Frequently Asked Questions

PortfolioMetrics is a web platform for portfolio analysis. It combines historical backtesting, portfolio optimization, Monte Carlo simulation, and AI-powered analysis in one place. Core tools are free - no account required.

Yes. Backtesting, optimization, Monte Carlo simulation, and most tools are free with no account required. Premium and Professional plans add advanced features and AI Credits for AI Insights and the AI Assistant. See the pricing page for a full comparison.

Over 500,000 assets including stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, bonds, and cryptocurrencies. Data goes back up to 40 years, with dividends included by default (total return).

Global coverage including US, European (including UCITS ETFs), Japanese, Australian, and other major markets. Search by ticker symbol, ISIN, or company name. Adjust which exchanges appear in your search via Exchange Visibility in account settings.

Yes. You can run a backtest in minutes without prior experience. Metric definitions are documented inline throughout the app. The AI Assistant is a good starting point - describe what you want to analyze in plain English and it handles the rest.

Backtesting tests an investment strategy against historical data to see how it would have performed. You pick assets and allocations, set a date range, and the tool simulates returns, risk, and drawdowns using real historical prices. It helps you evaluate a strategy before committing real money.

Optimization finds the best asset allocation for a given objective - maximum Sharpe ratio, minimum volatility, risk parity, and more. You provide assets and constraints; the optimizer calculates the weights that best meet your goal. Results are automatically backtested so you can verify the allocation held up historically.

Monte Carlo simulation runs thousands of randomized scenarios to project the range of possible future outcomes for a portfolio. Rather than a single forecast, it shows a probability distribution - so you can see the likelihood of reaching a target, or surviving a withdrawal strategy over time.

Backtesting evaluates a specific portfolio you define - you set the weights and see how it performed. Optimization finds the best weights - you provide the assets and a goal, and the tool calculates the allocation. A common workflow: optimize first, then backtest the result.

Yes. All backtests use total return data - price appreciation plus dividends reinvested. The return basis is displayed in the report.

Yes. The backtesting tool supports regular contributions (fixed or percentage), fixed or percentage withdrawals, inflation adjustment, and custom rebalancing frequency - so you can model how you actually invest.

AI Insights reads your entire backtesting report - all metrics, charts, and comparisons - and surfaces what actually matters. It calculates a 1-7 Portfolio Risk Score (Capital Preservation to Aggressive Growth), matches your portfolio to an investor profile, and generates a prioritized list of key findings: strengths, warnings, and observations, each backed by specific metrics.

The Backtesting tool gives you a form to configure and run one analysis. The AI Assistant lets you work through portfolio questions in conversation - describe what you want in plain English and it runs backtests, optimizations, and simulations for you. Same data and calculations, conversational interface. It also handles portfolio critiques, fund comparisons, retirement planning, and general finance questions.

AI Credits are consumed by AI features (AI Insights and the AI Assistant). 1 AI Credit = $1 of compute. A typical AI Insights run on a simple single-portfolio report costs around 0.2 credits; complex multi-portfolio reports cost more. Premium includes 8 credits/month; Professional includes 30. Credits expire at the end of each billing period - unused credits do not roll over.

Yes. Paste your holdings - ticker symbols, shares, or weights - directly into the chat. The AI Assistant will analyze the portfolio, run a backtest, identify weaknesses, and suggest improvements.

The AI Assistant provides analysis and guidance grounded in historical data - comparing funds, evaluating portfolios, modeling scenarios, and explaining trade-offs. It does not make personalized buy/sell recommendations or predict future prices. All analysis is grounded in historical data.

Free, Premium, and Professional. Free covers all core tools. Premium adds AI features, advanced estimation methods, up to 200 assets per portfolio, and 8 AI Credits/month. Professional adds higher limits, PDF and CSV export, custom market data, and 30 AI Credits/month. Enterprise is available for API access and commercial use - contact sales@portfoliometrics.net.

USD ($) and EUR (€). Select your currency on the pricing page.

Yes. Cancel from account settings at any time. Your plan stays active until the end of the current billing period.

Free and Premium cover personal and non-commercial use - individual investors, researchers, and students. Professional and Enterprise cover commercial use - financial advisors, fund managers, and businesses using PortfolioMetrics in a professional or revenue-generating context.

Yes. AI Credits expire at the end of each monthly billing period. Unused credits do not carry over to the next month.

The free plan includes a limited preview of AI Insights and a trial of the AI Assistant. This lets you see what both features do before upgrading. The preview and trial have lower limits than the paid plans.