Effective investment management can make or break your future and so we’ve looked at the best investment tracking tools for Macs in 2024 to help optimize your portfolio.
Financial planning is one of those things in life that many people put off until its too late.
The shocking evidence is not nearly enough of us actively invest and manage our finances.
While it’s understandable that people shy away from the complexities, risk, expense and time of investment management, “winging it” like this is arguably even riskier for your financial future.
The good news is that if you want to get on track for early retirement, your Mac can be one of your most effective investment instruments.
There’s some incredibly powerful investment tracking software that can do the hard work for you and cut out expensive financial advisory fees.
Most of these portfolio management software tools cost a fraction of what it costs to consult a financial advisor and in some cases even offer free investment software.
In our research and testing, we found the best software to manage and optimize investments on a Mac was Empower (FREE).
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Investment Software vs Personal Finance Apps
Before jumping-in head first into our look at the best ones, there’s an important distinction to be made between personal finance software and investment management software.
Investment tracking apps are mainly dedicated to managing and optimizing your investments.
They are different to personal finance tools which are more focused on budgeting and getting your finances in order.
Of course, many personal finance apps also “do” investment tracking but we’ve found that they are nowhere near as effective as dedicated wealth management software which is what we’ve focused on here.
If you’re also interested in budgeting applications on Mac, we recommend taking a look at some of our selection of the best personal finance software for Mac.
Mint user may also be interested in our look at the best Mint alternatives for Mac since Mint has been discontinued.
It’s also important to be aware that these apps are not stock trading software.
The investment apps reviewed here are designed to be used for tracking investments over the long term, not buying and selling stocks and assets.
1. Empower (Free)
When it comes to investment tracking, few apps cover more angles than Empower (previously as Personal Capital).
Empower is 100% focused on investment management and does it extremely effectively.
Empower was previously known as Personal Capital which has long been the best personal finance app for Mac users but Empower acquired it in August 2020.
It wasn’t until February 2023 that Personal Capital was finally rebranded as Empower although nothing has changed in the product itself.
Empower uses a unique business model that only charges you a commission if you choose to consult with one of its financial advisors.
The app itself is completely free to use for as long as you want and can instantly optimize investments. Here’s some of the things that we liked the most about Empower:
- It brings all your investment accounts into one place
- It doesn’t actually touch your assets – it merely syncs with your investment institutions
- It instantly reveals insights into spending, saving and retirement goals
- You can run useful “what-if” scenarios based on investment decisions or life changes
- You can analyze fees to see where brokers and fund management commissions are eating into your investments
- If you need guidance, you can choose to consult an Empower financial advisor. What we really like about this is that their advisors are fiduciaries which means they have a legal and ethical responsibility to advise you in your best interests – not those of a fund manager or investment house.
Overall, we’ve found nothing that does personal investment tracking better than Empower which is why we’ve rated it the best portfolio app for Mac users.
You can start using Empower now for FREE to try for yourself.
You can also check out our complete Empower review for a more in-depth look.
Pricing: Free
2. Kubera
If you’re looking for a Mac desktop app that can track pretty much any asset, then Kubera could be for you.
Kubera can track all assets, both traditional and crypto including automatic connections to brokerage and bank accounts.
You can connect brokerage accounts such as Robinhood, Fidelity and Vanguard accounts. Kubera also supports Stock Exchanges worldwide including in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Europe and New Zealand.
For cryptos, it supports all major exchanges including Coinbase, Binance and Kraken. You can also connect your own crypto wallet to it.
Kubera is also the only investment tracker we’ve seen that tracks the value of Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) too.
Apart from all this, you can also track the value of your home via integration with Zillow, Cars, Metals and even Domains.
In the event of your death or inability to administer your investments, Kubera also has a “Dead-mans switch” feature which will automatically alert named beneficiaries if there hasn’t been any activity on the account for a long time.
Kubera is a bit more expensive than other portfolio trackers but if you need something that covers every asset you own, its well worth it.
Pricing: Starts at $150/year.
3. Quicken Classic Premier
Quicken is one of the most well-known personal finance software out there and Quicken Classic Premier is the most complete version of it.
Quicken Premier For Mac includes specific focus on investment and is the only version of Quicken you should be looking it at if you need investment tracking features.
