Reader LA sent the following comment about a major weakness of online brokers – the absence of portfolio performance analysis tools.
It seems to me it would be a simple matter for a brokerage firm to include analysis tools on their websites since all the data is already in their computers.
In order to get this portfolio analysis I am a member of Globe Investor Gold, which requires me to re-enter my data. This is a pain.
One major weakness of the Globe Investor Gold portfolio package is the way it handles $US transactions. It uses the current exchange rate, for all calculations despite the fact you may have purchased $US securities at a number of different times at different exchange rates. This flaw make the return analysis on $US investments useless.
All the discount brokers I am familiar with (RBC Direct, TD Waterhouse and E*Trade) offer nothing more than the book value and current value of holdings. It is surprising that a discount broker would not offer sophisticated performance analysis tools to differentiate their product from the competition.
Personally, I use Microsoft Money for portfolio analysis despite its quirks in dealing with US equities in taxable portfolios. I make 3 or 4 transactions per month, so it is not hard to enter the data. I would have to enter the data anyways because I have accounts with different institutions (RESP with TD Mutual funds, Group RRSP through my employer etc.) and would like to view everything as one big portfolio. Still, performance analysis is on my wish list for brokerage and mutual fund accounts.
