Sharesight Review

In this Sharesight Australia review, I will discuss what features the investment tracking platform offers its users. This involves a deep dive into how it enables users to monitor their entire investment portfolio. Including across multiple asset classes and brokerage platforms. The cost involved with Sharesight and how to get started. I hope you enjoy this Sharesight app review and see if you like the platform for tracking your entire investment portfolio.     

What is Sharesight?

Sharesight Australia is a world class portfolio tracking tool. Importantly it  provides investors the ability to view their entire portfolio value and performance across all asset classes.

The Sharesight platform is an automated tracking tool that integrates to most brokerage accounts via API. One of the unique aspects of the Sharesight app is they account for dividends, capital gains, currency movement and brokerage fees when providing performance.

This unique aspect gives investors a complete picture of their total investment portfolio. Additionally the automation makes it a breeze compared to updating a spreadsheet.

Sharesight enables investors to track their portfolio across multiple asset classes. This includes Stocks, Crypto, Bonds, Currency and unlisted investments like property and private equity.

If you find yourself spending more time tracking your portfolio than it takes to drink a coffee or tea. Then you should consider checking out Sharesight. Get that time back to enjoy the finer things in life and let automation take control. This Sharesight Australia review will highlight why I love using the platform for my portfolio.

How Does Sharesight Work?

Sharesight works by aggregating all your investing platforms data into the one platform. As a result it is extremely simple to view your entire portfolio. It is important to differentiate Sharesight from an investing platform. As Sharesight doesn’t provide investing functionality. Therefore it is purely an investment portfolio tracking platform.

One of the biggest problems Australian investors face is that we have to use multiple investing apps to diversify our portfolio. I only review platforms or products that I have used myself. Unfortunately this means I have a lot of investing platforms to track! This Sharesight Australia review is based on my experience over the last 2 years using the platform. 

Most of the investing platforms I use come under my business accounts. However, for my personal investments I love using Stake. Additionally I have my Australian and American personal investments with them and my SMSF.

Prior to using the Sharesight app I was tracking all my investments using a nicely custom built spreadsheet. I must admit I have kept the spreadsheet running. However, this is mainly to satisfy my need to always have a backup!

It certainly takes me a lot more time to update the spreadsheet at the end of the month than it does for Sharesight to do it. Fortunately, my partner is okay with me going into the office to nerd out for a few hours a month.

Sharesight Integration

Sharesight is able to integrate with multiple brokerage platforms. Such as Pearler, Sharesies, CMC brokers and more through their API. This means that investors using these platforms can connect their accounts to Sharesight. As a result, all future trades will be automatically recorded within the platform.

Investors will still also be able to upload a CSV file for any previous transaction history to be provided to Sharesight. These API integrations make tracking your portfolio performance an absolute breeze!

Sharesight Australia enables integration for over 200 brokers. Unfortunately, they don’t all allow for API integration. API integration is the easiest solution for investors. But if your investing platforms don’t allow this, then don’t worry it is still possible for integration.

If you use investing platforms like Superhero, Stake, Raiz, Spaceship and Goodments you can follow the process below. In order to integrate you will need to get a transaction report in CSV file format from your investing platforms.

You will then upload the CSV file to Sharesight and it will import and calculate your previous transactions. From here you will want to set up their trade confirmation email feature.

Using the Sharesight app Trade confirmation emails feature enables some investing platforms to automate your portfolio tracking. If your broker supports this, you can have your investment confirmation email automatically forwarded to Sharesight. This will then add the investment to your portfolio.

Some investing platforms don’t allow the auto forward email functionality. Therefore you would need to send the email to your account manually.

 

 

Sharesight Australia Features

Check out some of the features below that help differentiate Sharesight from your Excel spreadsheet.  Importantly, these features help position it as the ultimate portfolio tracker. 

Sharesight Tracks All Investments

Sharesight is able to track all your investments and display them in one platform. Therefore you are able to track the following investment assets with Sharesight:

• Shares & ETFs from over 40 exchanges
• Mutual Funds
• ASX & NZX Listed Bonds
• Over 75 different currencies
• 8 Major Cryptocurrencies
• Custom Investments (Gold, Silver, Private Equity, Property, Options & other Crypto)

An excel spreadsheet is also able to track all these investments. However, it doesn’t have the ability to be automatically updated. This is one of Sharesight’s strongest features. Subsequently, after the initial integration it makes it extremely easy to track your portfolio through automation.

