QMac: How do I track a private investment fund?

Rob

A family friend manages a limited partnership investment fund. I invested (for simplicity sake) $100 in 2014, and it grew to $120 by 2015, when I invested $100 more. That $220 stake has since grown to $240. I get monthly statements showing the % (not the dollar amount) up and down of the entire fund, net of fees, and quarterly reports which show my current balance. I am not privy to the list of holdings that the fund buys and sells. I trust my friend as much as anybody in the financial industry, but find the whole industry awash in clever percentages and reports that mask what I really want to know which is... how much have I made or lost, and how does that compare to a S&P 500 ETF. Anybody have any tips?

Rob

Hi RickO, thanks for your suggestion. Anybody else have thoughts on the Quicken end of things?

Rob

Rob said:

Hi RickO, thanks for your suggestion. Anybody else have thoughts on the Quicken end of things?

Thanks again, RickO. I appreciate your insights and suggestions.

I think I've overemphasized the S&P part of my question, as my primary concern was tracking my investment, and my secondary concern is comparing that to the S&P.

Do you have suggestions for how to track an investment in a limited partnership fund as described?

I initially made an account and arbitrarily considered each dollar to be 1 share. Then I recalculated that arbitrary share value when adding more money. But that method distorts the share price. If the fund has gone up 20%, the share price should go up 20%, but if I'm arbitrarily calculating share value every time I buy in, the math doesn't seem to line up.

Any users out there who have a similar situation? How did you solve it? Am I doing something wrong?

Rob

Rob said:

Hi RickO, thanks for your suggestion. Anybody else have thoughts on the Quicken end of things?

At any given point I know how much I've put in, and every quarter I am updated on what my cash-out dollar value would be. Every month I'm updated on the entire fund's % up or down, and it's all above board with external auditors. So I have the basics.

Reinvestments, dividends etc. are hidden from partners. If I want to cash out, I can calculated capital gains by looking at the [(cash out value) - (how much I've put in)]. My goal is to figure out which numbers need to get plugged in where to have an ongoing sense of my balance with the reported percentages, that can then get confirmed or adjusted when my quarterly dollar report happens.

Rob

Rob said:

Hi RickO, thanks for your suggestion. Anybody else have thoughts on the Quicken end of things?

Exactly the kind of suggestion I was looking for, thank you. I've not explored how reinvested dividends work but this looks like a promising angle to pursue. Thank you very much.