Once your Watchlist is created, click the dropdown on the right and select Add Metric to Data Viewto add up to 10 metrics. If the option is grayed out, remove an existing metric first. To view more than 10 metrics, use Table Builder.

To remove an alert, open the Options dropdown on the right and select Create/Edit Individual Alerts. In the window that opens, click the X next to your alert or uncheck any pre-made alerts.

Alerts are located towards the bottom of your Watchlist under the Alerts tab.

First, download the Excel templates under Create Watchlist from File at the top of the page. When it opens, click Watchlist Import Template: XLSX CSV TXT to download and input information on the Excel document. When the Excel document is saved, go back into Advisor Tools and click Create Watchlist from File, then Choose File to upload the Excel document. Then click Create A Watchlist and it will show up under your Watchlist page.

To add another holding to a Watchlist, click on the Option drop down on the left of the Watchlists page, then select Add Ticker and type in the Ticker you wish to add.

To hide a Watchlist, go under the Option dropdown on the left and select Hide. To unhide, go to the top of the page and select Manage Watchlists and select the Watchlist you wish to unhide by clicking on the eye icon.

Prices update every 40-60 seconds directly from BAT CBOE US Equity Exchange for Stocks. Prices can be different between sources, but since the market is so liquid there is minimal difference. Mutual Funds are updated at the end of the day NAV perspective. Indexes (S&P, NASDAQ, Dow Jones) are 20-minute delays. ETFs have a 40-50 second delay.

The amount of time it takes for an IPO or any company to be assigned a Zacks Rank/Recommendation or Style Score is when there are sell-side analysts that are tracked by Zacks to begin following the company/IPO. This is because the metrics used to gauge the Strong Buy/Buy/Hold/Sell/Strong Sell merits for the Zacks Rank/Recommendation are derived from sell-side analysts. These analysts often have the most insight into the number one driver of share price, EPS. So once the IPO or any company begins to be followed by a sell-side analyst tracked by Zacks, it will then have a Zacks Rank/Recommendation.

• Analysts update once per quarter.
• Data and charts are updated automatically every week.
• We get NAV in the data feed as of month-end which is then updated.

When we are looking at the TTM (trailing twelve month) we use the last reported month end.

Our research team is comprised of 91 people, including the Director of Research and Chief Equity Strategist John Blank. The overall turnover of the analyst team is approximately 15% annually, and more than half of the 91-person team has been with us 5 years or longer. The average time with the firm is six years. All the 75 people on our research team have Master’s degrees.

Estimates come from roughly 200 sell-side analysts.

The Zacks Recommendation aims to predict performance over the next 6 to 12 months. The foundation for the quantitatively determined Zacks Recommendation is trends in the company’s estimate revisions and earnings outlook. The Zacks Recommendation is broken down into 3 Levels: Outperform, Neutral, and Underperform.

A quant score looks at specific aspects of the equity. For example, the Growth Style Score analyzes the growth prospects for a company by evaluating its financial statements. Studies show that stocks exhibiting the best growth characteristics can outperform the market, and combined with the top Zacks Rank stocks, the returns are even better. Quant scores are often used in conjunction with the Zacks Rank. If you have a list of 100 Zacks Rank #1 stocks, a quant score could help you further narrow down your list.

This system is for short-term recommendations so you would not necessarily sell an equity if it had a low Zacks Rank if it was a long-term hold in your portfolios.

Our highest-rated funds outperform their category peers on a consistent basis and their outperformance relative to a fund’s category average has been shown to outpace the lowest-rated funds by up to 120 basis points an annual basis. In addition, the cumulative excess performance stays the course for holding periods of up to five years.

Morningstar’s Star ratings are based on historical (risk-adjusted) performance and have proven to be unreliable indicators of future performance. The Stars are, incidentally, correlated to future fund flows that are coming into or leaving the fund, but not to future performance.

The Zacks Mutual Fund Rank is derived using a multi-factor model that identifies the most effective combination of public information to explain ex-post mutual fund behavior. The result is a reliable method to predict future fund performance. We use four unique multi-factor models to predict performance for the following mutual fund types:

• US Equity
• Foreign Equity
• Fixed Income
• Non-Core/Other

Learn more about each model factor here: https://go.zackspro.com/zpro-mf-factors

Sub-Factors are a bridge from the quant models to the fundamentals of the fund’s performance When reviewing a list of #1 and #2 rated funds to invest in, Sub-Factor scores can help in the final selection of a fund.