In our opinion, some of the strengths of Quicken Premier For Mac are:
- It allows you to see how investments are performing with informed buy/sell decisions
- We like the Portfolio X-Ray tool from Morningstar which drills down into your portfolio diversification
- You can quickly see realized and unrealized gains with updated quotes
- It gives recommendations to minimize tax on investments
- There are customizable investment portfolio views with IRR & ROI
- Investment Lot tracking
However, it’s considerably behind the other investment tools featured here because ultimately that’s not the main focus of Quicken products.
Quicken Premier is primarily for those that want a budgeting tool and investment tracker rolled into one.
However, if that’s what you’re looking for Quicken Premier could be ideal for you although one big drawback is that it’s now only available on subscription.
You can check out our full Quicken for Mac review for more.
Pricing: $71.91/year.
4. SigFig
SigFig is an excellent robo-advisor tool for minimizing your tax liability as it constantly reinvests and re-balances your portfolio.
You can use it for free up to the first $10,000 managed but after that it charges an annual 0.25% fee. You also need a minimum of $2000 to open a SigFig account.
It only works with certain institutions but you can configure SigFig to automatically transfer funds from your accounts to TD Ameritrade, Charles Schwab and Fidelity.
SigFig configures your portfolio based on answers you give it regarding your risk tolerance, investment time scale and financial goals.
However, if you want to speak to an actual financial advisor, it also offers a “Concierge Service” which is basically a personal investment advisor.
A consultation with a SigFig financial advisor is free but unlike Empower, be aware that they’re not a fiduciary so the advice may not be as impartial.
Pricing: Free up to first $10,000 managed, after that 0.25% annual fee.
5. Morningstar Investor
Morningstar is one of the most well known investment journals in the world so it was only a matter of time before it launched its own investment tracker.
Morningstar is famous for the “X-Ray” analysis report and the Morningstar Investor tool integrates all this information into analyzing your assets and stocks in-depth.
It can then offer detailed comparison and optimization suggestions based on a wealth of information that few other platforms can provide.
What we like about it is that the uncomplicated, easy to digest interpretation of data that Morningstar is known for has also gone into the tool with Analyst Ratings and value barometers making it easy to understand.
You can automatically link your portfolio’s banking institutions and investment accounts to Morningstar Investor which uses over 20 different indicators to analyze them including fundamentals and profitability ratios by sector.
Detailed reports include fees and expenses, global holdings breakdowns and asset allocation.
Morningstar is also suitable for bond investors and can create multiple portfolios based on profiles, risk and sectors.
Pricing: $34.95/month
6. M1 Finance
When it comes to intelligent investment tracking, M1 Finance is all about growing your money fast. M1 Finance not only balances your portfolio but can automatically invest in stocks and ETFs for you.
Some of the things that make M1 Finance stand out for tracking portfolios are:
- No investment management fees, highly customizable portfolios and rock solid security
- It makes investing understandable for anyone and optimizes your investing for the long term so that you can retire earlier.
- M1 Finance spreads your portfolios into themed pies based around specific industries and works on the principle of fractional shares and intelligent automation to invest your funds.
- M1 is also unusual in that it allows you to borrow from a margin account based on your portfolio with some very attractive borrowing rates compared to major lenders. In fact you can borrow up to $10,000 from M1 with no extra paperwork or admin required based on your portfolio.
We also like the fact that you can setup direct deposits and even spend with an M1 debit card so you don’t have to transfer everything to your checking account if you don’t want to.
More recently M1 Finance has added the ability to track cryptocurrency investments within the app if you trade cryptos on your Mac.
If you’ve been using Robinhood to manage your investments up until now, you’ll find M1 Finance a refreshing change with many former Robinhood users happy they switched.
Pricing: Free, Enhanced plans start at $3 per month
7. Axos Invest
Axos Invest (formerly WiseBanyan) is a free portfolio management software that doesn’t charge any investment management, trading or re-balancing fees.
Axos Invest is a mix between a robo-advisor and traditional financial advice service with a particular focus on small time investors with no minimum investment fee required to use it.
The company mainly makes money from its tax harvesting tools which amount to 0.25% of assets being managed.
Like many rob-advisors, it works by asking you a few simple questions about your investment needs and then creating a customized portfolio of exchange traded funds based on your risk tolerance.
It’s important to be aware that whereas tools like Empower never actually touch your cash (it only links to your accounts) – Axos Invest handles your investments directly.
