The freeware that we’ve reviewed today in this post is somewhat unconventional. It is not your usual system tool or something that is related to Windows in particular. The tool that we’ve got today is called TakeStock 2, and it is a feature-filled personal investment management software for Windows. Although the tool might have a limited audience due to its application and complex terms from finance, it has been claimed to be the world’s best.
TakeStock 2 Personal Investment Management software
Fairly speaking, TakeStock 2 seemed a little difficult to understand in the first place because of my lack of knowledge about investments and how do they work. But as soon as you dive into the user guide, you get to know all the features of the tool and how to use them in real life.
The tool was initially released in 2002 and has been rewritten and released again with upgrades and new features. The developer claims that the tool has been used by various professional investors worldwide for investment-related decisions.
Using TakeStock, you can easily track the performance of your stocks, ETFs and mutual funds. The tool can fetch data from various sources, including Yahoo Finance, TakeStock (Canada) Mutual Funds, MoneyControl (India), Association of Mutual Funds (India) and the Australian Securities Exchange.
To get started with the tool, you need to create a Portfolio. Numerous portfolios can be separated into different folders and can be easily accessed. Once a portfolio is created, you can start adding your transactions and positions. The tool provides you with a variety of options so that you can accurately enter and examine your data.
In a portfolio, you can view the held or sold positions. Moreover, you can view all the transactions you recorded. The tool will automatically calculate values such as Unrealized Gain and Marginal Equity.
Another interesting feature offered here is a portfolio snapshot. You can easily take a snapshot of your entire portfolio and save it. These snapshots can help you at a later stage when you can track your portfolio’s history.
TakeStock is entirely free and does not display any advertisements, which is an identification of a good tool. You can create as many portfolios as possible and add as many transactions. You can even add comments and notes to a portfolio.
The tool comes in both installer and portable formats. Go for the installer variant if you would usually use this tool on your system or you can download the portable version if you think you might switch computers. The portable version would not store any data on the host machine, everything will be stored on the portable drive. Usually, the data related to investments is sensitive and the portable version takes good care of it.
There is also a free cloud addon available that lets you securely backup your database to TakeStock cloud. The data is synced across all the devices using same credentials and transfers take place over an encrypted network. The cloud add-on is good if you use different computers at home and work.
Apart from that, the tool lets you back up or restore your data to and from the cloud or files. Moreover, you can even print the data or save it as a PDF to share it with other people.
TakeStock is a great tool for managing personal investments. The tool is fairly simple to use if you have an understanding and command over the basic terms used in investment banking. The user guide is well-written and very descriptive in nature. You can easily find out how to use this tool to manage your investments. Plus the features such as cloud and ability to fetch data from various providers make it a great package. Click here to download TakeStock 2.
Zoom Investment Portfolio Manager is another free Personal Investment Management software you may want to check out.