Sharesight Cryptocurrency Tracking

Crypto has had a meteoric rise the last few years. Therefore it makes sense that Sharesight have enabled price integration for this asset class. Importantly, Sharesight includes crypto at no extra cost. 

Currently you can sync the following Cryptocurrencies to Sharesight Australia: 

• Bitcoin (BTC)
• Ethereum (ETH)
• Ripple (XRP)
• Litecoin (LTC)
• Stellar (XTM)
• Dash (DAS)
• Monero (XMR)
• Bitshare (BTS) 

Importantly, you will need to add these trades manually. After you have input the trades the value of the assets will be tracked for you. Additionally if you want to import other Cryptocurrencies, then you will need to add them as a custom investment. Unfortunately, there is no functionality yet to integrate with your favourite Crypto platforms like Celsius, Swyftx or Bamboo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4y5sFBXS6w&t=14s

Calculate Total Return

If you invest in stocks that pay dividends and you also participate in their Dividend Reinvestment plan. Then it can get very complicated tracking all this information. Additionally if you add currency fluctuations into the mix if you invest overseas and it can be an absolute headache.

In the worst case scenario you end up using incorrect data from your spreadsheets. For instance, incorrect tax returns will raise an issue with the ATO. Therefore this is another great feature from Sharesight Australia. Similarly, their total return calculations include currency, brokerage fees, dividends and capital gains. As a result this makes the data within Sharesight highly accurate. Subsequently, it provides more certainty around using their tax reporting functionality too.

The simplicity of being able to include all of the factors above across all your different asset classes makes Sharesight a must have for any investor. 

Automated Portfolio Tracking

If you are spending more than 30minutes a month tracking your total investment portfolio, then you are going to want to try Sharesight. I think their single greatest feature is the automation provided through API integration with investment brokers.

It can take a bit of time to set up previous transactions when you initially import them to Sharesight. However this extra time now will save you significant time over the years. Utilising the automatic API integration with investment platforms like Pearler means your future investments will be added automatically.The Sharesight app trade confirmation email feature allows flexibility with many other investment platforms. I manually forward emails from Stake to ensure I have all my investments up to do in the platform.

While this is not fully automated, it is a lot easier than me sitting down and manually entering the investments into a spreadsheet. It also reduces the chances of me making a data input error.

 

Dividend Tracking With Sharesight

Investing for dividends can be a great investing strategy. Especially if you plan to use the dividend income to live off. However, one of the big challenges with dividend investing is keeping track of your cost base. This is especially the case if you participate in dividend reinvestment plans.

Sharesight Australia is able to backdate dividend payments for up to 20 years from imported historical transactions. This means you will be able to see almost your entire dividend history.

Sharesight makes it extremely easy to see your accurate dividend yield per stock. Again, the accuracy here is high, given it accounts for brokerage fees and currency fluctuations.

Investors are also able to track their dividend reinvestment plans with Sharesight. The Sharesight app enables investors to get the true value of their investments. The platform takes into account the dividends received. As well as the new price they have been bought at and any fees involved.

Another cool feature relating to dividends with Sharesight is the fact that you can see upcoming dividends as they are announced to the market. Sharesight provides the predicted income for you based on your portfolio.

One of the great things about Sharesight is that its reporting functionality makes it a great tool to prepare for Tax time. Their reports make it easy to PDF or provide read only access to your accountant. Sharesight has a solid dividend income reporting functionality. As a result it should help save some money in your Tax return prep.

Tax Reporting

All investors need to have a good handle on their tax liabilities from investing. Subsequently most will use an accountant and some will want to do it themselves. Either way Sharesight provides a great suite of reporting functionality.  As a result you or your accountant  will be covered come tax time.

You can obtain a Taxable Income Report from the Sharesight Australia app. Which will review and report your income from dividends, distributions and interest.  Additionally it includes franking credits from your investments too. This report will be very valuable when you need to lodge your tax return. Either for yourself or your accountant and as a result will save you money.

