Method and system for comparison and evaluation of investment portfolios

Abstract

A method and system performs an analysis to compare and evaluate the performance of an investment portfolio The method and system includes processes performed on the financial data for each stock in the investment portfolio followed by a fundamental financial analysis. The fundamental financial analysis includes a negative base number inclusion process relating to stocks in the investment portfolio and uses financial data for the stocks that is selected from comparable time periods for each of the stocks, thereby generating a more accurate evaluation of the investment portfolio.

1 . A method for evaluating an investment portfolio comprising: 
 accessing data for a plurality of companies in an investment portfolio;    fiscally realigning the data;    calculating at least one predetermined set of values for each company using the fiscally realigned data;    aggregating the at least one predetermined set of values to create aggregated values for the investment portfolio; and    creating a performance indicator as a function of the aggregated values.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the data includes historical financial data for the plurality of companies.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the historical financial data is accessed from a database.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the historical financial data is based on financial disclosures by each of the plurality of companies.  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the financial disclosures include one of 10-K filings and 10-Q filings.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein fiscally realigning comprises converting the data from a fiscal year basis to a comparable calendar year basis.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the fiscally realigned data provides a comparable comparison period for the plurality of companies, the comparable comparison period having one of two of three months in common for a desired fiscal quarter and forty-eight of sixty months in common for a five year fiscal period.  
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the fiscal year basis includes a fiscal day, a fiscal month, and a fiscal year.  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the comparable calendar year basis includes a calendar day, a calendar month, and a calendar year.  
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the fiscally realigning includes eliminating data for any of the plurality of companies lacking a comparable fiscal year.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the comparable fiscal year includes a fiscal year having between fifty weeks and fifty-four weeks.  
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein fiscally realigning comprises converting a fiscal period for each of the plurality of companies into a comparable calendar period.  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the fiscal period includes one of a five-year period, a one-year period, a year-to-date period and a quarterly period.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein converting each fiscal period includes deriving a calendar-based date for the fiscal period and realigning the financial data using the calendar-based date.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein deriving the calendar-based date includes: 
 if a last day of the fiscal period ends between the first and fifteenth day of a fiscal month, then the fiscal period is realigned to a month preceding the fiscal month; and    if the last day of the fiscal period is after the fifteenth day of the fiscal month, then the fiscal period retains the fiscal month.    
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein realigning the financial data includes: 
 for a five year period, if a last month of the fiscal period is between July and December, a calendar year assigned to the fiscal period is the same as the year of the fiscal period, and if the last month of the fiscal period is between January and June, then the calendar year assigned to the fiscal period is one year less than the year of the fiscal period;    for up to a one year period, if the last month of the fiscal period is one of January, April, July and October, then a calendar quarter is assigned to the fiscal period as ending a month preceding the last month of the fiscal period, otherwise, the calendar quarter is assigned to the fiscal period as ending the last month of the fiscal period.    
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one predetermined set of values includes a fundamental financial measure.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the fundamental financial measure includes one of a growth measure, a profitability measure, a capital structure measure and a valuation measure.  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the growth measure includes one of a sales growth value, an earnings per share value and common equity per share value.  
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the profitability measure, includes one of a return on equity value and a profit margin value.  
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the capital structure measure includes one of an equity:assets value, an interest coverage value and a cash flow:debt service value.  
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the valuation value includes one of a price:earnings value and a price:book value.  
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the performance indicator includes one of a growth indicator, a profitability indicator, a capital structure indicator and a valuation indicator.  
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the aggregated values include at least one predetermined set of values for a respective one of the plurality of companies having a negative base value.  
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein aggregating the at least one predetermined set of values includes weighing the data for each of the plurality of companies based on a value of each company as a percentage of the plurality of companies.  
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the investment portfolio includes one of a mutual fund, a pension fund or other investment portfolio.  
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of companies is identified by a CUSIP member.  
   
   
       28 - 33 . (canceled)  
   
   
       34 . A method for evaluating an investment portfolio comprising: 
 accessing data for a plurality of companies in an investment portfolio;    fiscally realigning the data to exclude data for any company in the investment portfolio that lacks data for an entire evaluation period and to include data for any company in the investment portfolio that has data for the entire evaluation period;    calculating at least one predetermined set of values for each company using the fiscally realigned data;    aggregating the at least one predetermined set of values to create aggregated values for the investment portfolio; and    creating a performance indicator as a function of the aggregated values.    
   
   
       35 . The method according to  claim 34 , wherein the entire evaluation period includes a user-defined evaluation period.  
   
   
       36 . The method according to  claim 35 , wherein the user-defined evaluation period includes one of a day, a week, a month, three months, six months, a year, two years and five years.  
   
   
       37 . A method for evaluating and comparing investment portfolios comprising: accessing data for a plurality of companies in a first investment portfolio and in a second investment portfolio; 
 fiscally realigning the data;    calculating at least one predetermined set of values for each company in each of the first and second portfolios using the fiscally realigned data;    aggregating the at least one predetermined set of values to create aggregated values for each of the first and second investment portfolios;    creating a performance indicator as a function of the aggregated values for each of the first and second investment portfolios; and    ranking the first and second investment portfolios as a function of the performance indicator.    
   
   
       38 . The method according to  claim 37 , wherein the performance indicator includes more than one performance indicator.  
   
   
       39 . The method according to  claim 38 , wherein the ranking includes ranking the first and second investment portfolios as a function of the more than one performance indicator.  
   
   
       40 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the performance indicator includes a fundamental financial measure.  
   
   
       41 . The method according to  claim 40 , wherein the fundamental financial measure includes one of a growth measure, a profitability measure, a capital measure, a valuation measure, a sales growth value, an earnings per share value, a common equity per share value, a return on equity value, a profit margin value, an equity:assets value, an interest coverage value, a cash flow:debt service value, a price earnings value and a price:book value.  
   
   
       42 . A method for evaluating an investment portfolio comprising: 
 accessing data for a plurality of companies in an investment portfolio;    fiscally realigning the data;    calculating at least one predetermined set of values for each company using the fiscally realigned data;    aggregating the at least one predetermined set of values to create aggregated values for the investment portfolio; and    evaluating the investment portfolio as a function of the aggregated values.    
   
   
       43 . The method according to  claim 40 , wherein the performance indicator includes financial data derived from financial reports including balance sheets and income statements.  
   
   
       44 . A method for evaluating an investment portfolio comprising: 
 accessing data for a plurality of companies in an investment portfolio;    fiscally realigning the data;    calculating at least one predetermined set of values for each company using the fiscally realigned data;    aggregating the at least one predetermined set of values to create aggregated values for the investment portfolio; and    creating a performance indicator as a function of the aggregated values, wherein the aggregated values include at least one predetermined set of values for a respective one of the plurality of companies having a negative base value.    
   
   
       45 . A method for evaluating an investment portfolio comprising: 
 accessing data for a plurality of companies in an investment portfolio;    fiscally realigning the data to exclude data for any company in the investment portfolio that lacks data for an entire evaluation period and to include data for any company in the investment portfolio that has data for the entire evaluation period;    calculating at least one predetermined set of values for each company using the fiscally realigned data, wherein when the evaluation period for one of the plurality of companies includes more than one holdings period, a value for a respective one of the predetermined set of values for each holdings period is determined, weighted as a function of the percentage of the holdings period with respect to the evaluation period, and summed with values for each holdings period within the evaluation period to determine the value for the respective one of the predetermined set of values for the entire evaluation period;    aggregating the at least one predetermined set of values to create aggregated values for the investment portfolio; and    creating a performance indicator as a function of the aggregated values.