Mutual Fund Expert New Features

  • NEW Features (See "Menu > Help > New Features" in the Steele Expert program)

    Category changes
    - Added the "Miscellaneous Fixed Income" category.
    - Renamed "Allocation-15% to 30% Equity" to "Conservative Allocation", "Allocation-30% to 50% Equity" to "Moderately Conservative Allocation", "Allocation-50% to 70% Equity" to "Moderate Allocation", "Allocation-70% to 85% Equity" to "Moderately Aggressive Allocation", and "Allocation-85%+ Equity" to "Aggressive Allocation".


    The "Type" column has been renamed "Broad Category" and the "Category Group" column has been renamed "US Category Group". All filters using these fields adjust automatically.


    Under the "Filters" drop-down list in all tabular views the following built-in filters have been added:
     - "ESG Funds" (Socially Responsible funds) (filter)
     - "Index Funds" (filter)
     - "Index Funds for Benchmarking" (securities group with select Index Funds)


    Index funds, such as those in the "Index Funds for Benchmarking" built-in securities group can be used instead of indexes for benchmarking and comparisons for more real-world performance comparisons. Several Index Funds faithfully follow their underlying index but, unlike the index, which is a theoretical list of securities and their weights, they provide an investment vehicle that one can actually purchase/hold and its performance does include the cost of managing its operation and maintaining it.

    Using an Index Fund instead of its underlying index for comparing performance is a more correct and accurate apples-to-apples comparison of investment vehicle to investment vehicle, instead of a mutual fund that one can invest in (whose performance includes the cost of existing) versus an index which is a hypothetical collection of securities (without any associated costs of acquiring and trading those securities, and managing the operation).

    When Modern Portfolio Theory was born, comparing a security to the "market", often referred to a large list of securities such as the S&P 500, Russell 1000/2000/3000, Wilshire 5000. It was highly impractical and expensive to attempt to actually attempt to hold the contents of such benchmarks. Today, however, low-cost Index Funds such as "Fidelity 500 Index" and "Vanguard S&P 500 ETF" represent real-world incarnations of the underlying index that one can actually hold. As a result, for example, it is more accurate and relevant to compare funds in the Large Cap category to those Index Funds. If a considered mutual fund has not been matching (and is not projected to exceed) the performance/risk provided by the Index Fund, the investor can instead actually buy the Index Fund itself.


    The Portfolio Environment now shows the Symbol column by default

    Category and Objective Average names now reflect "Cat./Obj. Avg" in the name for easier identification on reports and graphs.

    Category and Objective Averages are now tracked internally and are not affected on reports and graphs by category/objective additions, deletions and changes.


    Category changes
    -
    Added: Macro Trading, Event Driven, Relative Value Arbitrage, Derivative Income, Options Trading, Multistrategy, Equity Market Neutral, World Large-Stock Growth, World Large-Stock Blend, World Large-Stock Value, and Target-Date 2065+
    - Added: U.S. Category Groups Nontraditional Equity and Miscellaneous
    - Retired: Long-Short Credit, Bear Market, Volatility, Multicurrency, Options-based, Multialternative, Market Neutral, and World Large Stock Renamed Target-Date 2060+ to Target-Date 2060 and Managed Futures to Systematic Trend
    - Revised: text definition of World Small/Mid Stock, Bank Loan, and Nontraditional Bond

    Ultra High-resolution Screens (high-DPI / 4K)
    The application now automatically adjusts for ultra high-resolution monitors such as 4K screens. If some components of the application used to display too small and you previously had to manually select a scaling mode for the Steele Expert application, you can improve the program's display by returning that setting to automatic as follows:

    - Find "Steele Mutual Fund Expert" in the Windows 10 Start menu. Right-click on it and select "More > Open file location".
    - There, right-click on "Steele Mutual Fund Expert" and select "Properties > Compatibility > Change high DPI settings".
    - Uncheck "Override high DPI scaling behavior" (or select "Application)".

