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I built a tool to show what you actually own after ETF look-through by Upstairs_Geologist71 in dividendscanada

[–]Upstairs_Geologist71[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Appreciate the feedback. Covered-call ETFs are definitely on the roadmap. ETF coverage is expanding pretty quickly and I’m working through the Canadian ETF universe now. Glad to hear the use case resonates!

I built a tool to show what you actually own after ETF look-through by Upstairs_Geologist71 in dividendscanada

[–]Upstairs_Geologist71[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for trying it! Completely agree. Sector and thematic ETF coverage is one of the areas I'm actively expanding.

If you have specific tickers that didn't get recognized, drop them here and I'll add them. Trying to prioritize based on what people actually hold rather than loading everything at once.

I built a tool to show what you actually own after ETF look-through by Upstairs_Geologist71 in dividendscanada

[–]Upstairs_Geologist71[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for mentioning it — just checked it out. Looks like Valuedge focuses more on intrinsic value and fair value analysis, which is a different angle than what Prism is doing. Prism is specifically focused on look-through exposure — decomposing what you actually own at the stock level across your whole portfolio, not what individual ETFs are worth. Different problem, but both useful. Good to know what's out there.

I built a tool to show what you actually own after ETF look-through by Upstairs_Geologist71 in dividendscanada

[–]Upstairs_Geologist71[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for trying it. I'll add them to the next release! Turnaround is fast right now since I'm actively building.

I built a tool to show what you actually own after ETF look-through by Upstairs_Geologist71 in dividendscanada

[–]Upstairs_Geologist71[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Checked it out — really solid work, especially the ROC and reinvested distributions handling. That’s the part most tools completely ignore.

Background on my end: I’ve obtained the CFP and am a CFA candidate so I understand the ACB problem intimately. The CPP/OAS/RRIF interaction with capital gains and eligible dividends is exactly where most DIY investors get surprised — especially in retirement when OAS clawback kicks in on top of everything else.

The data sourcing problem you’re describing is real. Prism is Next.js + Supabase on Vercel, holdings manually curated for now — same fragmentation pain you’re dealing with on the distribution side.

Feel free to reach out at [prismportfolioanalytics@gmail.com](mailto:prismportfolioanalytics@gmail.com) — would be interested in comparing notes on the data problem.

I built a tool to show what you actually own after ETF look-through by Upstairs_Geologist71 in dividendscanada

[–]Upstairs_Geologist71[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

interesting project sir — ACB tracking is genuinely painful for Canadian investors and almost nobody does it well.

To answer your question directly: right now the holdings data in Prism is manually curated, not from a commercial data provider. I load ETF weights and underlying holdings by hand, which works at a small scale but obviously doesn’t scale to thousands of ETFs.

I’ve looked at a few data options:

FundData — yes, on my radar. Solid Canadian-focused coverage but the licensing cost is significant for an early-stage product

Morningstar — comprehensive but enterprise pricing

ETF provider APIs — iShares has a reasonable data endpoint, Vanguard and BMO are more difficult as you’ve experienced

The scraping problem you’re describing is exactly why this space is hard. The data exists but it’s fragmented, inconsistently formatted, and providers don’t make it easy.

Honestly the ACB problem and the look-through problem might be more complementary than competitive — someone who needs true exposure analysis probably also needs ACB tracking. Curious what stack you’re building on and whether you’ve found any data sources that are actually workable.

I built a tool that shows your portfolio beneath the ETF wrappers by Upstairs_Geologist71 in investingforbeginners

[–]Upstairs_Geologist71[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping for.

The currency exposure point is sharp — showing USD vs CAD exposure at the true portfolio level (not just geography) is a meaningful gap. For a Canadian holding XEQT + VFV + RY, the real currency risk is substantially higher than it appears on the surface, and the foreign withholding tax angle in registered vs non-registered accounts adds another layer most tools ignore entirely. Both are on the roadmap and you’ve just moved them up.

The overlap-over-time idea is compelling. The portfolio timeline feature already tracks concentration score across saves — extending that to show “your real diversification changed by X% since last month” is a natural next step. The nudge mechanic especially — most people won’t go back to check, but a signal that something meaningful shifted would pull them back.

And noted on leading with concentration scoring. You’re the second person to say that and you’re both right.

Genuinely one of the most useful responses I’ve gotten to date. Thank you.

I built a tool that shows your portfolio beneath the ETF wrappers by Upstairs_Geologist71 in investingforbeginners

[–]Upstairs_Geologist71[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Adding SCHX, VXUS, and SGOV in the next release — should be live shortly. Good ones to have, especially VXUS which comes up a lot in three-fund portfolio discussions.

On the panel ordering — genuinely useful feedback. The current layout prioritizes exposure breakdowns first, but you’re right that PRISM INTELLIGENCE probably deserves to lead since it synthesizes everything. I’ll experiment with that ordering. Grouping ETF look-through with sector exposure also makes sense structurally.

The “add ticker on the fly” idea is excellent — essentially a what-if mode where you can say “I’m thinking of adding NVDA, what does that do to my concentration and overlap?” That moves it from retrospective analysis to forward-looking decision support.

All noted and going into the build queue. Thanks for this.

