Managing your portfolio

If you've been following the steps outlined in the "Getting Started" chapter, you'll likely have noticed that your portfolio is still devoid of any securities. As of now, you haven't made any purchases. In the chapter Concepts we have covered the fundamental transactions of Buy, Sell and receive Dividends. Now, let's explore a possible workflow for effectively managing your investment portfolio.

There are three possible scenarios to consider, each with its own approach. The simplest one, of course, is starting from scratch.

1. Starting from scratch. You're beginning your investment journey with an empty portfolio. Apart from elementary strategic decisions about investment goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon, you need to instruct your broker or bank to acquire some securities. Then, you can enter these transactions into PP.

2. Reconstructing your current portfolio based on past transactions. You have already made some investments in the (far) past, and you need to reconstruct your current portfolio based on past broker or bank statements. Probably, you also need some financial data, such as historical prices or merger data. Depending on how far you would go back, this can be a very challenging task.

3. Beginning your portfolio management today with an initial valuation. Starting your portfolio management from today involves assessing your current financial situation. Start with the list of your securities and enter for each of them a buy transaction as of today. Of course, you loose some valuable info and the performance calculations aren't reflecting the real performance of your assets.