    Category changes
    - Added: Commodities Focused category
    - Retired: Commodities Agriculture, Commodities Energy, Commodities Industrial Metals, and Commodities Precious Metals
    - Revised: text definition of Mid-Cap Value, Mid-Cap Blend, and Mid-Cap Growth


    To be able to see all the new report/graph changes, you should create a new Notebook file, which will automatically contain all new objects and settings, and then copy your own reports into it. You should keep all your modified/customized report templates in a folder in the Pages List so you can copy it easily into a new, updated notebook.

    To create a new notebook, select "Menu > File > New notebook / Select Database".  To copy any report/graph templates you have created or modified into a new notebook see "Menu > Help > User's Guide > Pages > Copying a Page or a Folder".
    (We recommend copying them to the "Customized" folder and its subfolders in the "Pages List".)

    When we make improvements and additions to the standard reports, graphs and settings, this is the best method to view and take advantage of them.

    Category changes:
    - Added: Intermediate Core-Plus Bond, Target Maturity, Muni Target Maturity, and World Bond-USD Hedged
    - Renamed: Intermediate-Term Bond to Intermediate Core Bond
    - Revised: text definition of World Bond, Corporate Bond, Long-Term Bond, and Intermediate Core Bond


    Best-fit Index Modern Portfolio Theory statistics added to Pro Plus edition. Modern Portfolio Theory statistics driven by the Primary Index for each fund in all editions.

    Maximum Drawdown risk measure added to Pro Plus, Professional and Variable Annuities editions.

    Added several benchmarks.

    Windows 10 High DPI display handling
    The application selects optimal display settings in Windows 10 for screens up to 1920x1080.

    For ultra-high resolution 4K screens, if some components of the application display too small, you can select a different scaling mode for the Steele Expert program:
    - Find "Steele Mutual Fund Expert" in the Windows 10 Start menu. Right-click on it and select "More > Open file location".
    - There, right-click on "Steele Mutual Fund Expert" and select "Properties > Compatibility > Change high DPI settings".
    - Check "Override high DPI scaling behavior" and select "System (Enhanced)".


    Category changes:
    - Added: Money Market—Non-40 Act
    - Revised text definition of Muni National Long, Muni National Intermediate, Muni National Short, Muni Single State Long, Muni Single State Intermediate, Muni Single State Short, Muni California Long, Muni California Intermediate, Muni New York Long, Muni New York Intermediate, and Bank Loan.

    Category changes:
    - "Option Writing" has been renamed "Options-based". The text definitions have been revised for "Options-based", "World Bond", "Target-Date 2055", and "Target-Date 2060+".

    Category changes:
    - "Commodities Miscellaneous" has been retired. "World Small/Mid Stock" has been added, and "World Stock" has been renamed to "World Large Stock".

    Category changes:
    - Added: Infrastructure, Emerging-Markets Local-Currency Bond, Target-Date 2060+, Option Writing, Long-Short Credit, Prime Money Market, Allocation—15% to 30% Equity, Allocation—85%+ Equity
    - Renamed: Target Date 2051+ to Target-Date 2055, Conservative Allocation to Allocation—30% to 50% Equity, Moderate Allocation to Allocation—50% to70% Equity, Aggressive Allocation to Allocation—70% to 85% Equity

    Added to the Personal, Professional, and Variable Annuity editions:
    Full Equity Style Box Breakdown, Average Bond Duration and Average Bond Quality. Also added to these editions: Equity Style Analysis report and 3 Equity Style Breakdown graphs (Detail, Market Cap, Growth/Value).

    Category changes:
    - Added the "Energy Limited Partnership" category.


    Category Ranks Analysis:
    Added Category Percentile Ranks fields along with reports and graphs for the last 20 years of Rolling Returns and for the last 10 Calendar Years. These enhance comparing and filtering based on consistency of managerial  success in relation to each fund's peers.

    Equity World Regions Exposure Breakdown:
    Added equity regional breakdown fields, reports and graphs to facilitate assessing and comparing geopolitical risk.

    New/updated reports & report reorganization:

    New fund and portfolio graphs and reports such as "Portfolio Quick View", "Category Performance Ranks", and "Allocation Analysis" have been added and organized in a new, convenient way.