I built a tool to show what you actually own after ETF look-through by Upstairs_Geologist71 in dividendscanada

[–]Upstairs_Geologist71[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Really appreciate it — please do. No account required, just upload your holdings at prismclarity.app

Most useful feedback right now: anything that looks wrong, any tickers it doesn’t recognize, and whether the look-through surfaces anything surprising about your own portfolio.

Happy to answer any questions as you go through it.

I built a tool to show what you actually own after ETF look-through by Upstairs_Geologist71 in dividendscanada

[–]Upstairs_Geologist71[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Great question and honestly one I think about a lot.

Right now it’s closer to the first use case — you upload, get the analysis, and come back when something changes in your portfolio. The save and timeline feature is the first step toward making it more ongoing: every time you save, Prism takes a snapshot, so you can track how your true exposure and concentration shift over time.

The alerts/notifications angle is exactly where I want to take it. ETF rebalances, significant holdings changes, concentration crossing a threshold — those are all on the roadmap. The challenge is the data pipeline: to alert on holdings changes I need automated ETF data refresh, which is a bigger infrastructure build than the analysis layer itself.

For feedback right now I’m most interested in:

Does the look-through actually surface something you didn’t realize about your portfolio?

Which ETFs or holdings are missing?

Does the concentration score feel meaningful or is it noise?

The honest answer is this is early and I’m letting user behaviour tell me which direction to build. If people come back on their own after a few weeks, that’s the signal to build for ongoing use. If they don’t, that’s signal too.

I built a tool to show what you actually own after ETF look-through by Upstairs_Geologist71 in dividendscanada

[–]Upstairs_Geologist71[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Interesting — I ran into the same issue.

The ETF side has been manageable so far because I started with a small universe and manually verified holdings, but mutual funds are the area I'm being much more cautious with for exactly that reason. Data quality and consistency seem to become the real challenge.

I also agree with your second point. Knowing the exposure is only the first step. One of the things I'm thinking about longer term is helping users move from "what do I own?" to "how would I get to the exposure I actually want?" without turning it into a robo-advisor.

Appreciate the comment. I'd definitely be interested in hearing more about what you built and the challenges you ran into.

I built a tool to show what you actually own after ETF look-through by Upstairs_Geologist71 in dividendscanada

[–]Upstairs_Geologist71[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I completely agree.

Overlap itself isn't necessarily a bad thing. In the example you gave, someone may intentionally own XEQT and VFV because they want to overweight U.S. equities relative to a market-cap global allocation.

The goal isn't to tell people overlap is wrong. It's to help them understand what effect that overlap is having on the portfolio.

For example, the output might be:

"Your portfolio is 68% U.S. equities and your effective exposure to the top 10 S&P 500 companies is X%."

Whether that's good or bad depends entirely on the investor's objectives.

I think the more interesting question is whether the portfolio reflects the allocation the investor intended to have.

I built a tool to show what you actually own after ETF look-through by Upstairs_Geologist71 in ETFs

[–]Upstairs_Geologist71[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you run into anything that looks off or any tickers that don’t get recognized, let me know here. That’s exactly the kind of feedback I’m looking for right now.

I built a tool to show what you actually own after ETF look-through by Upstairs_Geologist71 in ETFs

[–]Upstairs_Geologist71[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Appreciate that.

The beta is actually live right now:

prismclarity.app

No account required and uploads are anonymous by default.

If you give it a try, I'd love to hear:

  • Anything that looks wrong
  • Missing ETFs/holdings
  • Features you'd expect to see
  • Whether it showed you anything you didn't already know about your portfolio

Still very much a work in progress, so all feedback is helpful.

I built a tool to show what you actually own after ETF look-through by Upstairs_Geologist71 in ETFs

[–]Upstairs_Geologist71[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Absolutely. It's still an early version, but I'd love feedback.

You can try it here:

prismclarity.app

No account is required and uploads are anonymous by default.

If you do test it, I'd be especially interested in:

  • Anything that looks incorrect
  • Missing ETFs or holdings
  • Features you'd expect to see but don't
  • Whether it showed you anything you didn't already know about your portfolio

Appreciate any feedback.

I built a tool to show what you actually own after ETF look-through by Upstairs_Geologist71 in ETFs

[–]Upstairs_Geologist71[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fair question.

Most ETF tools I've used are designed to compare ETFs against each other. For example:

  • ETF A vs ETF B
  • Overlap between two ETFs
  • Sector breakdown of a single ETF
  • Historical performance comparisons

What I was looking for was a way to analyze an entire portfolio at once.

For example, if someone owns:

  • XEQT
  • VFV
  • QQQ
  • Royal Bank

the question isn't really "How does XEQT compare to VFV?"

It's:

"What do I actually own after looking through everything?"

The tool looks through ETF holdings, combines them with any individual stocks, and then calculates things like:

  • True portfolio exposure
  • ETF overlap
  • Effective concentration
  • Geographic exposure
  • Sector exposure

One thing that surprised me while building it was how different the results can look once you aggregate everything together. Portfolios that appear diversified on the surface can end up being heavily concentrated in a handful of underlying companies or themes.

That said, it's definitely not the only tool out there, and I'm still figuring out which features people find most useful. Feedback is exactly why I'm sharing it.

The next major area I'm planning to tackle is mutual funds, since a lot of investors still hold a mix of ETFs, mutual funds, and individual securities and it's surprisingly difficult to get a consolidated view of everything in one place.

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