I was recently asked what tools and platforms you use for investing. I never stopped to think about it before. So, I did it in the hope that it may be of some interest to the reader.
As older readers would know, I invest in NPS (mandatory), PPF (just enough to keep it alive and ready for one-way rebalancing), Mutual Funds and a small exposure to stocks (via Zerodha)
For the mutual funds, I invest “directly” via respective fund house portals. There is no special reason for this other than an old habit. I invested directly via these portals even before the introduction of direct plans in January 2013, and I have continued with them ever since.
I have never found the need to have all my investments “in one place” and see the current arrangement as inconvenient. If anything, I have saved my portfolio from clutter by avoiding investment portals.
I track all MF and stock investments via the freefincal Google Sheets tracker. I do not have any copies of my transactions in any other portals. All my needs (which aren’t much to begin with) are satisfied with the Google Sheets tracker. I track my monthly investments in a separate Excel sheet that I have maintained since 2011.
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For mutual fund analysis (primarily for freefincal), I use our monthly mutual fund screeners, a comprehensive MF analyser, part of the freefincal investor circle. I use ACE MF (a paid tool) for historical portfolio data. These are mostly used to create articles and videos and not for personal investment analysis.
I use the freefincal robo advisor for financial goal review once a year. The idea is to not worry about individual fund returns. Instead, each month, I focus on the amount invested and if I can increase this amount at a good pace each year. Portfolio reviews are done once a year and last not more than 15-20 minutes.
In these reviews, I primarily focus on the asset allocation for my retirement, my son’s future goals, and whether I need to rebalance for that year. I also evaluate the current worth of each goal’s corpus. For example, review your financial freedom portfolio in seven easy steps.
I do not claim that this process is simple, efficient or superior. It works for me. That is all.