Essential Tools for Stock Portfolio Tracking and Understanding Investment Performances

Investment services have continuously been shifting online in recent years. With the help of mobile investing experience, stock portfolio trading is now simpler and more convenient than ever before. However, having access to simplified investment experience does not necessarily translate to better investment performance.

Common difficulties faced by new and casual retail investors include limited access to market information, inability to assess investment opportunities, and lack of knowledge/tools to analyze complicated data and keep their portfolios well-managed.

Fortunately, there are several stock apps out there that come in handy when making or managing investments.

Stock Trackers Help you Understand Investment Performance

Recommended Free Tools: Excel / Google Sheet, Ticker, Planto

The most traditional stock tracker is Excel or Google sheet. You can manually add data such as stock name, ticker, number of shares, buying/selling price, and fees/commissions, these data will then allow you to calculate the return of each investment.

While Excel / Google sheet option is the most manual and time-consuming, it also gives you the flexibility to include and sort information in any way that you prefer or think is the most useful. Once all the information and calculations are in place, you can do further analysis or plot out trends and examine whether the return is in line with your expectations.

👉Download and try the stock tracking Google Sheet we have made.

For investors who do not want to manage a spreadsheet or prefer an automated stock tracker, a mobile app called “Ticker” is a popular option among many local investors. With Ticker, users only need to enter information like the ticker, number of shares, buying/selling price, and fees of each transaction, Ticker app will then calculate the realized and unrealized profit of your portfolio automatically. One drawback of the Ticker app however is that it does not provide tracking for U.S. stocks.

If you are looking for the ultimate convenience, Planto app helps you to automatically track all kinds of investment assets including stocks and MPF – simply link your securities or investment accounts to Planto, then the system will automatically convert your Hong Kong and U.S. stock portfolio into charts, making it easy for you to understand your performance at a glance.

Planto app currently supports more than 20 investment providers including SoFi HK, Futu, Aqumon, Interactive Brokers, HSBC, Citi Bank, Bank of China (Hong Kong), and many more.

Stock tracking tool	Adding of transaction(s)	Supporting instrument	Ease of use
Excel / Google sheet	Manual	Hong Kong stocks, U.S. stocks and any other asset	Relatively complex
Ticker	Manual	Hong Kong stocks	Simple
Planto	Automatic	Hong Kong stocks, U.S. stocks, time deposit, MPF etc.	Simple

Ticker is a stock tracking app that is popular among Hong Kong stock investors.

Planto provides automatic solutions for stock tracking (supports both Hong Kong and U.S. stock). The app goes beyond a stock tracker by automatically recording and analyzing deposits, MPF, insurance and credit card expenditure.

Access News & Information on the Stock Markets

Recommended Tools: Futu Securities and other Major Financial Information App

Hong Kong investors typically use AASTOCK, HKET, and other apps/websites for information on the market and stock trends, however contents on such channels mostly focus on local trends and opinions. While the primary function of mobile applications from securities brokers such as Futu Securities and Valuable Capital is to facilitate stock trading, these mobile applications are also equipped with comprehensive news, intelligence, and stock screening features. Such mobile apps also have social features that allow investors to communicate and learn from each other, making them convenient platforms for accessing information.

For investors who mainly focus on the U.S. stock market, they may find local information platforms lacking as information is typically updated less frequently during trading hours which is caused by time zone difference. If you are looking for a reliable source of real-time information on the U.S. market, international platforms that focus on the global financial market may be more suitable for you.

If you do not mind paying subscription fees, Bloomberg can offer real-time information, news, and content on the financial markets globally. Bloomberg also has a Watchlist feature which can help you to build and track stocks in Hong Kong, U.S., Japan, U.K. and many more, this feature from Bloomberg is free and is easy to use. Bloomberg’s alternatives include Reuters and Investing.com.

Apart from news and market trends, Bloomberg also has a Watchlist feature which helps investors to track stocks from many markets.

Compare U.S. Investment Brokers

HK Market

US Market

Robo Advisors

Futubull

Other Fee

N/A

Avg. Trade Cost

HKD 15

Welcome Offer: Welcome Offer: Enjoy up to HK$1,800 welcome offer Register a new account on or before 30th November 2024 by using Planto exclusive promo code “PLANTO” can enjoy the below rewards: 1) Planto exclusive offer : Enter promo code “PLANTO” BEFORE account opening can enjoy HK$200 cash coupon 2) Lifetime commission-free for HK stocks and US stock LV2 real-time streaming quotation services 3) Open an account, deposit a total of HK$10,000 or above into the Futu HK account. Maintain 60 days daily average asset* of HK$10,000 or above to receive : Nvidia (NYSE:NVDA) - 0.5 share or HK$600-equivalent BTC or HK$400 supermarket e-voucher 4) Open an account, deposit a total of HK$80,000 or above into the Futu HK account. Maintain 60 days daily average asset* of HK$80,000 or above to receive : Nvidia (NYSE:NVDA) – 1 share or HK$1,000 equivalent BTC Redemption procedures : Download Futu app; Register an account and go to Activity Centre; Enter “PLANTO” in redemption centre before account opening. Detailed procedures can refer to review article All rewards can be stacked. As of the closing price on 14 Oct 2024, Nvidia (NYSE: NVDA) stock price was US$138.07/share Asset calculation method: Sum of the everyday assets/60 days; Including Cash/ Stocks/ Funds/ Options/ Futures Investment involves risks. The fund price may move up or down. Investor should thoroughly study the funds' offering documents and other related documents (including risk disclosure statements). Terms and Conditions apply