    Category changes:
    - Added the "Corporate Bond", "Preferred Stock", and "Tactical Allocation" categories.


    Portfolio Extended Performance:
    Now the system computes portfolio performance since the earliest security data in the portfolio. The Hypothetical Illustration environments, such as the "Long-Term Growth" graph, now also use the same computational methodology. (The assigned weights of any securities missing data for any data point are allocated equally to the remaining securities.)

    Category changes:
    - Added the "Single Currency" and "Miscellaneous Region" categories
    - Renamed the "Currency" category to "Multicurrency"
    - Renamed the field "Broad Asset Class" to "Category Group"
    - Renamed the following Category Groups: "Balanced" to "Allocation", "U.S. Stock" to "U.S. Equity", "International Stock" to "International Equity", and "Sector Stock" to "Sector Equity"


    Keyboard shortcut added to display only tagged records:
    The Ctrl+Shift+A keystroke was added to display only tagged records in Database views. It complements Ctrl+A which displays all records. This allows rapid switching between viewing all records and only those that have been tagged with two simple keystrokes.

    Fields added:
    - Redemption Fee Maximum Period: Expressed in days, it is the period that must pass for the redemption fee to be reduced to zero (All editions and reports).
    - Asset Allocation Short-only Positions: to complement Net positions (Pro Plus edition).

    After-Tax Returns added:
    SEC tax-adjusted returns have been added to the Pro Plus edition for both Pre- and Post-Liquidation scenarios aimed at comparing, ranking and filtering fund returns in a way that includes the effect of taxation. The "After-Tax Returns Comparison Analysis" report has also been added.

    Y/N Fields added
    The following Y/N fields were added to the professional editions to facilitate filtering: Leveraged Fund, Inverse Fund, Dividend Yield Fund (for ETF's).

    Category changes:
    - Added new Sector Stock broad asset class: 14 categories were moved from U.S. Stock, International Stock, and Alternative broad asset classes into this new broad asset class
    - Added India Equity, Foreign Small/Mid Blend, Target-Date 2046-2050 categories
    - Replaced Target-Date 2050+ with Target-Date 2051+ category
    - Re-launched the Muni Single State Short category
    - Renamed Muni Short to Muni National Short

    New Rolling Returns Graphs
    The Rolling Returns graph displays 1, 3, 5, and 10-year returns for quick, yet powerful comparisons. You can select to display either Average or Total returns. There is also a Rolling Returns graph for short-term periods displaying 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12-month returns. Besides using these stand-alone graphs, you can change any graph on any built-in or customized report to the Rolling Returns types.


    Import Symbols text files
    This feature allows you to import text files with securities symbols into the system. You can now import special mutual fund groups or portfolios that you can then save as Securities Groups (which can be easily used as conditions in Filtering) or save as Portfolios.


    "Record Pools" are now referred to as "Securities Groups" system-wide.

    New Fixed-Income Sectors & Super Sectors:
    These new classifications can help investors and investment professionals easily compare and understand the sector exposures of each portfolio. The data is especially useful for comparing two investments that may be in the same category.

    Expense Ratios and 12b-1 fees are now provided with three decimal places for greater accuracy when comparing fund costs.

    Added comprehensive "Risk-Return Comparison Analysis" landscape report (Pro Plus): It allows the easy comparison of risk and return of multiple funds and benchmarks at the same time.

    Graph Options: Easily change the automatic benchmark for Performance, Growth and Risk/Return graphs

    Risk/Return Graphs: 1) Now the user can graph any risk measure in the database: Standard Deviation, Downside Deviation, Upside Deviation, Semi-standard Deviation, Loss Deviation, Volatility, Beta. 2) The user can also select any rolling time period: 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20-years. 3) Beta Risk/Return graphs and improved reports have been added.

    Personal edition: Annualized Standard Deviation and monthly data for graphs for the last 10 years have been added.