We do not rate the following funds:

• Index Funds
• Target Date Funds
• Short Equity Funds
• Leveraged Funds

Zacks collects holdings from the SEC filing that companies are required to report on a quarterly basis but that comes with a 60-day lag. Following the filing of those holdings, they will then be updated in Zacks’ system during our monthly update.

You can screen for all ETFs within the Investment Process called Ethical. You can screen for all Mutual Funds within the Value Line Peer for Socially Aware. Also, we are in the process of integrating ESG scores into Advisor Tools. Currently, we have ESG scores for about 400 of the S&P 500 companies. If you are interested, contact us and we will provide a data file for it.

The stock-selection process for the Focus List portfolio includes a variety of factors, including the Zacks Rank. The portfolio manager has a fair amount of discretion in the types of stocks that enter the portfolio but would typically stay away from initiating positions in sell-rated stocks. Stocks are typically required to be at least ranked 1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) to enter the Focus List portfolio.

Once in the portfolio, a rank downgrade to 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell) does not imply an automatic exit. The long-term holding horizon of the Focus List portfolio at times runs counter to the Zacks Rank’s near-term earnings outlook drivers. A Zacks Rank downgrade to 4 or 5 implies a weakening near-term earnings outlook as reflected in negative earnings estimate revisions.

We will take this ‘downgrade’ into account as we evaluate the stock’s overall standing in the portfolio. But if this unfavorable earnings reset is not causing a reassessment and downgrade of our favorable long-term investment thesis and view, then the Zacks Rank downgrade will have no bearing on its position in the portfolio.

The philosophy is to prefer companies with enduring competitive advantages, particularly in established spaces, while remaining open to bet on younger and newer operators that have the potential of becoming leaders in an emerging space. This process involves quantitative analysis, including earnings and cash flow outlook, returns and valuation, but isn’t formulaic. In addition to bottom-up analysis, the team is also mindful of sector allocation and diversification elements.

The process tends to be a little bit of both. The team purchases companies with enduring competitive advantages, particularly in established spaces. The team will also select younger and newer operators that have the potential of becoming leaders in an emerging space.

Stocks that are considered for the Focus List need to have Zacks Rank of 1, 2, or 3. The reason #3 ranked stocks can be added is that the Focus List portfolio has a longer holding horizon, while the Zacks Rank is relatively short-term. A stock with a #3 rank being considered for the Focus List may not enjoy favorable for near-term estimate revisions but may have a favorable long-term earnings outlook. This isn’t formulaic and relies heavily on the portfolio manager’s assessment.

Deletions reflect the portfolio manager’s assessment of the stock’s long-term outlook. Trends in estimate revisions, which drive the Zacks Rank, is an input in that assessment and evaluation process, but isn’t the sole driver. In other words, Zacks Rank downgrades of Focus List stocks to #4 or #5 don’t automatically lead to deletions from the portfolio.

The Zacks Rank universe gets updated daily. This doesn’t mean that the rank changes daily, but each stock in the universe gets a fresh evaluation each day based on updated estimates. The Zacks Rank system does tend to result in more frequent turnover. But as noted earlier, it is just one of the inputs used in the management of the Focus List.

When stocks are added to the portfolio, the manager considers the #1 Rank list. But these aren’t all the stocks. Depending on how many stocks need to be added at a given time, he will most likely already have decided what industries these new additions should belong to. This reflects his market outlook and his assessment of the relative positioning of the different sectors/industries in that outlook. The chosen stocks enjoy the most leverage to that outlook.

The Zacks Rank reflects how the stock’s near-term earnings outlook is evolving, with rank #1 and rank #5 representing unequivocal revisions momentum in the positive and negative directions, respectively. The long-term earnings outlook for the company may or may not be changing because of this near-term shift in outlook, in either direction (positive or negative).

