Adding A New Index

In order to use an index in your performance reports you must first add a symbol and name to the Investment Module. This is this is done in the “Maintain Indexes” modal window, which can be accessed in one of two areas.

1. Left sidebar under INVESTMENTS > SECURITIES/INDEXES > INDEXES > MAINTAIN INDEXES
2. Upper menu under TOOLS > INVESTMENTS > SECURITIES AND INDEXES > MAINTAIN INDEXES

When you choose to MAINTAIN INDEXES you will be presented with a list of the Indexes currently available in your database. You may select ADD to create a new one. The dialog box to add an Index shares many of the same characteristics as the option to add securities. You must select a Name, Symbol, and Download Symbol. The Exchange and Country fields are optional ways to organize your index list and may not always apply.

Of the various values entered when adding a new index, you should pay particular attention to the Download Symbol. The Price & Index Uploader looks first to the Download Symbol field to match new data to an index, only using the Symbol field if Download Symbol is blank. The Download Symbol field should match the value used by your data source. Since index symbols are artificial, different data sources will use different symbols to identify them. Some may use the common symbol combined with an underscore or an abbreviation for the organization collecting the price data.

Once you have added an Index to your list, you will be able to update its price history through the Manually Update Prices tool or the Price & Index Uploader.

Modifying An Existing Index

You may also choose to modify an existing index. You might do this to update its name or description, but the most likely reason would be to change its Download Symbol in order to match a new data source. You are able to change the Download Symbol for an Index in order to match the new download source without modifying how its Symbol appears elsewhere and without affecting previous price values stored in the database. Simply select MODIFY from the MAINTAIN INDEXES window to do this.