How to track a French portfolio split across 5 accounts
A PEA at one bank, an assurance-vie at an insurer, a CTO at a broker and a PEE at work: four statements, no total. Here is how to see one portfolio, one allocation and one performance figure.
Most French investors hold their money in several places: a PEA at their bank, an assurance-vie at an insurer, a CTO at an online broker, a PER, and a PEE through their employer. Each provider sends its own statement. None of them tells you what you own in total, how it is split, or how it did.
Three questions no statement answers
What do I own? The same world ETF can sit in your PEA and in your assurance-vie. Two statements show two lines; your real exposure is the sum.
How is it split? An allocation target (for example 70% shares, 30% bonds) only makes sense across all accounts. Your PEA can be 100% shares if your assurance-vie holds the bonds.
How did it do? Each account had payments at different dates. Adding the yearly returns of each statement gives a wrong number. You need one time-weighted return across the whole portfolio, so your payments do not distort the result.
Step 1: one portfolio per account
Keep the accounts apart, because each one has its own tax rules. A gain in your PEA is not taxed like a gain in your CTO. Mixing them hides what each sale or withdrawal would really cost.
Step 2: bring the holdings in
Use your broker's export file when you can. For an insurer that sends only a PDF, enter the funds by hand once, then update them when you pay in. Add the date and amount of each payment: the performance figure needs them.
Step 3: read the total
Now you can see one value, one allocation and one return, and compare them with a benchmark over the period you choose.
Performance
Cumulative total return
vs S&P 500 and MSCI EuropeTrack all your French accounts in one place with Cadances
Cadances is a portfolio tracker built for this: many accounts, one portfolio.
- One portfolio per account, one total. On Portfolios, create a PEA, an assurance-vie, a PER, a CTO and a PEE, each with its own account type. The totals add up on the dashboard.
- Import or type. Import the export file from your broker, or add the funds by hand.
- A fair performance figure. Performance shows a time-weighted return, net of fees, against the S&P 500 and MSCI Europe, for one account or all of them.
- One allocation. Set allocation rules and see when the whole portfolio drifts from your target.
Start free. Create your Cadances account: no card, no time limit. The Free plan holds one portfolio of up to 15 holdings, which is enough to try it on your PEA. To track every account side by side, compare the paid plans.
The bottom line
- Statements give values per account, never a total, an allocation or a fair return.
- Keep one portfolio per account, because each one has its own tax rules.
- Record the date and amount of each payment, so the return is time-weighted.
- Set one allocation target for the whole portfolio, not one per account.
This article is general information, not investment advice. Your own situation decides what applies to you.
Frequently asked questions
You can add the values, but not the performance. Each account had different payments at different dates, so only a time-weighted return over all accounts tells you how your money did.
No. Set one target for the whole portfolio and use each account for what it taxes best. The PEA can be all equity if the assurance-vie holds your bonds.
Sources
- CFA Institute, Global Investment Performance Standards (time-weighted return)
Written by Cadances Editorial
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