FM 4 -- Some Feedback and Questions

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Kudos on version 4 of Fund Manager! Thus far, it appears to be a genuinely worthwhile upgrade over version 3.4. I really like the new graphs and how the daily change in value appears in many screens. Having adjustable column widths in reports is also very handy. I also appreciate the ability to specify multiple asset classes and investment goals by percentage within an investment, as well as the ability to choose whether to apply a load or commission to purchases. The entire look and feel of the data entry screen is much improved over version 3.4. All in all, I am very pleased with my purchase. I'm sure I will discover more enhancements as I compile more time with it.

I do have a couple of questions I would like to ask, however.

1. It appears version 4.0 stores all of one's user preferences and other settings within the Registry. Can the Fm.ini file be deleted after installing version 4.0? What about the files Msinitmb.ini and Windbgfi.ini? These don't appear to be used either. Can they, too, be deleted?

2. In the stacked investment goal graph, the legend is unreadable on my system. For example, one of my goals is "Aggressive Growth" which appears in the graph as "Ag...". I only use five of the goal labels and have deleted all of the remaining ones but still the graph appears as though it is allocating space for all of the potential investment goal labels. Is this expected behavior? Or, am I doing something wrong?

3. I cannot seem to resize the rightmost column in a report. Is there a way to do this? Also, is there a way to resize a column to fit the widest entry without having to actually do this by trial and error (e.g., double clicking on a column divider in Windows Explorer will change the column width automatically to
fit the widest entry in that column)?

4. Are the column widths memorized? If not, is there a way to do this?

5. How can I modify a previously memorized report and save it without creating a new memorized report? Thus far, the only way I've found to do this is to edit the Registry settings for that report (previously had to do via the Fm.ini file).

That's it for my questions. The new features in version 4 have made me think of some suggestions for enhancements for future versions, though. I hope you won't mind:

1. It would be helpful to be able to have a second level of Asset Class or Investment Goal. Specifically, I think it would be of value to be able to assign each investment to one of the three commonly used asset classes for purposes of asset allocation: Equity, Bond, and Cash. I realize I can assign these classes today but I use more detailed classifications like Large Cap Stock, Domestic Bond, etc. Still if one's detailed asset classes could be rolled up to the Big Three, that would be handy.

2. In a vein similar to #1, it would be really spiffy if one could assign the proper "style" to all of one's Mutual Fund holdings. By "style", I mean the widely recognized categories of Value, Growth, and Blend for each of Large Cap, Mid-Cap, and Small Cap. The bond equivalents are, I believe, Short, Medium and Long duration combined with Government Agency, Investment Grade, and Below Investment Grade credit quality. These "style" categories would be in addition to the existing Asset and Investment Goal categories.

3. You gave me the idea for this next one with the new variable Asset and Investment Goal feature. What about allowing the user to specify their desired strategic asset allocation; i.e., how much of each defined asset class they would ideally like to have in their Portfolio? Then, suppose there was a Fund Manager report that compared one's current asset allocation to their stated desired allocation? Wouldn't that be handy for determining when rebalancing was called for, and in what amount?

Anyway, I'd like to conclude by once again expressing my satisfaction with the upgrade to version 4 of Fund Manager. I'd really like to congratulate you for the fine work. Now, if you could only teach Microsoft the same habit !

Replies:

• Re: FM 4 -- Some Feedback and Questions Mark 20:02:51 4/12/99 (0)