L&G Index Tracker reconcile in MS Money

[darrinm]

[align=][/align]Hi Fools,

As I'm sure you all know L&G transferred across to Fidelity last year and the units in my index trackers changed from R class to I class. Problem is that the unit prices are not the same, so I now have less I class units, but each one is priced higher, so the value remained the same.

However the real issue is how I record this in MS Money?

I can't share-split as its not an integer value and really need to retain the cost basis/history for my holdings.

Been hunting high and low but can't find a way so has anyone managed to successfully reconcile?

Thanks

darrinm

[moorfield]

[align=][/align]Hi Fools,

As I'm sure you all know L&G transferred across to Fidelity last year and the units in my index trackers changed from R class to I class. Problem is that the unit prices are not the same, so I now have less I class units, but each one is priced higher, so the value remained the same.

However the real issue is how I record this in MS Money?

I can't share-split as its not an integer value and really need to retain the cost basis/history for my holdings.

Been hunting high and low but can't find a way so has anyone managed to successfully reconcile?

Thanks

darrinm

Do you have the same number of R and I class shares? As I read it, you don't, in which case try this:

Under the Investment Activities record for the R shares, you could reconcile this by "Remove Shares" (number of R class), then followed by "Add Shares" (number of I class) on the date of the transfer. When you add back the new number of I shares use the cost of the R shares as at the transfer date, and that form should adjust the price for you automatically. You should then have the correct number of I shares and have preserved the original cost of R shares. Once done, change the Investment Name from R to I (if you originally called it that).

Edit: Here's what I've done in my MS Money. Hope helps.

[pochisoldi]

I handled this by doing a sell of the R units (turning them into cash) and a buy of I units in the L&G ISA account.
I then did a transfer out of each holding from the L&G account to the Fidelity account.

This mirrors what actually happened when the transfer occurred. However I believe that the base cost calculations get restarted from when you buy the first lot of I units in the L&G account (I think that base cost gets transferred with the holdings).

An alternative method which will retain the original base cost is to do a share split, and rename the account, and if appropriate, the fund names - you need to know the ratio between the R and I shares.

So if one I unit is worth two R units you need to do a 0.5 (reverse) share split.
MSMoney will then adjust all previous buy and sell quantities and unit prices so that you end up with a holding that has the same value.
Note for this method to work you must have recorded any post transfer R units with a fund nane that differs from the I units, otherwise you'll go mad as Money applies the split to units that should be left alone!

The sell/buy/transfer method is the easiest.
The split/rename method is tricky but retains the true base cost.
I would have used the split method, but it never entered my head at the time.

Hint: Take a backup of your Money file before playing with share splits, and double check the results.

[pochisoldi]

PS a share split doesn't have to be an integer (imagine a 3 for 2 split), and can be less than one (imagine a 2 for 3 reverse split).

[darrinm]

Thanks guys.

I tried the method outlined by moorfield however that loses the original cost base.

The method outlined by pochisoldi to split the shares can't be done as Money is expecting whole numbers greater than one.

Therefore I calculated 1x R Class unit = 0.897 I Class unit. I found a ratio calculator online to simplify the ratio by ignoring the decimal places and split the shares which came within 12p. It retained the cost base and I added the small amount of shares missing (due to rounding) through the 'Add Shares' function at the price when the transfer took place and bingo, bang on the money!

Checking in Money it now reflects what's in my trading account which is great. I now need to apply the same logic to the seven L&G trackers I have...

Quite relieved this has worked as spent so much time on this. I couldn't even buy/sell any investment in MS Money this morning and had to re-install, but that's the risk when using unsupported software.

Thanks again fellas much appreciated!

darrinm

[pochisoldi]

The method outlined by pochisoldi to split the shares can't be done as Money is expecting whole numbers greater than one.

Therefore I calculated 1x R Class unit = 0.897 I Class unit. I found a ratio calculator online to simplify the ratio by ignoring the decimal places and split the shares which came within 12p. It retained the cost base and I added the small amount of shares missing (due to rounding) through the 'Add Shares' function at the price when the transfer took place and bingo, bang on the money!

Serves me right for answering a question without checking what the dialog boxes say. I assumed you had to enter a multiplier.

I checked with Money 2002 UK when I got home, and can back up darrinm's findings.

The solution to the "can't enter fractions" is to keep multiplying the values in each box by 10 until you either have an integer in both boxes, or one box says 10000 (at that point drop any remaining fractions)

So for 0.897 for every share you end up entering 897 shares for every 1000.

[darrinm]

Thanks pochisoldi.

I also found that if you have say 592 shares before a split and now have 91, you can simply enter those values eg '91 shares for every 592' and Money will take the smaller figure as your new holding, again preserving the cost base etc.

The joys of MS Money but still the best thing out there IMHO...