This is the primary reason why Focus List stocks may at times suffer rank #4 or rank #5, a function of their near-term earnings challenges. But they maintain their place in the portfolio because our view of their long-term earnings outlook, and the reason why they were added to the portfolio in the first place, remains intact.

That is true, but the portfolio gets reviewed on a weekly basis and the manager maintains a watchlist of stocks that he is considering for changes. Any membership changes are highly deliberate decisions that are considered and evaluated over days, if not weeks, before being implemented. It’s a thoughtful and deliberate process that is independent of specific dates.

At its core, the Focus List is a bottom-up portfolio. In other words, the starting point isn’t sector allocation, with the stocks simply filling in the respective sector allocations. We are mindful of diversification and do have explicit outlooks for different segments of the economy. We aren’t actively looking towards maintaining certain sector weights or matching one or the other index.

Planners eases clients into a more comprehensive planning process from your first and quickly illustrates scenarios in your client reviews. It helps your clients understand how the debt/equity mix and savings decisions they make today will determine their future financial life. This simple solution allows you to present plan results within minutes and propose changes that improve your clients’ retirement scenarios in every phase of life.

Planners increases all relevant values by 2.5% per year to adjust for inflation. You can also select a preferred inflation rate.

Zacks Planners is a cost-effective alternative to standalone retirement software that streamlines fact finding and plan creation through easy case data inputs. It serves as base for faster and more effective retirement planning conversations between you and your prospects and clients. Planners helps you quickly collect and input the information required for analysis reporting.

For each user case, Planners creates 1,000 future Monte Carlo statistical scenarios showing how the values of multiple user accounts may change over timeline of your plan—leading up to your client’s retirement, and in the years after retirement. The Custom Reports feature allows you to look at statistical summaries of these accounts over time, at a fixed date, for one account and for multiple accounts, to give you and your client a clear picture of how their financial future may evolve.

Once you run a report in Planners, you will see the output on your screen. Toward the bottom of the report page, you will find sliders that help you easily change equity allocations and savings rates for the user accounts and see how the user’s financial future will change when you adjust them.

Because these scenarios can be immediately viewed, they facilitate productive conversations allowing you to gather profile information about your clients. You can also return to the main data input screens to change the other client inputs, such as retirement ages, social security start ages, or post-retirement income flows.

To develop a plan with a client you only need to enter a few items: client age, current income and growth expectations, income savings expectations, total assets, and debt/equity mix. This enables the system to provide a concise report indicating if your client is set for retirement. You can then expand your information to include details of assets, planned future major expenses, such as educational costs, and any major future cash payments. This added information can help you create a much more accurate financial plan.

Planners provides estimates of your clients’ Social Security retirement income using a calculator developed by CalcXML. If your client knows the amount they will receive, you may enter that amount, overriding calculated estimates. You may also enter any pension or other income flows your client will have during retirement.

From there, Planners uses Monte Carlo techniques to forecast 1,000 possible future values of the user’s accounts as of retirement, considering any major inflows and outflows from the accounts on the path to retirement. Once you input the amount of required monthly after-tax income at retirement, in current dollars, Planners converts this into future dollars as of the retirement date. Considering taxes, Planners determines the monthly dollar amount your client will need to withdraw to fund their desired retirement lifestyle. This is called the retirement shortfall.

You and your client may select one of two methods to illustrate how the client’s retirement shortfall can be “solved” in retirement. First, you may choose an illustration where the shortfall is covered by regular withdrawals from the client’s assets. This provides a visual presentation of whether and when the client’s accounts will run out money in the retirement years.

In the second method, you can show how the shortfall can be covered by the purchase of an annuity. Your client will be asked whether they will have enough assets to cover their needs as of their retirement date. From there, retirement needs are illustrated by determining if your clients have enough assets to purchase an annuity to provide for retirement spending.

Monte Carlo methodology is a statistical technique where a result is computed by running a model several times to determine a “most likely” result based on the numerous renditions with a large set of different possible variables. Zacks Planners uses Monte Carlo to derive the most likely output for a modeled portfolio using 50 years of historical returns for equity and debt portfolios. This history encompasses bull and bear markets, increasing and decreasing interest rate environments, and periods of both economic expansion and contraction.