Price
$690/year (basic version)

Category
Portfolio Analysis Software

Technical Requirements

• Pentium CPU
• 133 MHz required, 166 MHz recommended
• 150 MB hard disk space
• Windows 95 Workstation minimum
• 16 MB RAM required, 32 MB RAM recommended
• CD-ROM drive
• Color printer recommended

Additional Requirements to Operate Certain Features
Internet access (required for electronic updating option only)

Product Background

• Why was this product developed? 
  To produce hypothetical projections for sales presentations with clients
• Who are its most common users? 
  Financial planners and financial analysts
• What similar products are offered in the same market?  
  Morningstar, Lipper, Value Line
• How often does it upgrade?
  Numbers are updated monthly or quarterly, depending on the package purchased. Wrapper upgrades occur mostly on the backend and are gradually changed with each update.
• What improvements were made during the most recent upgrade?
  Unnoticeable
• Does the program have any bugs?
  The noticeable glitches occurred not within the primary hypothetical projections section of the program but within its secondary sections. For example, in the scatter chart feature, the multiple criteria functions can be difficult to work with. And certain indexes are often difficult to use in the illustrations.

On a scale of 1-6 this product...

	Produces accurate output
	Is simple to learn and use
	Offers adequate technical service support
	Builds knowledge and information
	Increases efficiency
	Increases sales
	Improves business in general
	Compares to its competition in terms of value
	Compares to its competition in terms of price
	Is widely used among other industry professionals
	Final judgment call

Benefits & Bugs
+ Alternative Version -- InvestmentView produces a graph that gives meaning to the statistical-return spreadsheets. This can be an aid for clients who don't understand the average performance analysis product, but only see the rating. Use InvestmentView to build a hypo. Plug $126,582 into X-investment on August 31, 1984, and show the client what happened.

+ InvestmentView can draw from up to five databases including over 10,000 mutual funds, over 500 closed-end funds, over 9,000 variable annuity contracts, over 2,000 variable life policies and over 200 indexes. The user can choose to order anywhere from two to five of the databases and have the numbers updated quarterly or monthly.

+ InvestmentView allows for flexible and complex portfolio options. The program indicates whether a presentation is NASD-compliant for use with the public or not, and it prints all the legal text at the end.

+ Beyond the hypothetical projection and comparison capabilities, the program produces risk/reward scatter charts based on countless filtering options and includes college and retirement calculators. The college planner contains tuition information on most institutions, even an obscure choice such as Southern Nazarene University in Bethany.

+ The company’s own estimates indicate that over 200,000 investment professionals use the product. Some of Wiesenberger InvestmentView’s larger clients include Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Charles Schwab and Putnam Investments.

+ Wiesenberger customizes the look and capabilities of InvestmentView for its institutional clients and many financial companies offer free -- or reduced-cost -- proprietary versions of InvestmentView to their top producers. Individual financial advisers can also purchase the program.

- The investments that can be analyzed are limited to the five prepackaged databases. Other investments such as individual stocks, institutional accounts, pension plans, private portfolio managers or a financial adviser’s personal track record cannot be individually entered, analyzed or included in a presentation.

- The program actually helps the user adjust the presentations to make them compliant, but some of the more complex comparisons and portfolios repeatedly generate the "Broker/Dealer use only" response. The different options for creating hypothetical projections can be confusing, but the company does have a free technical-support line and offers training to some clients.

- Unfortunately, investment vehicles that have shorter track records -- say seven years or less -- do not produce very convincing projections. The program can only calculate based on how an investment has performed; it can not predict future performance. Only about 30 percent of the open-end mutual funds included on the March 2000 version of the program can show a seven-year track record.

- InvestmentView produces tables that categorize the periodic growth of an investment but those tables have confused some clients and financial advisers. The bottom line is not always crystal clear, even with this simplified product.

- The Wiesenberger name is often not as familiar to clients as other competitors such as Lipper or Morningstar, hence the research and analysis may not carry the same clout.

Editorial Review
Wiesenberger's InvestmentView is a good comparison and research tool. The program creates colorful, professional-looking charts that can greatly enhance sales presentations.

For example, a financial planner can use the hypothetical projections to compare his or her recommendations to a client's current investments over a customized period of time. A planner can present a mutual fund or annuity portfolio to a chronic CD-buyer. The bottom line on the projection might help sell the client something that will ultimately make more money for all involved.

Planners can show their sophisticated clients the style boxes, betas and so forth from every other analytical program in production but the average clients don’t know their large value from their hi-yield munis -- no matter how educated the online trading commercials make investors seem.

Using the software product provides financial advisers with an added layer of comfort and confidence when walking into a large-ticket meeting like a 401(k) rollover. A portfolio program like this can give a financial adviser both the background material and the presentation tools he or she needs to bring in more assets. The program won't make the sale, but it might make the sale easier.

Purchase Information

• Retail price?
  $690/year (most basic version)
  This includes one investment database and related index database with quarterly updates.
• Online purchase available?
  Yes
• Internet download available?
  No
• Additional add-on products available?
  Weisenberger Blueprint can be used with InvestmentView. Blueprint is asset-allocation software that can help determine a clients’ risk tolerance and appropriate investment style.

Contact Information
InvestmentView 8.911 by Wiesenberger, a division of Thomson Financial
1455 Research Blvd.
Rockville, MD 20850
1.800.232.2285