Ideas for tracking investments that gives asset allocation

[Sunset]

You probably have way too many things, but as to your original question, I have everything at Fidelity and they produce an allocation chart for me daily if I want it.

I know Vanguard also has an asset allocation page, just discovered it today. Turns out I have less stock than I thought I had

 

[SecondCor521]

Is my dream, but I feel like I just can't quite pull the trigger. Although hitting 60 years old has made me realize that okay, we've more or less won the game. I'm probably spending 15 hours a week possibly generating 1% point in alpha. But of course for my mentality it's kind of all or nothing. If I let my guard down and just go with two or three funds suddenly I stopped learning. The way I'm doing things now, I'm being careful, but I'm probably chewing up a lot of tail chasing time but I'm always learning and my eyes are wide open for that little opportunity that comes along every so often. Picking up an asset class at a decade low, things like that. This is what led me to bitcoin and three or four other cryptocurrencies in 2014. I was appropriately conservative and only put a couple of Grand in but one day I woke up 3 years later and it was 45,000.

I suggest you sit down and do the math.

Go back and figure what your performance would have been had you just stuck everything into a couch potato type of portfolio 10 years ago - 60/40 VTSAX/VBTLX or something like that.

Then figure out what your actual performance has been. Maybe you've generated 1% in alpha, maybe you're just hoping and guessing and you're actually behind by 2%.

Then count your time and costs in generating that alpha if it is actually positive.

Then figure out if you're actually ever going to spend that extra money, or if it's going to your kids/grandkids/charities. If the latter, are they going to appreciate and value the work you're doing for them?

Then ask if it's fun or worth it. Honestly, you sound stressed out about it, and it sounds to me like you're striving for perfection and overthinking and overcomplicating things. I do likewise sometimes. A simpler, easier, and less intense approach would probably work just fine if you can let yourself get there.

 

[SageForesight]

Do all this detailed analysis if it gives you joy.

Been investing since 1981 and by 2011 I gradually started turning mostly everything over to Fidelity SMAs (Separately Managed Account). And now I manage at a macro level. SMAs have various investment strategies (international, US large equity, muni, tax managed, dividend income, etc.). Every 6 months I move monies around between the accounts based on my outlook and a conversation with my Fidelity advisor. I still have some individually managed monies but it is hard to beat Fidelity SMA talent year over year.

Example- Tax Managed SMA: 2026 YTD performing at SP500 Index return, delivered qualified dividends at about 1.3% of account value, and delivered a small amount of net tax loss. That is better than tucking the money in SPY because the tax loss harvesting has proven very valuable over time. This is my 4th year using a Tax Managed SMA and I have learned a lot from watching them. I track what they sell at a loss and what they put the proceeds into and the net result is always better performance with the benefit of a tax loss.

 

[hesperus]

I hear you on the frustration with automated trackers. It is wild how these "premium" apps still struggle with basic account syncing or labeling everything as a generic "ETF" when you're trying to track specific slices like SCV or BDCs.
If you’re already managing 100+ positions across taxable, HSA, and 401k accounts, manual Excel updates are a recipe for burnout. Since you mentioned being tech-savvy, have you looked into tools that allow for custom asset class tagging? Most people find that once you get into CEFs and bond ladders, the generic retail software just breaks down.
Maintaining those "guardrails" is impossible if you can't trust the data. Following for any suggestions on trackers that handle complex income vehicles without needing a manual override every week.

 

[pb4uski]

I wonder if in Excel you could keep a sheet with a list of symbols (CUSIPs and tickers) and the asset class, subclass, etc that make sense to you. Then have another sheet that you periodically import your symbols, quantities, etc and use lookups on the other sheet using symbol as a key field to add asset class, subclass, etc. Then summarize using sumifs or pivot tables.

As you add symbols to your portfolio you would just need to update the first sheet.

 

[FlyingCircus]

I've been very sloppy with keeping track of my exact asset allocation.

1. Doesn't take the entire day to update it.

2. "Activity" would be a bonus but what i'm REALLY looking for is to keep my tinkering instinct under control. I want something that tells me IMMEDIATELY what my allocation is. US stocks, divided at least usefully (even if it's just Total Market vs. SCV).

Get me on the right road! Should I have more patience with Quicken? (

@hotwired , dear God not Quicken. I gave that up 20 years ago. I have a google sheet I've developed (formerly xls) that tracks asset allocations quickly and accurately. No macro updating, only a few bespoke fund allocation breakout percentages (because I use high level asset classes), just "=googlefinance(...", and a couple of special tables using a reference table to map the asset class per holding. I'll message you the link to a view only copy and if you're interested am happy to discuss with you. Along @pb4uski 's thinking above.