Last Updated on March 27, 2016

I am delighted to announce that the freefincal mutual fund screener which is a macro-based Excel file has now been extended to work on Google Sheets.

I constantly receive requests to make calculators in non-Excel or online platforms. I have finally been able to do so thanks to the support and motivation of friends and readers. In particular,

Ramesh Venugopal who waded this rather complex Google Apps Script for importing CSV data into a Google Spreadsheet late into the night, modified it to login to our Value Research account and retrieve annual returns for a particular mutual fund category. His modified script is seminal to the development of this sheet.

I also thank Ramesh Vijayaraghavan and Gaurav Aggarwal who also took a crack at this problem and were close to a solution.  Without such support, I would have never touched a Google sheet.

Speaking of which, although it is slow it is crucially more advanced than Excel in handling formulas linked to data that can change by running a marco (or script). Without this, the sheet would have required additional scripts.

How does the screener work?

Once the sheet is set up to work (see detailed slideshow and video below), the user has to login into Value Research (via the sheet) to retrieve annual returns of a particular category.

Then the 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9.10,11,12 year CAGRs are computed.

Three screens are available:

1. Consistency in above CAGRs falling in the top 15 (can be varied) for each duration.
2. Consistency in above CAGRs falling above category average for each duration.
3. Consistency in each year’s annual return falling above category average.

They can be used together or individually to create a shortlist.

Here is a screenshot of the input page.

The sheet involves entering an username and password. Therefore, I do not wish to share the sheet online. Can it be done without affecting privacy?

Please follow these instructions:

1. The screener file (.xlsx) and the script file (code.gs) are available as a zipped file at the end of this post
2. Upload the .xlsx file to Google drive. This will not work in Excel and you need not open it offline
3. Remaining instructions are here in the form of a slide show and a short video

[slideshare id=57189515&doc=freefincalmutualfundscreener-160118174327]

Download the Freefincal Mutual Fund Screener- Google Sheets Edition pack

Thanks to Riyaz (see comment below) we now have have a wonderful alternative:

1. go to this link
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HzG1hg2N7yOdpNVFun7bljMgaTpvj7LPItcXCjPBzps/copy

2. click ‘make a copy’

3. when loaded click menu Freefincal -> Authorize

4. Freefincal -> Get data (observe validation of username and password if its empty)

Do not share the sheet online with your friends! You may end up accidentally sharing your password!! Freefincal will not be responsible if that happens. 

Do give the sheet a try and let me know your feedback.

Note that all Excel sheets which do not have a macro will work in Google sheets. I will convert the ones with macros with this technique. Let me know if you have any favourites so that I can focus on them first. Personally curious to try out the freefincal stock screener next.

Alternative

Ramesh Vijayaraghavan figured out that authentication is necessary for CSV files only. Their html can be imported without username and password. I tried to do this, but failed.

1. go to this link

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17QQ12-4w5zR-q1SD-Z29BTcIuEnVV45725xkVbdIx_c/copy?usp=sharing

2. click ‘make a copy’

3. Select fund category and screen!

Ramesh and Riyaz sent me these modifications within minutes of each other!

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About the Author M. Pattabiraman is the co-author of two books: You can be rich too with goal based investing and Gamechanger. “Pattu” as he is popularly known, publishes unbiased, promotion-free research, analysis and holistic money management advice. Freefincal serves more than one million readers a year with numbers based analysis on topical issues and has more than a 100 free calculators on different aspects of insurance and investment analysis, including a robo advisory template for use by beginners. Contact information: freefincal {at} Gmail {dot} com He conducts free money management sessions for corporates (see details below). Previous engagements include World Bank, RBI, BHEL, Asian Paints.

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