Tracking Your Portfolio: Spreadsheet or Software?

Markets read the latest inflation report as a reason to price in rate hikes. Jay Hatfield of Infrastructure Capital Advisors reads it differently: strip out the oil spike, and the Fed may be closer to cutting rates into an AI-driven earnings boom than hiking into a slowdown.

Listen to the conversation.

For most HNW investors, a complete portfolio picture lives across half a dozen logins or more. Multiple brokerages. Old 401(k)s. A spouse's IRA. Bank accounts. Private investments. 

We polled 360 Long Angle members asking how they handle portfolio tracking. Roughly half use a dedicated tracking tool, and half maintain a manual spreadsheet (respondents could select more than one).

The spreadsheet camp is larger than expected, pointing to preferences for customization and privacy.

In the discussion thread, members surfaced that aggregation software often misses important details like cost basis, international holdings, custom asset classes, and the ability to slice the portfolio by owner or strategy. Privacy is another recurring concern, since most aggregators pull account data through third parties like Plaid or Yodlee.

Google Sheets with GOOGLEFINANCE is a common spreadsheet method that automatically updates prices and returns.  

Still, plenty of tracking tool users are satisfied. Tools members mentioned using include:

Compare notes with peers on what’s working.

With tuition at private schools now exceeding $90,000 a year and entry-level job postings falling because of AI, it’s natural to wonder if aiming for the most selective colleges is still worth it.

Education researcher Michael Horn joined the Navigating Wealth Podcast to share a more nuanced answer. Whether prestige matters depends heavily on which tier of school you're comparing.

At the top tier, the value of an elite college has always been the network and the credentialing function. When you gain admission to a highly selective institution, you join a pool of people who have passed the same filter, and that network compounds over decades.

Below the top tier, selectivity becomes far less predictive of outcomes. What the student does at the school matters more than the name on the diploma. Horn adds that being a big fish in a smaller pond might produce better outcomes than being a small fish in a more selective one. 

In the AI era, both conclusions accelerate. 

See why in Does It Matter What College You Go To? What an Education Researcher Says.

Private market returns vary by strategy and fund duration. The table below reflects what well-regarded managers tend to target, drawn from Long Angle's recent investments. These are top-quartile targets, not what to expect from the asset classes overall.

Two metrics to know:

PE Buyout sits at the top because returns compound through three levers over a decade: earnings growth, multiple expansion, and debt paydown.

Energy & Real Assets Development captures the upside of building new assets (oil and gas projects, infrastructure) rather than buying stabilized ones.

Real Estate and Private Credit deliver income along the way through rents and interest payments, with shorter fund lives.

The table reflects return targets only, not risk. Higher returns generally come with higher risk of loss. Always compare funds in the same asset class, vintage year, and on a net basis.

For more, read Long Angle’s Private Markets Terminology Guide.

Long Angle has in-person events all over the globe for our 8,500+ members to meet for drinks, dinners, tastings, and tours.

Whether you’re local or traveling, here’s where members are meeting this summer:

To attend, join Long Angle. The application takes 5 minutes. No membership fees.

Chris Bendtsen

Insights Lead, Long Angle

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