Reporting

The Reports button on the NFA ribbon opens the Reports Designer. The Reports Designer provides a list of prepared charts, tables, and paragraphs that can be used in generating a report. Start a report from scratch, or open a previously prepared template. Use the tools and elements described below to develop the correct report for you.

Report Format:

Choose the format of the resulting report from the Report Format drop down menu. The Reporter can generate both Word documents and PowerPoint presentations. However, once you begin to prepare a report, switching between PowerPoint and Word destroys any formatting, such as page breaks, that you may have set.

Within the PowerPoint format, you can set the background of your PowerPoint report by instructing the Reports Designer to use the master slides of another presentation.  

• To select a presentation for master slides, click on the Master Slide Button (PowerPoint icon). Navigate to the desired presentation. Click the OK Button. A "Master Slide imported successfully" message appears.  

• For best results, ensure that your chosen presentation includes a master slide that contains a box labeled as an Object Area for AutoLayouts. (To check for this box, open the desired PowerPoint presentation in PowerPoint, and select the Slide Master Option from the Master secondary menu in the View Menu. Review the slides, usually a title slide and a content slide, for the box.)  

• Without the Object Area for AutoLayouts on your master slide, the charts and tables may need to be adjusted for size and placement.

• The Reports Designer does not copy the content of the selected presentation into the report, merely the master slides.  

• The content of imported slides appears on the master slide, so those slides may require some adjustment after report generation. For example, if the master slide has a dark background, you may need to change the font on the imported presentation to white.

• If you don't set a master slide, the selected report elements will appear on the last master slide that was imported into the Reporter in the Optimizer, Estimator, or LifeCycle. If you have not imported a master slide, even during a previous version, an NFA master slide will appear. If you wish to return to the NFA master slide, import it from C:\Program Files\NewFrontier\8.x\reports.

• For further information concerning master slides, check Microsoft's PowerPoint documentation.

Report Elements provided by NFA:

• Charts
  All of the charts that are offered in the application are available. Use the customize button (pencil) to specify asset selection, date ranges after adding a chart to the Your Report Box.

• Tables

  • Forecast Correlations (from the Forecasts Worksheet)

  • Forecast Risk Return (from the Forecasts and Results Worksheets)

  • Historic Correlations (from the Historic Worksheet)

  • Historic Risk Return (from the Historic and Results Worksheets)

  • Resulting Correlations (from the Results Worksheet)

  • Resulting Risk Return (from the Results Worksheet)

• User Defined Report Sections (PowerPoint)

  • Disclosure -- The Disclosure Statement explains the goals, obligations, and limitations of financial planning.  

  • Efficient Frontier -- a description of the Resampled Efficient Frontier

  • Rebalancing -- a description of RE Rebalancing

  • Recommendations -- an introduction to the recommendations in a financial plan

• User Defined Report Sections (Word)

  • Client Summary Page -- This page provides a template for imparting client information (identification, holdings, cash flows, and financial goals).

  • Cover Page -- The report element works as a cover page for a personalized investment plan.

  • Disclosure -- The Disclosure Statement explains the goals, obligations, and limitations of financial planning.  

  • Estimator Cover -- a cover for The Resampled Efficient Frontier: Preparing the Inputs

  • Estimator Intro -- an introductory paragraph for Estimator activity

  • Executive Summary -- The Executive Summary offers a short description of what your firm has prepared for your client and how it was done.

  • Forecasts Correlations -- a paragraph describing how the historical estimates combine with the forecasts in the Estimator

  • Historical Return Conditioning --descriptions of the three available methods for conditioning the returns

  • Historical StdDev Conditioning -- descriptions of the two available methods for conditioning the standard deviations

  • Optimizer Cover -- a cover for The Resampled Efficient Frontier: Optimization

  • Optimizer Maximum Return Portfolio -- a paragraph describing the characteristics of the maximum return portfolio

  • Optimizer Minimum Variance Portfolio -- a paragraph describing the characteristics of the least risky portfolio

  • Optimizer Model Portfolios -- an introduction to model portfolios

  • Optimizer Rebalance Information -- a paragraph describing the NFA rebalancing process

  • Optimizer Tax -- descriptions of the two available tax management treatments

  • Signatory Page -- This report element offers a template for requesting that a client sign-off on a report.

For users who have used previous versions of the Reporter, don't be confused if your User Defined Report Sections Box populates with a different list than the one above. The User Defined Report Sections Box populates with the report elements that you imported and saved while using the previous version. This feature protects the material you may have edited in the Reports Designer previously (master slides and user defined report elements).  Sections prepared by NFA can be imported into Reports Designer from C:\Program Files\NewFrontier\8.x\reports (or wherever you installed the Asset Allocation System) using the importing tool described below. Until these elements have been imported, you will be unable to access them or use them in templates.

Reporting Tools:

• The New Button clears current selections in the Your Report Box and permits you to name the new report.  

• You can import Word documents or PowerPoint slides created outside of the Asset Allocation System to the list by means of the Import Button. The Select the NFA Report Sections to Add Window appears.  Navigate to the desired report element. Click the Open Button. The document/slide/table/chart appears in the User Defined Report Sections Box, from there it can be included in one-off reports or report templates.

• You can edit the user-defined report elements and prepare several versions by clicking on the Edit Button. A read-only version of the document appears. Make your changes, and save the element under a different name. These elements will be available in future sessions.

• After you have moved an element to the Your Report Box, you can customize individual report elements. Highlight the report element, and then click the Customize Button (pencil). A Customize Window appears. Append page breaks, remove slide breaks, change the name of the tables, adjust and preview charts, etc. The allowed customization depends on the report element. These customized objects can be saved as part of a template for future access to your changes.

• Use the arrow buttons to move the elements up and down in the report order. When you generate the report, the elements appear according to the order set in the Your Report Box before generation.

• Experienced users often have a template prepared for each reporting purpose relevant to their company. These templates have the desired paragraphs, tables, and charts. Generating the report updates all information in the charts according to the current case and puts everything together in the desired order in one document. Save particular combinations of charts, tables, paragraphs, and customization as templates by using the Save Button.  

• To delete User Defined Report Sections or templates, click the Import Button or Open Button in order to open the default folder. Delete the item from the folder.  

• Open previously saved templates (*.dot) with the Open Button. When opened, the template name appears above the Your Report Box, and the elements incorporated in the report template populate the Your Report Box. You can adapt previous templates and save them with the Save As Button. (Note: We do not support changes to templates made outside of the Reports Designer. If you do make changes in Word or PowerPoint, the Reports Designer attempts to fit the Optimizer elements but may not succeed.)  Only templates prepared in the Estimator can be opened in the Estimator.  A sample Word report (EstimateCreation.dot) can be used as the starting point for a report on preparing optimization inputs. Access this report template in Program Files\NewFrontier\8.x\reports if it does not appear when you first click the Open Button. Keep in mind that the sample template relies on the NFA report elements, so those of you who have used previous version of the Reports Designer may need to import the user defined report sections (see above).

• When you are satisfied with your report, click the Generate Button (pie chart). The elements in the Your Report Box appear in a new Word document or PowerPoint presentation ready for use in a new report.  

• Edit after generation in order to produce a polished report.