You can also review a Capital Gains Tax Report within Sharesight. This report will calculate your parcel cost bases and include the 50% CGT discount on assets held longer than 12months. This report is also extremely valuable for yourself or the accountant come tax time.  This is because it shows any CGT liabilities you may have.

The final tax prep report you can get is your Unrealised CGT Report. So this is quite handy for some more strategic investing moves. This Sharesight report will help review the true value of the unrealised CGT. As a result it will help you and your accountant come up with some strategies to maximise your money.

SMSF Reporting

Self Managed Superannuation Funds have strict reporting requirements that the Trustees must adhere to. Especially if they want their fund to remain compliant and avoid any issues with ASIC. As a result, most people using an SMSF will have an accountant managing their reporting requirements.

Integrating your SMSF portfolio with Sharesight is a great way to relieve some work for your accountant. Especially at the end of the financial year. Provided you have integrated all of your assets then this will give your accountant the entire picture of your SMSF portfolio.

Not only will this save your accountant time and money at tax time, but it will ensure your SMSF remains compliant. Due to it using accurate data for the required tax returns.

What Does Sharesight Cost?

This is why I love Sharesight so much, it has a very solid free product with absolutely no fees to sign up to the app. Sharesight has four different plans with varying cost and features for investors.

The free offering from Sharesight is excellent. Because it costs nothing! If your holdings are less than 10 you don’t really require anything more. Unless you want greater reporting functionality. In this case it is worth looking at one of their paid options.

Free Plan:

Investors have the ability to access and manage 1 portfolio which can hold up to 10 holdings. This Sharesight plan review provides investors with limited reporting. As well as basic customer support (which is still pretty great) at no cost.

Investors also get access to 1 custom group in the Sharesight free plan. Custom groups allow users to customise how they group their assets. This is a cool feature to enable users to create their own asset allocations based on custom grouping.

Upon review of the free Sharesight plan and given it costs users nothing. I can say it is a great place to start with automating your portfolio tracking.

Starter Plan:

The Sharesight Starter plan costs $19 per month or $228 per year. Additionally all Sharesight Australia plans costs can be reduced by 25% if paid annually. The Sharesight Starter plan includes access to 1 portfolio, but with 20 holdings.

You will also receive the same limited reporting and customer support, and the 1 custom group option with this plan. This plan is a better option for users that have between 11 and 20 holdings. But don’t want access to the full suite of reporting functionality.

 

Investor Plan:

This is the best value for money plan that Sharesight offers. The Sharesight Investor plan costs $31 per month or $372 per year. The Sharesight Investor plans cost can also be reduced by 25% if paid annually. As a result you should review if the cost of this Sharesight plan works for your circumstances. The Investor plan includes access to 3 portfolios and provides unlimited investment holdings.

You will also receive advanced levels of reporting using this Investor plan. Additionally it inlcudes 2 custom groups and standard customer support. This plan is a favourite among investors that have more than 20 holdings or want to manage multiple portfolios. 

Expert Plan:

The Expert plan is the premium offering within the platform. It costs $48 per month or $576 per year, and you get everything Sharesight has to offer! The Sharesight Expert plan cost can also be reduced by 25% if paid annually. Additionally this plan includes access to 5 portfolios and unlimited investment holdings.

You will also receive full reporting functionality from Sharesight. Additionally it includes 5 custom groups and you will be given priority support. This is for a serious investor as the name suggests. It is most likely suitable for investors that have Discretionary Trusts, SMSFs and multiple companies etc.

Sharesight Review FAQ’s

Hopefully you are enjoying this Sharesight review so far. In case you had further questions regarding Sharesight and what the platform is about I have compiled a list of FAQs.

Is Sharesight Trustworthy?

Yes. Sharesight is a trustworthy business. For example, all your data is encrypted with the latest industry standard encryption technology. Additionally, Sharesight is also independently audited frequently. So as to ensure their business operations meet best practice.

Who Owns Sharesight?

Sharesight was founded in 2007 by the father and son duo Tony and Scott Ryburn. It was founded out of sheer frustration for not being able to find an online solution that accurately tracked the value of your investment portfolio.

Is Sharesight Subscription Tax Deductible?

