The portfolio management software (PMS) currently used in my firm is dbCAMS+.  While many advisers and back-office support staff that I talk to feel dbCAMS+ lacks powerful features, I find that there are hidden gems in the software if you know where to find them.

dbCAMS Command Window

For example, I discovered the Command Window buried in dbCAMS’ Tools menu not too long ago.  The Command Window allows scripts, both basic and complex, to be executed in order to modify database information.  One example where the Command Window has proved to be very powerful is when I need to change non-managed assets of a client to managed assets as they increase their level of service with the firm.

Updating Client Asset Information

Here’s a quick tip on using the Command Window features to facilitate the transition of non-managed accounts tracked in the software to managed accounts.  The field where managed assets are defined is in the Dwnld/Price/Billing tab of the client’s asset, shown in the image below.

Consider a client that has a well-diversified portfolio with a dozen or more mutual funds, or perhaps the client participates in a Separately Managed Account with many individual securities.  To the best of my knowledge, there is no straightforward way to select all of the client’s assets and modify the Managed field accordingly (our firm uses the letter “L” to indicate a managed asset).

dbCAMS does feature a Global Field Change interface in the Tools menu, but the Managed field is not an available option in the interface.  So one would have to open each asset and manually change the Managed field one-by-one.  That’s a terribly inefficient process.  Here’s where the Command Window adds efficiency.

Using the Command Window

The Command Window is listed under the dbCAMS Tools menu, shown below.

Note the warning message when opening the Command Window.  Heed this warning, as you can do considerable damage to the data contained in dbCAMS if the wrong script is used.

For our purposes, all we need is a simple script to replace the Managed field with the letter “L.”  Typically all assets to be modified will belong to one account, so we need to add a filter to limit the modification to just one account.  First we need to select the FAS – Assets table in the drop-down list since we don’t want to change any other type of data.  Then we’ll use the REPLACE command and set a filter to just one account.  See the command example in the window below.

The script shown will replace any character in the asset’s Managed field with the letter “L” only for those assets belonging to account 15104.  Run the script by pressing the Execute button, and it will set the Managed field accordingly.  You can save this script by pressing the Save button.  Note that the script shown above is saved as “Set Manage” for future use.

Press Cancel to close the Command Window and then navigate to the client’s assets in CAMS to verify that replacement was performed correctly.  Lo and behold, if your script was formatted properly, all of the client’s assets are now set to Managed assets (e.g. Managed field contains “L”).

Command Window Risks and Rewards

Remember, the Command Window can destroy your data just as quickly as it can save time by updating fields in batch fashion.  For most of the common updates, use the Global Field Change option in the Tools menu.  But for those fields that are more specific such as the Managed field, knowing how to safely use the Command Window can go a long way.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 7:29 am and is filed under Efficiency, Portfolio Management Software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.