others).
- Real-time Price Feeds
- Support for live security pricing updates.
- Third-party OMS/EMS Integration
- Integration with Order Management/Execution Management Systems.
Integration & Extensibility
The ease with which the platform interacts with other software, models, and communication systems.
- Code Library Sharing
- Central repository for firm or community-developed modeling code.
- Custom Plug-ins/Extensions
- Ability to build/install custom analytics or interfaces.
- Excel Integration
- Ingest/export data directly from/to Microsoft Excel.
- Integration Setup Time
- Average time to establish a connection with major external systems.
- Marketplace for Add-ons
- Ecosystem for third-party analytics, data sources, and modules.
- Open API Access
- Full-featured APIs for integrating with internal/external applications.
- Pre-built Connectors
- Standard data and workflow connectors for third-party applications.
- Support for Batch Processes
- Schedule and run analytics or imports/exports in batch.
- Support for Python/R/Matlab
- Native support for popular programming and analytics languages.
- Webhook Support
- Event-driven notifications that can trigger external processes.
Performance Measurement
Measurement methodologies and tools for calculating time-weighted and money-weighted performance, as well as analytic context.
- Custom Period Calculation
- Support for non-standard or custom time periods.
- Dividend/Income Tracking
- Account for and analyze impact of dividends, coupons, distributions.
- Gross and Net Performance
- Calculation of returns before and after fees/expenses.
- Money-weighted Return (IRR/XIRR)
- Calculation of internal rate of return methods.
- Multi-currency Returns
- Returns in base and local currencies, with currency impact analysis.
- Peer Group Comparison
- Comparative returns versus peer group/fund category.
- Performance Attribution
- Ability to analyze sources of returns at various levels.
- Rolling Periods Analysis
- View returns/risk by rolling periods (e.g., trailing 1, 3, 5 years).
- Speed of Performance Calculation
- Time required to compute returns over multi-year periods.
- Time-weighted Return (TWR)
- Support for TWR calculation on portfolio and component level.
Portfolio Construction & Customization
Tools and features supporting portfolio creation, weighting, constraints, and custom strategy design.
- Asset Universe Selection
- Ability to define and select the investable universe of securities (stocks, bonds, alternatives, etc.).
- Automated Cash Management
- Tools for handling cash flows, subscriptions, and redemptions automatically.
- Custom Constraints
- Flexible rules for asset weights, sectors, regions, risk limits, concentration, etc.
- ESG/SRI Filtering
- Integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance screening for portfolio assets.
- Factor Modeling
- Support for multi-factor risk and return modeling (e.g., Fama-French, Barra).
- Model Portfolios
- Ability to create and manage model portfolios as templates.
- Multi-currency Support
- Ability to construct and track portfolios in multiple currencies.
- Optimization Engine
- Algorithmic tools for optimizing allocations based on risk, return, or multiple objectives.
- Rebalancing Tools
- Automated or manual tools for portfolio rebalancing.
- Scenario Analysis
- Ability to simulate various market conditions or shocks.
Reporting and Visualization
Capabilities for generating reports and visual dashboards for performance, compliance, and client communication.
- Automated Scheduled Reports
- Support for automated delivery of periodic performance and risk reports.
- Benchmarking Tools
- Visualization of portfolio vs. benchmark performance.
- Branded Customization
- Support for client or firm branding in output documents.
- Client Statement Generation
- On-demand or batch production of investor/client statements.
- Custom Report Builder
- Ability to design and generate custom reports for stakeholders.
- Data Export Options
- Export data/reports to Excel, PDF, PowerPoint, CSV, etc.
- Data Visualization Speed
- Time required to render large portfolio visualizations or dashboards.
- Drill-down Analytics
- Ability to drill down from summary to detail, including holdings-level views.
- Interactive Dashboards
- Web-based or desktop dashboards for exploring portfolio data interactively.
- Regulatory Compliance Reporting
- Pre-configured templates for regulatory disclosures.
Risk Analytics and Measurement
Analytics for measuring, decomposing, and managing a portfolio’s risk exposures.
- Attribution Analysis
- Performance and risk attribution tools by factor, sector, asset class etc.
- Beta Calculation
- Calculation of beta to major indices or custom benchmarks.
- Correlation Analysis
- Measurement of inter-asset and cross-portfolio correlations.
- Drawdown Measurement
- Calculation of historical and current maximum drawdowns.
- Liquidity Risk Analysis
- Assessment of how quickly assets can be sold without impacting price.
- Real-time Risk Calculations
- Support for intraday or real-time calculation of major risk metrics.
- Risk/Reward Metrics
- Availability of metrics such as Sharpe Ratio, Sortino, Information Ratio, etc.
- Stress Testing
- Scenario-based risk assessment against historical or hypothetical scenarios.
- Tracking Error
- Measurement of deviation from a benchmark index.
- Value at Risk (VaR)
- Calculation of portfolio or asset-level VaR metrics.
Security & Reliability
Safeguards for data integrity, privacy, platform availability, and disaster recovery.
- Audit Logs
- Track all user/system access and platform events.
- Backup & Restore
- Automated data backups and version restores.
- Concurrent Session Limit
- Number of simultaneous device logins permitted per user.
- Data Center Location Disclosure
- Transparency around physical and cloud hosting environments.
- Data Encryption (at rest/in transit)
- Sensitive data encrypted both on server and during transmission.
- Disaster Recovery Plan
- Documented process for rapid data and service recovery.
- Granular Role Permissions
- Ability to assign permissions at a granular feature level.
- Penetration Testing / Vulnerability Assessments
- Regular security testing of software and infrastructure.
- Uptime SLA
- Service Level Agreement for uptime/reliability.
- User Authentication Methods
- Multi-factor authentication and SSO support.
User Interface & Usability
Quality of the user experience, customization, ease of use, and accessibility features.
- Accessibility Features
- Compliance with accessibility standards such as WCAG.
- Bulk Editing Tools
- Efficiently edit or update many portfolio elements at once.
- Client View Mode
- View interface/outputs as an end-client would see them.
- Customizable Workspace
- Personalize layouts, dashboards, and menus.
- Drag-and-drop Functionality
- Interactive features for easier manipulation of portfolio components.
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- Support for hotkeys/shortcuts across major tasks.
- Mobile/Tablet Access
- Optimized interface for mobile or tablet devices.
- Multi-language Support
- Availability of platform in multiple languages.
- Navigation Speed
- Time to load or navigate typical screens.
- Onboarding Tutorials
- Built-in guided product tours and helpsheets.
Workflow & Collaboration
Tools enabling portfolio managers, analysts, and operations to coordinate efficiently.
- Approval Workflow
- Multi-stage approvals for allocation or trading decisions.
- Change Audit Trail
- Comprehensive logging of changes to portfolio and settings.
- Collaboration Notes/Comments
- Internal note system and workflow tagging.
- Concurrent User Support
- Number of users who can work on portfolios simultaneously.
- Notification & Alert System
- Customizable in-app or email alerts for key events.
- Portfolio Sharing
- Share models/data securely with colleagues or clients.
- Task Assignment/Tracking
- Assign and monitor tasks related to portfolio management.
- Template Library
- Central repository for commonly used models/templates.
- User Access Management
- Control permissions by team member role and portfolio.
- Version Control
- Track portfolio/model version histories and restore prior states.