Custom Investment Portfolio Management Software
Features, Development Steps, Costs, ROI
ScienceSoft brings 19 years of experience in financial IT and 35 years in data analytics to engineer intelligent portfolio management solutions that enable data-driven portfolio planning and automate complex investment execution tasks.
Investment Portfolio Management Software: Key Aspects
Investment portfolio management software serves as a single platform for managing multi-asset portfolios and multi-brokerage investment activities. Such software offers analytics-based portfolio planning and automates processes like investment execution, risk control, and reporting.
Custom investment portfolio management software can be built with tailored functionality to automate specific portfolio and investment workflows, such as multi-dimensional positioning and high-frequency trading. Such solutions are usually designed in compliance with SEC, GLBA, FINRA, AML/CFT, and other necessary investment regulations.
Custom software can provide advanced analytics powered by tailored AI/ML models, which can accommodate data on the company’s unique investment strategies and enable high-precision portfolio performance forecasting and optimization. Custom solutions can also be built to support a broad range of asset classes, from stocks, bonds, and cash equivalents to commodities, real estate, derivatives, crypto assets, fractionalized property, renewable energy, and more.
Another advantage of custom portfolio management software is that it can be integrated with any required systems (including legacy software and innovative fintech solutions) and freely upgraded with new capabilities when the investor needs or regulatory rules change.
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Key Features of Investment Portfolio Management Software
Below, ScienceSoft’s investment technology consultants share a list of features that would form the core of a robust investment portfolio management solution.
Found Your Desired Software Features or Need More Options?
ScienceSoft is ready to engineer a custom solution that will bring secure automation and advanced investment analytics to enhance the efficiency of your portfolio management processes.
Important Integrations for an Investment Portfolio Management System
- To aggregate investor data needed to plan portfolios, settle deals, and generate reports.
- To make portfolio performance reports accessible directly from the CRM.
- To plan portfolio activities based on investor preferences, capacities, and limitations.
- To instantly share portfolio performance data and personalized offers with investors, quickly submit investment documents and reports.
NB: Investment portfolio management software can also be directly integrated with treasury systems of corporate customers.
- For streamlined brokerage account management, faster order placement and execution.
- To control investment and trade order execution.
- To instantly capture market signals and capitalize on short-term price movements.
Financial market data platforms
e.g., Thomson Reuters, Bloomberg, Morningstar
- To access capital market data required for fundamental analysis and portfolio valuation.
Bank accounts
- To speed up funds replenishment across brokerage accounts.
- To accurately record data on investment portfolio transactions in the general ledger.
7 Steps to Develop a Successful Portfolio Management Solution
Investment portfolio management software development offers greater functional flexibility and a broader range of integration options than the implementation of OOTB portfolio tools.
ScienceSoft’s investment software engineering team shares their best practices for running each development project stage and securing the long-term value of portfolio software:
1.
Requirements engineering
Eliciting complete requirements for portfolio management software and correctly translating them into a functional specification is crucial for aligning the solution with user needs. At ScienceSoft, we interview both the client’s stakeholders and intended solution users (portfolio managers, risk analysts, traders, etc.) and compose a comprehensive list of technical, business, and UX requirements for the software. We also involve compliance consultants to analyze and map regulatory requirements for the solution.
If our client builds a portfolio management software product, we research the market and audience needs, pick the winning niche, and form a unique selling proposition.
2.
Technical design
Here are some of ScienceSoft’s practices for designing portfolio software to maximize its useful life:
- We involve investment subject-matter experts to validate the prototyped software logic components (balance formulas, order automation rules, portfolio model parameters, etc.). This way, we can quickly adjust the logic to align it with the original business rules.
- Employing finance-specific frameworks and libraries (e.g., QuantLib, Pandas) streamlines the design and drives the accuracy of quantitative modeling components.
- For intelligent portfolio systems, we design explainable AI models, applying techniques like LIME and SHAP to interpret machine-suggested portfolio decisions.
- We prioritize modern cloud architectures (SOA, microservices) to ensure portfolio software scalability, smooth evolution, and interoperability with task-critical third-party platforms. Modular architectural options allow for logic reuse across software components, which helps reduce development costs and timelines.
3.
UX/UI design
In investments, speed matters a lot. Prioritize straightforward user journeys to minimize redundant manipulations and ensure prompt user access to the required data and tools. Opting for high-contrast, uncluttered layouts improves readability and content balance. ScienceSoft’s UX/UI designers introduce vast interface self-customization capabilities to let investors tailor digital workspaces to their workflows.
When it comes to portfolio dashboard design, we use prebuilt data visualization components from general-purpose (e.g., Microsoft Power BI) and investment-specific (DXcharts, TradingView, canvasJS, etc.) libraries where possible and design custom charts for specific needs. Such an approach accelerates development while ensuring rich portfolio data visualization and convenient UX.
4.
