The best portfolio management software (PMS) focuses on one of two disciplines — advisors or wealth managers.
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There’s no one-size-fits-all, but if you know what you need and what you’re willing to pay, the buying process will be much smoother.
If you’re here, it’s probably because you’re starting or upgrading a firm. (If not, you can hit the back button now because this page isn’t for you).
Either way, choosing the right portfolio software is no walk in the park. Many incumbents just don’t have the simplicity and customer service to earn your business, and the space is littered with options.
A lot of software aggregators will pitch you a long list of companies with “portfolio management” in the name, but you and I know it’s not that simple. Investment advisors don’t need to pay extra for backend fund accounting services, and wealth managers need a thorough modern solution that integrates with trade execution to stay competitive.
In this guide, I rank and review the 9 best portfolio management software for advisors and wealth managers, as well as our top 3 picks, so you can choose the best one for you.
Our Top 3 Picks
Requirements to Be on This List
Wealth Management & Advisory solutions number in the 100s, and there’s no way you can investigate them all.
In fact, most of them won’t be what you’re looking for.
We did the heavy lifting and narrowed down the options. The options on this list meet the following criteria:
- Must provide at least two (2) of these:
- Market analytics on full range of asset classes
- Trading interface
- Firm accounting
- Client risk assessment
- Portfolio modeling and stress tests
- Tracks and adjusts client portfolio based on given criteria
What is portfolio manager software?
Portfolio Management Software (PMS) is a front- and middle-office tool that consolidates a client’s fund and security holdings into a single view for advanced tracking, trade decisions, and rebalancing.
PMS integrate with market analytics, trade execution/settlement, and accounting tools to cover the full range of asset management back-office tasks.
The role of PMS is distinct from pure market analytics, broker deal execution with exchanges such as the NYSE, and custodial reporting.
In practice, however, the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. To make matters more complicated, most fund software providers offer a blend of services in complex bespoke packages that make it hard for RIAs and AM to pick and choose what they need.
Which software is best for portfolio management?
Here are our top picks for portfolio management software:
| Name | Best for… | Rating (of 10) |
|---|---|---|
| Orion Advisor Tech | Advisor Tech / Portfolio Solutions Read review → | Advanced Tools | 9.70 |
| SimCorp | Dimension Read review → | Full Suite of Automations | 9.45 |
| Altruist | Altruist Read review → | Independent RIAs | 9.45 |
| BNY Mellon | Pershing Read review → | Transaction Execution | 9.35 |
| fi360 | Toolkit Read review → | Fiduciary Mindset | 9.30 |
| Morningstar | MorningStar Direct Read review → | Analytics | 9.25 |
| Addepar | Addepar Read review → | Small RIA Firms | 9.20 |
| Advent | Genesis Read review → | Legacy Full Suite | 9.15 |
| AssetMax | Wealth Management Software Read review → | Independent Asset Managers | 9.05 |
| Dynamo | Fund Accounting Read review → | Alternative Investment Accounting | 9.00 |
Orion Advisor Tech | Advisor Tech / Portfolio Solutions
Best for Advanced Tools
Our rating: 9.70/10
| Customer Service (TrustPilot or Equivalent): | Great |
| Price: | $75 / yr / account |
| Trial: | No |
| Asset Management or Advisory: | Both |
| Niche: | All |
| Target Firm Size: | Any |
| Service: | Trading |
| User Experience: | Great |
| CRM Ability: | Yes |
| Accounting Ability: | No |
The Bottom Line
Orion Tech took over Hidden Levers a few years ago and turned it into Orion Risk Intelligence, adding a new service to it’s suite of 14 solutions for FIAs and AM alike. It automates a lot of everyday manual work so you can focus on portfolio construction and retaining clients.
SimCorp | Dimension
Best for Full Suite of Automations
Our rating: 9.45/10
| Customer Service (TrustPilot or Equivalent): | Good |
| Price: | Custom |
| Trial: | No |
| Asset Management or Advisory: | Both |
| Niche: | All |
| Target Firm Size: | Enterprise |
| Service: | Trading |
| User Experience: | Great |
| CRM Ability: | Yes |
| Accounting Ability: | Yes |
The Bottom Line
SimCorp is the flexible option on our list. They sit somewhere between BNY Mellon’s outdated but comprehensive Pershing platform and Orion’s modern but operationally limited startup solutions. Pricing is not available because each offer is tailor-made, and they’re good about identifying exactly what your RIA or MA firm needs.
TARP, plug-and-play, traditional asset classes and alternative — SimCorp can handle it all. If you’re not exactly sure what solutions you’ll need (like if you’re starting your business), we recommend reaching out to SimCorp.
Altruist | Altruist
Best for Independent RIAs
Our rating: 9.45/10
| Customer Service (TrustPilot or Equivalent): | Good |
| Price: | $12 / yr / account, (first 100 accounts free) |
| Trial: | 1-month trial |
| Asset Management or Advisory: | Advisory |
| Niche: | RIAs |
| Target Firm Size: | Small |
| Service: | Trading |
| User Experience: | Great |
| CRM Ability: | Yes |
| Accounting Ability: | No |
The Bottom Line
Altruist is a strong solution for individual advisors. It’s simple and user friendly, covering everything from account opening, trading, reporting, and billing. That said, it won’t handle accounting automation for transactions, so you’l have to integrate it with another solution if you plan to actually execute trades.
It does offer a 1-month trial, and your first 100 accounts are free thereafter. Altruist makes money by charging only $1 per account per year.
