Model Recommendations to a Clients Portfolio

Understand how to make recommendations to a client portfolio

• To view the IRESS Insights Video, please view the following link here. (Created by Anthony Derriscott on July 28, 2016) 
  
  

Add Additional Cash to a Proposal

You may be required at times to model a portfolio with a generic cash account. To add additional cash to a proposed portfolio:

1. Click on the Add button.

2. Select Cash Adjustment and a pop up appears.
   
   

1. Enter the amount in the Cash Adjustment field.

2. Click OK.
   
   

The generic cash account will be added to the Investment Recommendations panel as a proposed investment.

Add a New Holding

1.  To add a new holding, click on the Add button.

2. Then select Holding. A pop up screen appears, Add Holdings.
   
   

1. Select the Account the investments are to be added to.

2. Enter the initial cash to invest. If you have recommended a sell down on the existing holdings, the unallocated amount will appear in this field. If the client has a lump sum available to invest, enter the amount here.

3. Select how the funds are to be allocated, Market Value or Percentage. The option selected here determines the fields that will be editable.

4. Enter the code or description of the investment and the results matching the data entered will display results to select from as you type.

5. If you do not know the investment code, click on the Magnifying Glass icon and a Security Selection screen appears allowing you to search for the investment.
   
   

When you choose to search for an investment the "Multiple Security Selection" screen appears (as shown above)

Investment holdings can be searched for by a description or code. Alternatively you can use the filters options to search for investments within a product list or by exchange etc.

Option 1 - Enter the code or description:

1. Enter the description or code of the investment into the Search by code or description text box.

2. Click on the Search button and a list of investments that match the text entered into the search box are displayed in the Search Results panel.

Option 2 - Search for investments using the Filter options:

1. To narrow down the search results you can use the options in the Filters panel to search by Product Lists, GICS Sectors, Exchange, Security Type, Complexity Rating, Fund Manager, Fund Type or Currency.

2. The filter options selected displays in the Search by code or description field. You can remove a search filter item by clicking on the x.

3. Click on the Search button and a list of investments that match the search filter criteria are displayed in the Search Results panel.

1. Click on the check box for the investments you want to add. Repeat this process to add multiple securities (remove the filter options by clicking on the cross before starting a new search criteria).

2. Click Ok and the investments selected will be added to the Quick Entry page.
   
   

Security Comparison:

Before selecting the investment holdings you can compare them by:

1. Ticking the check box for the holdings you want to compare.

2. Click Compare.
   
   

The Security Comparison will display a comparison for the selected security on the Performance, Charts, Recommendations, Asset Allocation and Fees.

After you have entered the code and exchange (or selected the investment via the search option): 

1.  Enter the allocation of funds for each investment option.

2. As funds are allocated to the investment, the Remaining Cash to Invest field will update.

3. To add more rows for additional investments, click on the '+' icon and this will insert a new

   row.

4. To delete a row, click on the 'x' icon.

5. Click Save to add the proposed investments to the model portfolio.

6. Clicking Cancel will cancel the Holdings Quick Entry screen and all data entered will be

   removed.

7. Clicking Clear will clear all data entered.

The holdings you have just added will appear in the Investment Recommendations panel.

How to Modify an Existing Investment

1. Select the account the existing holding are held under. All the current investments held under the selected account will appear in the Investment Recommendations panel.

2. Enter the volume of the adjustment in the Adjust column. It is important to ensure if you are adjusting the portfolio down, you enter a minus in the field.

3. The current column displays the current holdings of the portfolio.

4. The proposed column displays the proposed holdings (the current volume +/- the adjusted amount).

The Current and Proposed columns also displays the portfolio weight and the account weight for each holding. These columns update automatically as any adjustments are made to the proposed Portfolio.

The example above illustrates a sale of $25,000 WOW shares and a $25,000 purchase of NAB shares. 

Options Available when Modelling a Client's Proposed Portfolio

Adjust options:

1. You have the ability to enter the recommended investments in the format of Money, Units or Percentages by clicking the down arrow in the Adjust field.

Regular Contributions / Withdrawals:

You are able to enter regular contribution and/or withdrawals from the investments within the Investment Recommendations screen. This assists when generating portfolio projection reports.

1. Enter the amount of the regular contribution / withdrawal in the regular amount field.
2. Select the frequency of the regular contribution / withdrawal.
   
   

Edit Platform Fees:

1. Click on the action button in the header row and a pop up menu will appear.

2. Click on Fees and you will be taken to the Proposed Disclosure Fees screen.

Please refer to the Learning Event entitled XPLAN Disclosure Fees Guide for further details on this section.

Clear Modelling:

1. Click on the action button in the header row and a pop up menu will appear.

2. Select Clear All. All modelling will be cleared from the screen. Please note you will not be able to retrieve modelling that has been cleared.

Save / Load Snapshot:

1. The Save Snapshot option allows you to save your investment recommendations as a snapshot that you can reload at a later date using the Load Snapshot option.

Investment menu options:

1. Click on the action button in the row of the proposed investment and a menu will appear. The menu options are related to the investment selected to populate the menu and does not relate/affect any other investments in the portfolio. Options available in the menu include, Lodge to Commpay, Fees, Clear, Research Reports and View Asset Allocation.

Edit a Transaction in the Model Screen

You can edit the transaction type and add a comment for a proposed transaction by:

1. Clicking on the action button for a holding.

2. Then selecting Edit Transactions.

This screen enables you to enter the adjustment amount, transaction type or add a comment for the holding.

1. Adjustment - this can be set as a positive or negative amount pending on the transaction type. If the adjustment has been made in the investment recommendations screen it will automatically populate into this field.

2. Select the Transaction Type from the list of options.

3. Comments can be entered here regarding the transaction.

Repeat this process for any other transactions.