    New: Post-Modern Portfolio Theory statistics columns for 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, and 20 years, and "Risk Analysis" report added to the Pro Plus edition. They include Sortino Ratio, Information Ratio, Upside/Downside Capture Ratios, Tracking Error, Batting Average, Relative Risk, Percent Of Positive Months, Downside Deviation, Upside Deviation, Semi-standard Deviation, Loss Deviation, Skewness, Kurtosis. Read in "Menu > Help > User's Guide > Data Definitions > Risk and Statistics > Modern & Post-Modern Portfolio Theory" about how to utilize these statistics to construct safer, more profitable portfolios.

    New: Equity Style Complete Breakdown columns, graphs, and "Equity Style Analysis" report added to the Pro Plus edition.

    Category changes: Replaced Long/Short with Long/Short Equity. Added: Managed Futures, Multialternative, Volatility, Trading-Leveraged Commodities, Trading-Inverse Commodities, Trading-Leveraged Debt, Trading-Inverse Debt, Trading-Leveraged Equity, Trading-Inverse Equity, Trading-Miscellaneous. For their definitions see "Menu > Help > User's Guide > Data Definitions > Investment Category".

    New Equity & Fixed-Income Sectors & Super Sectors:
    The new sector structure allows more intelligent sector analysis and diversification when constructing portfolios. The Personal edition includes the new Top 10 Sectors, while the Professional and Pro Plus editions now also include the complete equity and fixed-income sector and super sector breakdowns, allowing those to be automatically calculated by user-created portfolios. All new fields are available for all operations including ranking, filtering, graphing, exporting, etc. See "Equity Sectors" and "Fixed-Income Sectors".

    Top 10 Countries breakdown and graph is now included for all funds in the professional editions as well.

    New reports & graphs: The Fund Allocation Analysis & Portfolio Allocation Analysis reports have been added and several other reports have been updated. Graphs for Equity & Fixed-Income Sectors and Super Sectors have been added. The graphing options have also been upgraded.

    Automatic Updating of installed program and database files: Now, if there is an update to the software or data after the initial publication of an issue, Steele Expert will notify you and will download, install and restart the program. This way you are ensured to have the latest version of the Steele software and data that is installed on your computer.

    Added new fields to the Professional & Pro Plus editions:

    Oldest Share Class (Y/N): It identifies whether this is the oldest share class for a mutual fund. This allows users to evaluate a series of multi-class funds by looking at one representative share class for each unique portfolio. You can add this condition to your filter to ensure that it only contains unique mutual fund portfolios. If several classes of the same fund were started at the same time, only one of them is designated as the oldest share class.

    Oldest Share Class Security ID: The Security ID of the oldest share class for each mutual fund. This allows users to evaluate a series of multi-class funds by identifying all the share classes that are represented by the same unique portfolio.

    Investment Category changes: Added Aggressive Allocation, China Region and Market Neutral categories. Removed Muni Single State Short category. You should review any filters that contain categories as they may be affected by these changes.

    The user interface has been revamped.

    The "Quick Filter" feature has been added as a toolbar button (lightning bolt) and to the Filters drop-down list. It allows you to click first on any cell value in the database (spreadsheet) display, and then click on the "Quick Filter" button to instantly filter the database by that value.

    Now you can rapidly select many columns to display or hide on the "Database Options" dialog box by using the Spacebar key.

    Morningstar Benchmarks were added to provide better performance benchmarking.

    Upgraded Growth Graph Options for Hypothetical Illustrations:
    1) They can now use an additional user-supplied annual rate of return applied to the investment each interval (yearly, quarterly, monthly). This rate can represent additional investing based not on a fixed amount, but an amount based on a rate such as the rate of inflation. It can also be negative to represent management fees of an advisor or the erosion of a forecast inflation rate. The annual rate will be converted to quarterly or monthly based on the selected interval.

    2) Growth graphs can now be displayed on a Relative basis against any other benchmark, fund or portfolio in the database.

    To see the Graph Options dialog box, simply double-click on a stand-alone graph. (If a graph is placed on a report, enter "Design Mode" first so you can modify the objects on the report, including report graphs).
     

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