Errors in Investment Performance Report

q_lurker
q_lurker Quicken Windows Subscription SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭

A question in the Investments area led me to a problem with the Investment Performance Report. I'll be using the Report a Problem sequence but choose to document the issue here.

This problem centers around using MiscExp transactions and therein specifying a security for the expense. The other consideration is specifying a category that has or does not have the box checked for "Affects investment performance". When that box is checked, expenses associated with that category are NOT considered 'returns' in the investment performance report or related Average Annual Return values in portfolio views and elsewhere. If the box is checked, the expense should be treated as part of the return.

For my test and investigation, I set up an account with 2 securities and a small bit of cash covering the 2024 calendar year such that the securities were in place throughout the year. I did not bother with dividends that might have been paid or reinvested through the year. Mid-year, I sold off a few shares of each security to raise cash to ostensibly pay investment fees charged by the brokerage. I then paid amounts using series of 8 MiscExp transactions to see how those transactions were treated in the report. The entire list of transactions is here:

Summary of transactions:

  • Bought $5000 of each security in 2023 leaving a $1 cash balance.
  • Sold $500 of each security June 28, 2024
  • Paid $1000 in a series of 8 MiscExp transactions
    • 4 transactions attributed to one of the two securities
    • 4 transactions not assigned a security
    • 4 using a category with the Affects performance box checked (Investment Fee)
    • 4 using a category not have that box checked (Misc.)

I then generated two versions of the Investment Performance Report, one subtotaled by account and one subtotaled by security. The time frame is last year, 2024. Screenshots of the two reports are below.

Observations:

  1. Top report by Account yields an overall 5.12% Avg Annual Return; by Security yields 7.87%
  2. Bottom report by Security does not include the Cash component (in the customization of the report, 'No security' is selected).
  3. The Beginning Value by Account ($10,001.01) is $1 higher than thhe sum of the beginning values when subtotaled by Security — because the by Security omits the cash component. Likewise for the Ending Values.
  4. The By Account report includes two of the four Misc. category expenses. The two such expenses assigned a security are missing from this report.
  5. The By Security report includes two transactions categorized as Investment Fees that should have been omitted as returns. The report misses the two transactions categorized as Misc. but not having an assigned security (essentially because there is no cash component.)

Suggestions:

The By Security subtotal should include cash unless the user has specifically omitted that selection by the security customization. In this case, I'd expect to see the $1 beginning value, two $500 'investments' associated with the security sales to cash, and then the two transactions categorized to Misc but not having assigned securities as returns. The ending value would be back to $1.

The By security subtotal should respect the Affects Investment Performance selection which it does not currently do.

The By Account subtotal should include MiscExp transactions that do have securities assigned to them subject to the Affects Investment Performance selection.

I have not run calculations to see if these corrections would bring the by Account result more in line with the by Security but I would expect that to happen.

Comments

  • Quicken Jasmine
    Quicken Jasmine Quicken Mac Subscription Moderator mod

    Hello @q_lurker,

    Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

    I will work on creating a problem ticket for this issue.

    -Quicken Jasmine

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  • Jim_Harman
    Jim_Harman Quicken Windows Subscription SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭

    Note that the issue of the IPR showing different results depending on how it is subtotaled appears to be the same as this one, which was documented and given tracking number CTP-11590 in December.

    I think the issue related to the behavior of the "Affects investment performance" box is at least partly related to confusing on-screen text about what checking the box does. This was originally raised by @q_lurker in 2020, when the box was first introduced, but never addressed. In the following discussion there are good ideas about what the text should say.

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  • q_lurker
    q_lurker Quicken Windows Subscription SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Jim_Harman Appreciate the support. Re:

    I think the issue related to the behavior of the "Affects investment performance" box is at least partly related to confusing on-screen text about what checking the box does. This was originally raised by @q_lurker in 2020, when the box was first introduced, but never addressed. In the following discussion there are good ideas about what the text should say.

    The “i” on-screen text is now the same as I proposed 5- years ago. I don’t know when the change was made. Thankful that it was improved.

    Examining the relation of my comments to last November’s discussion.

  • q_lurker
    q_lurker Quicken Windows Subscription SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Jim_Harman A quick scan of that November discussion you cited adequately confirmed to me that my comments here were consistent with that discussion. There you wrote: "I think when the report is subtotaled by Security, there should be a section for "No security (includes cash)" that includes the cash balance and the withdrawal." That is exactly the conclusion I reached here. As you noted previously, the error is occurs for more than one subtotal selection.

    @Quicken Jasmine This should probably be handled under the same CTP-11590 tracking number already established.

  • Quicken Jasmine
    Quicken Jasmine Quicken Mac Subscription Moderator mod
    edited February 5

    Perfect, thanks for sharing that! I can add this thread to that original CTP!

    -Quicken Jasmine

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