Pros & Cons

Basic Info

Transaction Fees: Commission-free for HK stocks and Cryptocurrency. HKD 15 / trade as a platform fee only. For a HKD 10,000 trade, that's: HKD 15 per transaction (excl. mandatory costs by the HK Exchange, etc.). Tiered pricing also available for people with larger number of trades (min. HKD 1 / trade)
Futu will provide users with free LV1 real-time streaming quotation services (including Hong Kong stocks, options, and futures)
Products Available:: HK, US and China stocks, ETFs and Crypto Currency. Selected funds available via Futu MoneyPlus.
Crypto Currency Trading : : support direct trade with HKD and USD without USDT exchange before trading
Margin Trading: Annual interest rate as low as 3.98% (for advanced investors)
License: Registered member of the HKEX and licensed by the SFC (Type 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9)

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Tiger Brokers

Other Fee

Avg. Trade Cost

HKD 0

Welcome Offer: Successfully open an account through Planto’s exclusive link then complete certain tasks from 12th October 2024 to enjoy up to HK$2,700 worth of reward: - Exclusive HK$400 supermarket vouchers from Planto after depositing HK$10,000 , plus: 1. Time-limited Commission-Free Rewards - Permanent 0 commission on Hong Kong stock trades - 0 platform fee for Hong Kong stock trades (until December 31, 2024) - 0 Commission on US Stock Options Trading (until December 31, 2024) - 0 Commission on Crypto Trading (until December 31, 2024) - 0 Platform Fees on Crypto Trading until December 31, 2024) - NYSE Arca Level 2 Deep Quote streaming for US stocks (valid until December 31, 2024) - US stock options Level 1 real-time quotes (until December 31, 2024) - 365-day A-share commission-free coupon (available if you open an account before December 31, 2024) 2. New clients account opening awards, fund more for 60 consecutive days to get more (please refer to T&Cs for detailed qualifications) - Net deposit* HK$10,000 or US$1,500 or above : to activate HK$300 stock voucher (3x HK$100 vouchers) - Net deposit* HK$100,000 or above : to activate HK$600 stock vouchers (6x HK$100 vouchers) 3. New Client Trading Rewards - Complete 5 U.S. stock purchases (excluding fractional shares) within 60 days of account opening : Activate total worth HK$300 Trading Cash Vouchers (3 x HK$100 vouchers) - Complete 10 U.S. stock purchases (excluding fractional shares) within 60 days of account opening : Activate total accumulated worth HK$600 Trading Cash Vouchers (6x HK$100 vouchers) - Complete 20 U.S. stock purchases (excluding fractional shares) within 60 days of account opening : Activate total accumulated worth HK$1,200 Trading Cash Vouchers(12x HK$100 vouchers) 4. Crypto Trading Rewards Complete 5 cryptocurrency purchases within 60 days of account opening : Activate total worth HK$500 Crypto trading vouchers (5x HK$100 vouchers) * Offers are subject to terms and conditions

Welcome Offer: On or before 31 October 2024, apply via Planto by using promo code「614701」, successfully open an account and deposit HK$10,000 to receive : 1) Planto exclusive HK$200 supermarket coupon 2) Extra HK$100 cash rebate 3) Life-time commission free for HK and US stock 4) APR 6% offer for deposit 5) Deposit HK$10,000 for 60 days with 4 tradings : NVDA.US - 1 share OR deposit HK$60,000 for 60 days with 4 tradings : AAPL.US - 1 share New customers who transfer the stock to LongBridge and meet designated requirement can get either 1) AirPods 4 ; or 2) an iPad mini 6 ; or 3) iPhone 16 Pro Max Terms and conditions apply

Pros & Cons

Basic Info

- Transaction Fee: For US stocks, commissions of US$0.0049 per share (min. US$0.99), and platform fees of US$0.005 per share (min. US$1) - 0 commission during promotion period. - For a US$1,000 trade with 5 shares, that's about: US$2 (excl. mandatory costs by the SEC, etc.). - Product available: HK and US stocks and ETFs - Margin trading: Annual interest rate of 4.8% - License: Licensed by the SFC (Type 1, 4, 9)

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Interactive Brokers

Other Fee

Avg. Trade Cost

Welcome Offer: Earn up to 4.83% annual interest rate on positive settled cash balance for accounts with total NAV of US$100,000 or higher. (Accounts with NAV of less than US$100,000 receive interest at rates proportional to the size of the account. Interest rate if for reference only, it may change any time according to market condition)

Pros & Cons

Basic Info

- Transaction Fees: For US stocks, commission fee of US$0.005 / share to US$0.0005 / share - Product available: Stocks, options, futures, currencies, bonds from 150 exchanges in 34 regions including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Israel, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and India - Margin Trading: as Low as 5.3% - Hong Kong SFC license: SFC license Type 1,2,3