Project planning
At this stage, project managers define the project task scope, select the optimal resources, and compose a tailored set of KPIs to control the team’s performance and project health. When planning project timelines and budget, ScienceSoft’s team uses estimation techniques that fit best for each particular case to deliver realistic quotes.
5.
Development and testing
This is the stage where development team codes the back end (including APIs and analytical components), create role-specific interfaces based on the planned UI designs, and establish scalable data storage for investment portfolio management software. Taking the Agile approach lets us deliver an MVP for the portfolio solution in 3–5 months and speed up further releases.
Our QA teams run tests (functional, security, usability) in parallel with coding to quickly reveal potential issues and prevent costly fixes at later stages.
PMs collaborate closely with development teams and client stakeholders to report updates, quickly spot and address potential risks, and timely implement feasible changes.
Given the inherent complexity of investment portfolio solutions, I recommend aiming for 95% or higher coverage with unit tests, including non-standard and edge test cases. This approach would ensure that the solution produces correct results across any operational variables and usage scenarios.
6.
Integration and data migration
Back-end engineers integrate the portfolio management solution with the client’s corporate systems using custom APIs and connectors. Third-party data marketplaces and brokerage platforms usually offer ready-made APIs, so there may be no need to develop dedicated integration software from scratch. Integration testing is a must to ensure smooth and secure data flows. If your solution spans high-frequency trading features, latency testing may be required to evaluate API response speed.
You may also need to migrate investment data from your existing portfolio management tool to the new solution. Performing migration tasks outside the organization’s working hours helps avoid operational disruptions associated with temporary system shutdowns.
7.
Deployment
At this stage, development teams configure investment portfolio software infrastructure, set up data backup and recovery mechanisms, establish robust network protection tools (SIEM, IDS/IDP, firewalls, etc.), and deploy the solution to production. Prior to launch, double-audit software compliance and involve your portfolio managers in user acceptance testing.
If you rely on in-house software maintenance, make sure the software vendor transferred knowledge and documentation to your team. ScienceSoft also delivers intuitive user manuals to help portfolio managers quickly master the new digital solution.
What makes ScienceSoft different
We achieve project success no matter what
ScienceSoft does not pass mere project administration off as project management, which, unfortunately, often happens on the market. We practice real project management, achieving project success for our clients no matter what.
Reliable Tech Stack to Develop Portfolio Management Software
In portfolio software development projects, ScienceSoft's team usually relies on the following technologies and tools:
How Much It Costs to Build Investment Portfolio Management Software
From ScienceSoft’s experience, developing custom investment portfolio management software may cost from $120,000 to $1,000,000+, depending on the complexity of the solution’s capabilities, the scope of integrations, as well as performance, scalability, security, and compliance requirements.
Sample cost breakdown
Here are our ballpark estimates for two common portfolio software development scenarios:
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An investment firm wants to build institutional portfolio management software for internal use |
An investment platform provider or a fintech startup wants to develop retail portfolio software |
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Target app users
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Portfolio professionals at investment entities (endowment funds, mutual funds, hedge funds, pension funds, banks, insurance companies, family offices, etc.) |
Non-professional investors (individuals and small businesses) |
Software complexity
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Highly complex, often involving specialized modeling, analysis, and automation features and vast customization options |
Generally simple, with preset models and standardized features to provide intuitive experiences for entry-level investors |
Operational compliance
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Strict operational, fiduciary, and financial reporting requirements by global and local regulators like SEC, FINRA, SAMA |
KYC/AML and OFAC for legitimate access to self-investment options |
App platforms
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Desktop, web |
Mobile, web |
Implementation options
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A standalone solution, often the core of an investment firm’s digital operations system |
A standalone app or a part of brokerage apps with retail investment and trading platforms |
Costs
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$300,000–$500,000 for a web solution that offers statistical analytics and rule-based automation. $600,000–$1,000,000+ for a large-scale system featuring advanced analytics and intelligent automation. |
$120,000–$180,000 for a mobile app built on an existing investment platform's back end. $250,000–$400,000+ for a web app serving as an investment platform’s primary interface. |
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ROI From Automated Portfolio Management Operations
According to a recent survey* by Deloitte & ThoughtLab, 50%+ of wealth and asset management firms are getting a high ROI from automating their service processes, with investment planning, risk management, portfolio accounting, and robo-advisory named the areas of the highest return.
Stock portfolio management software that automates such tasks may bring the following key benefits:
Cost reduction
Minimizing manual routines and enhancing portfolio management efficiency results in 5–11%+ lower operational costs.
Productivity gains
Streamlined data analytics and automated investment task execution drive up to a 95% improvement in asset managers’ productivity.
Increase in AUM
Automation spurs up to a 4x increase in asset manager capacity, which brings, on average, an 8% growth in assets under management.
*The survey features feedback from more than 500 incumbents, including investment advisory groups, private banks and trust companies, broker-dealers, and institutional and alternative asset management firms.