This will depend on your specific circumstances. However, in most cases you should be able to claim your Sharesight subscription as a tax deduction in Australia. But you should definitely check with your accountant first for your financial situation.

Can I Use Sharesight For My Taxes?

Yes. For example Sharesight has tax reporting functionality that uses the data from your total portfolio holdings. So provided you have uploaded all of your investment holdings the data will be accurate to be used for your tax returns.

 

Can You Add Crypto To Sharesight?

Yes. For example, you can track 8 Cryptocurrencies within Sharesight Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Litecoin (LTC), Stellar (XTM), Dash (DAS), Monero (XMR), Bitshare (BTS). Additionally if you want to import any other cryptocurrencies then you will need to add them as a custom investment. 

What Is A Portfolio in Sharesight?

A Portfolio is a particular identifier for a group of holdings. For example 1 portfolio might be your personal investments. While another portfolio might be your SMSF or Family Trust. As a result given these are separate entities you would want to have a separate portfolio for their performance and value.

Is Sharesight A Broker?

No. Sharesight is not a broker. However, Sharesight has partnered with lots of brokers to integrate their data into the 1 platform. As a result you have no trading functionality within the Sharesight app.

Is There A Sharesight App?

Yes. There is a Sharesight App. However the functionality of the app is very limited. As a result I would definitely recommend using Sharesight on your desktop and not the mobile app device.

Can Sharesight Track Superannuation?

Sharesight has the functionality to track thousands of managed funds. Importantly this includes most Superannuation funds within Australia. Importantly there is no extra cost for tracking managed funds within the Sharesight platform.

 

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Free for users with under 10 Holdings
• Accurate view of total portfolio holdings
• Tax deductible
• Strong reporting functionality
• Automated Investment Portfolio Tracking

Cons:

• Only tracks 8 Cryptocurrencies
• Can take some time setting up previous investments with CSV files
• The Sharesight Australia App doesn’t have the best User Experience
• Not a broker, so can’t invest with the platform

Alternatives To Sharesight

Unlike the rest of the investing industry in Australia where there are a lot of competitors. Sharesight Australia has very few competitors. The alternatives to Sharesight includes platforms like Delta and Stocklight.

Delta is an App only platform that provides portfolio tracking across equities and crypto. It doesn’t have a web based offering like Sharesight Australia.  Additionally it has no automation like Sharesight. Although their app is very modern and easy to use.

Stocklight has both an app and web based offering. However, they also have an app with a horrible user interface. Their platform doesn’t offer crypto portfolio tracking. So I feel this is a big negative given how many people invest in crypto now. 

Is Sharesight Worth It?

If you have read this far down in my Sharesight Review then I think you can guess my answer here. Sharesight is most definitely worth it for investors that want to track their investment portfolios automatically.

If you have less than 10 holdings in your investment portfolio. Then it is an absolute no brainer to sign up for Sharesight and automate the tracking process. There is no literally no cost to you at all.

If you have over 10 holdings then you are looking at a paid version of the platform. Which paid version to choose will then come down to your personal circumstances and how many holdings you have. 

In my experience Sharesight is definitely worth it. I was able to save countless hours of portfolio tracking through using Sharesight. But also saved hours of work for my accountant too. Subsequently this saved me a lot of money too. Additionally the ability to write it off as a tax deduction is very handy.

Conclusion

If you like automation that saves you time. Also reduces likelihood of errors and can potentially save you money and effort. Then I think you will love Sharesight. With a great free product offering, Sharesight is great for anyone looking at tracking their entire investment portfolio.

The API integration with multiple investment brokers and automated investment updates make Sharesight a great platform. It has saved me hours of tracking my entire portfolio. Additionally it provides me with a full picture of my portfolio with currency fluctuations included in the data.

If you have a simple portfolio with less than 10 holdings then it really is a no brainer to sign up to Sharesight. However, the benefit is even greater for people with more holdings or more complex portfolios. The time saving, accuracy of data and ease of implementation come tax time make it extremely worth every dollar!

Sign Up Here

If after reading this Sharesight review you want to get started with automating your investment tracking. Then head over to Sharesight here. This link will give you 10% off a paid plan. Otherwise you can just use Sharesight for free.