BNY Mellon | Pershing
Best for Transaction Execution
Our rating: 9.35/10
| Customer Service (TrustPilot or Equivalent): | Bad |
| Price: | Custom |
| Trial: | No |
| Asset Management or Advisory: | Both |
| Niche: | All |
| Target Firm Size: | Any |
| Service: | Trading |
| User Experience: | Poor |
| CRM Ability: | Yes |
| Accounting Ability: | Yes |
The Bottom Line
As a matter of principal, I’m not a huge fan of incumbents because they tend to lag behind on basic user needs. But Pershing is so damn thorough that it’s a good choice for those who want to rapidly execute trades, or build complex products for clients.
Most people prefer Pershing’s turnkey solution NetX360 because it’s fast to launch and has the core client management and reporting tools, but Pershing also offers customized solutions for those who want to built complex investment vehicles such as mutual fund wrap accounts and ETFs.
Pricing is case-specific, though I expect it’s in the multiple 1,000s/year.
fi360 | Toolkit
Best for Fiduciary Mindset
Our rating: 9.30/10
| Customer Service (TrustPilot or Equivalent): | Average |
| Price: | $2,400.00/yr |
| Trial: | No |
| Asset Management or Advisory: | Both |
| Niche: | All |
| Target Firm Size: | Any |
| Service: | Analytics |
| User Experience: | Good |
| CRM Ability: | No |
| Accounting Ability: | No |
The Bottom Line
Every AM or advisor has a fiduciary responsibility, but fi360 puts this at the forefront of its Focus Toolkit™. Above all, this is a data reporting tool, and it’s arguably the best in the industry. Check out their public sample.
fi360 is not the right solution for extensive backend solutions, but if you want to get out of word templates with a MorningStar alternative then consider fi360.
Morningstar | MorningStar Direct
Best for Analytics
Our rating: 9.25/10
| Customer Service (TrustPilot or Equivalent): | Bad |
| Price: | $249.00/yr |
| Trial: | 7-day trial |
| Asset Management or Advisory: | Both |
| Niche: | All |
| Target Firm Size: | Enterprise |
| Service: | Analytics |
| User Experience: | Average |
| CRM Ability: | No |
| Accounting Ability: | No |
The Bottom Line
MorningStar is the leader in market analytics. They source 20+ asset classes from public filings in 7 different major markets across 4 continents, and you won’t do better. BUT, MorningStar isn’t really a portfolio management solution because it won’t help you actually hold client money, just analyze it. So the benefits of automizing rebalancing portfolios don’t apply.
That’s why we think an option like SimCorp is better for those who want an actual automation solution, not just analytics.
Addepar | Addepar
Best for Small RIA Firms
Our rating: 9.20/10
| Customer Service (TrustPilot or Equivalent): | Good |
| Price: | Custom |
| Trial: | No |
| Asset Management or Advisory: | Both |
| Niche: | All |
| Target Firm Size: | Any |
| Service: | Analytics |
| User Experience: | Great |
| CRM Ability: | No |
| Accounting Ability: | No |
The Bottom Line
It’s hard to mention MorningStar without following up with Addepar, because the two go extremely well together. Where MorningStar excels in market research, Addepar excels at client portfolio tracking and analytics.
To give you an idea of its functionality, Addepar solution sells to RIAs, family offices, broker-dealers, and private banks. So the portfolio tracking functionality is unbeatable. And what Addepar doesn’t do well, it can integrate with the likes of SalesForce and eMoney.
Advent | Genesis
Best for Legacy Full Suite
Our rating: 9.15/10
| Customer Service (TrustPilot or Equivalent): | Good |
| Price: | Custom |
| Trial: | No |
| Asset Management or Advisory: | Asset Management |
| Niche: | All |
| Target Firm Size: | Enterprise |
| Service: | Trading |
| User Experience: | Average |
| CRM Ability: | No |
| Accounting Ability: | Yes |
The Bottom Line
If you really don’t have anything set up for your business yet, consider Advent’s Genesis & Moxy solutions. They run everything from portfolio management, order creation, and trading workflows to trade creation, execution, confirmation, allocation and settlement.
It’s not great at market and customer analytics or reports, but the backend is the backbone and you’ll need that before anything else.
AssetMax | Wealth Management Software
Best for Independent Asset Managers
Our rating: 9.05/10
| Customer Service (TrustPilot or Equivalent): | Good |
| Price: | Custom |
| Trial: | No |
| Asset Management or Advisory: | Asset Management |
| Niche: | Independent AMs |
| Target Firm Size: | Any |
| Service: | Analytics |
| User Experience: | Good |
| CRM Ability: | Yes |
| Accounting Ability: | No |
The Bottom Line
AssetMax is more of a global asset management business tool than just a portfolio tool. It handles 5 core workflows: portfolio management, compliance, client data management, invoicing and reporting. Big wealth managers don’t need to centralize these functions, but it’s extremely helpful for independent AMs.
Dynamo | Fund Accounting
Best for Alternative Investment Accounting
Our rating: 9.00/10
| Customer Service (TrustPilot or Equivalent): | Average |
| Price: | Custom |
| Trial: | No |
| Asset Management or Advisory: | Asset Management |
| Niche: | Alt Investments |
| Target Firm Size: | Enterprise |
| Service: | Accounting |
| User Experience: | Average |
| CRM Ability: | Yes |
| Accounting Ability: | Yes |
The Bottom Line
Accounting isn’t sexy, but everybody needs it. As an asset manager you’re likely to create funds at some point in the future, unless you want to entirely depend on security assemblage. There’s no one better than Dynamo for this, especially in the alternative space.
Conclusion
Choosing the right PMS for your firm is no easy feat, and if you’re coming from the industry you may not even know what each system does. But once you understand what makes a portfolio management software different from trade execution and custodial deposits, everything should make more sense.
Unfortunately, no provider can do it all, so you’ll have to pick the option that best suited to your needs. This article provides a strong introduction to your options. Use it with care, and you’ll save time by picking the right options. That’s when you can onboard more clients, and grow.
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