Graphs, showing past performance

JohnRo

Mr.Saver wrote: »

Hi dunstonh, talk about tools, I'm currently looking for a Monte Carlo simulation tool and data for some indicies (namely, MSCI and FTSE All-World & Developed Markets), but I couldn't find any website or tool available. The closest one I've found is a website called "Portfolio Visualizer" but the historical return and standard deviations parameters are predefined, not visible and not tune-able. Do you know any tool or website would allow me to do the this?

Thanks.

Take a look at googlesheets, you'll need to get to grips with basic spreadsheet terminology and design, nothing to be afraid of though.

It's surprising what can be achieved if you get creative with the data obtainable via (the spreadsheet function) googlefinance.

Unfortunately the charting features and customisation in google sheets leave much to be desired but they are adequate for most purposes.

Mr.Saver

dunstonh wrote: »

I don't i'm afraid. I pay for the one I use.

I'm sorry I didn't make it clear. I didn't mean free tools and data.

In my opinion, as long as the pricing is reasonable for personal use (e.g. not subscription based and cost hundreds per year), and it will help me in the long run, I'm willing to pay for it.

Mr.Saver

JohnRo wrote: »

Take a look at googlesheets, you'll need to get to grips with basic spreadsheet terminology and design, nothing to be afraid of though.

It's surprising what can be achieved if you get creative with the data obtainable via (the spreadsheet function) googlefinance.

Unfortunately the charting features and customisation in google sheets leave much to be desired but they are adequate for most purposes.

OK, interesting idea. I have never thought about spreadsheets. I'll certainly look into this one.

Edit:
I've tried the GoogleFinance() on Google Sheets, it works fine for some indices, but it doesn't work for the FTSE All-World index.

For FTSE 100 (Ticker "UKX") and FTSE All-Share ("ASX"), both live and historical data are available. But for FTSE All-World ("AW01"), only the live data is available, and it shows an error for (1 month old) historical data.

So Google Sheets isn't really a solution for my problem. I know where I can find the historical data for the FTSE All-World index, and I can calculate the historical return & standard deviation manually, but I still don't have tool for the simulation.

JohnRo

Mr.Saver wrote: »

OK, interesting idea. I have never thought about spreadsheets. I'll certainly look into this one.

Edit:
I've tried the GoogleFinance() on Google Sheets, it works fine for some indices, but it doesn't work for the FTSE All-World index.

For FTSE 100 (Ticker "UKX") and FTSE All-Share ("ASX"), both live and historical data are available. But for FTSE All-World ("AW01"), only the live data is available, and it shows an error for (1 month old) historical data.

So Google Sheets isn't really a solution for my problem. I know where I can find the historical data for the FTSE All-World index, and I can calculate the historical return & standard deviation manually, but I still don't have tool for the simulation.

Just use a tracker like VWRL as an approximation and rebase or otherwise adjust as required.

simonineaston

Just logged back in and I see I have a lot of catching up to do! Actually, the purpose of my questions at this stage is simply to get my head around the ideas and basics of investment. The main issue for me is to decide whether A to learn the rules and and go the DIY route, or B get a grasp of the basics enough to make an informed choice of professional and have them do it for me.
But in the meantime, it's great fun reading all about it! At the moment I'm thoroughly enjoying this... recommended in another thread on this very forum!

Mr.Saver

JohnRo wrote: »

Just use a tracker like VWRL as an approximation and rebase or otherwise adjust as required.

The problem with the approach is the funds tracking those indices usually have much shorter history than the index.

In this case, the VWRL's inception date is in 2012, which means it doesn't include major market crashes and bear market period. The simulation result from this data will be too optimistic.

I don't mind to use the data from a fund that has 20 or 30 years history, but I couldn't find one.

JohnRo

Fair enough, I don't subscribe to the view that you can somehow divine the successful future by running arbitrary simulations of past data anyway.