Sophisticated quantitative research tools, once the domain of only the most exclusive proprietary trading shops with the most highly trained quantitative researchers, are now within grasp of the advanced individual trading enthusiast or small institutional asset manager with the recent introduction of RINA Technologies’ Portfolio Maestro. It seems that it was not too long ago – perhaps 10 years – that the research and development of highly quantitative and automated trading methods could only be achieved with tools built from scratch. Certainly, there were very few off-the-shelf solutions and absolutely no solutions representing anything close to a comprehensive quantitative research platform.
At its core, Portfolio Maestro is a quantitative research platform that allows users to create trading strategies and apply risk management overlays to portfolios based upon an increasingly complex spectrum of indicators, factors, models and other "rules". Launched in early 2008, Portfolio Maestro captures the typical workflow of quantitative research with its four primary components: Portfolios, Prices, Reports and Analysis. Furthermore, this general workflow is presented in a highly intuitive user interface that dramatically simplifies what is typically a very complex process.
Those who are serious about performing quantitative research, particularly users previously challenged by various barriers to this arena, should be encouraged by the improvement of vendor solutions, such as Portfolio Maestro, at reasonable prices.
Bear in mind, it remains a relatively new market and Portfolio Maestro is a formative stage of development, having been launched in early 2008. As might be expected in this formative stage, there are some drawbacks and limitations. For instance, while installing the application was straightforward, there were some minor snags. Also, the application functioned best when in tandem with features related to TradeStation, and therefore, users working with C# and VB should expect to need some hand holding for the time being. Plus, since the training program is not yet finalized, do not expect this hand holding to be standardized or particularly efficient in the near term. Furthermore, if you are primarily interested in intraday, tick-based or option-based strategies, you may want to wait for a subsequent version. Lastly, seamless integration between research and "production" (i.e., – execution and order management systems) is not yet part of the current release.
All that said, Portfolio Maestro is clearly a useful tool for small shops and individuals who have a commitment to performing quantitative research. And, like most things, Portfolio Maestro should be expected to improve with age.
Portfolio Maestro is particularly attractive for its intuitive interface and workflow and because it enjoys a pricing level that is a fraction – perhaps 10-20% - of comparable platforms, while offering a relatively competitive level of features and functionality. Coupled with the goal of integrating execution functionality into an upcoming version of Portfolio Maestro which the company claims to be working on currently with various brokers, this tool is certainly worthy of consideration for one's quantitative arsenal. At minimum, the next release promises a much better interface with Bloomberg and more flexibility with currencies.
In the end, through the highly iterative process of strategy development and back-test analysis, Portfolio Maestro allows users to focus on their art and minimize the distraction of finding the right tools for the job.
To read more about Portfolio Maestro from RINA Technologies, LLC. - CLICK HERE