However, all cash and securities held in its accounts are protected by SIPC up to $500,000, with a limit of $250,000 for cash but it’s something to bear in mind before opening an account.
Although it’s free to use, there are also add-ons that cost a few dollars which enable you to track clusters of stocks such as Blockchain Stocks, Internet Innovator Stocks and Socially Minded Stocks.
There are also Axos Invest mobile apps for iPhone, Android and even iWatch to track how your assets are performing.
Withdrawals can take up to 7 business days and while it’s not unusual for transfers to require clearance from investment services, this is longer than the average.
Nevertheless, if you’re a small investor, Axos Invest is one of the few investment tracking tools that’s free, whatever your balance.
Pricing: Free.
Sharesight is a global portfolio management tool that works in the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand.
Its one of the few investment apps we’ve seen that apart from portfolio tracking, also tracks dividend payments and tax liabilities.
The software connects to around 200 major brokers worldwide including in the UK Trading 212, Hargreaves Lansdown and Interactive Brokers.
If it’s not supported, Sharesight also support manually uploading investments such as real estate, vehicles, artworks and other investments.
Sharesight can track corporate actions such as dividend payments, DRPs and share splits but also global stocks, cryptos, ETFs and funds.
Its also one of the few investment apps that can track multiple currencies, expected value from dividends and benchmarking of portfolios.
There’s a range of pricing plans for the service starting at Free for up to 10 holidings and one portfolio with plans for more holdings starting at $7 per month.
Pricing: Free/Plans starting at $7 per month
9. Fidelity Full View
If you’re a Fidelity customer, then the company offers its own impressive financial tracking software Fidelity Full View.
The tool is free for Fidelity customers and links with your Fidelity accounts to provide a clean, simplified basic overview of your investments.
If you’re already a Fidelity customer, your accounts have been migrated to Full View but you’ll have to manually re-sync them for it to update your data.
There’s no actual analysis or robo-advisor in Fidelity Full View and investment data is limited to details of your Holdings and Net worth history.
This is partly because Fidelity Full View is also designed as a personal finance budgeting tool so it also shows you your income and expenses alongside portfolio data.
This includes debts related to credit cards, loans, mortgages and insurance.
You can also link it to the Fidelity Retirement Planner to give you a holistic view of finances.
Fidelity Full View is the most basic investment portfolio tracker we’ve seen but if you’re already a Fidelity customer and want an overview of your Net Worth, it’s worth checking-out.
Pricing: Free for Fidelity customers
Mac Portfolio Management Software For Advisors
So far we’ve only looked at investment apps for individuals on Mac.
The following tools are aimed more at investment professionals, investment houses or small businesses that want an integrated investment and accounting software solution for their Mac.
These private equity deal software are aimed mainly at institutions or businesses. Although these services are all Cloud based, they can easily be used on Mac.
Here then is a quick overview of some popular software programs for investment managers that work on Mac.
eFront
eFront is for professionals looking to invest in private equity, real-estate, infrastructure, Private Debt and Funds of Hedge Funds. The company provides solutions by asset class, investor type or need. It specializes in alternative investments and works with 850 clients across 48 countries.
VestServe
VestServe has been around since 2001 and is a fully integrated investment management and accounting solution. Its ideal for businesses looking to integrate front, middle and back office operations into one solution. The company manages over $100B in assets and provides integrated portfolio-management and accounting to major financial institutions and investment houses.
FundCount
Need something that combines accounting with investment analysis? FundCount is a powerful solution for accounting and investment analysis aimed mainly at investment management professionals. Its designed for small businesses, family offices, hedge funds, fund administrators and private equity firms to optimize efficiency and integrate accounting processes. The tool is ideal for organizations looking for a portfolio partnership, general ledger accounting and reporting.
Running Windows Investment Tools On Macs
There are still some Windows only desktop investment apps that aren’t available on Mac. Notable examples include programs like Investment Account Manager and Fund Manager.
In these cases, the only option is to run Windows on your Mac using virtualization software such as Parallels.
Parallels allows you to run Windows and macOS simultaneously so that you can switch between Windows and your Mac whenever you want.
However, running Windows on a Mac is not without problems.
For one it takes a lot of your Mac’s memory and hard drive to run Windows and can end up slowing down the rest of the applications you’re using.
It also doesn’t always give you the same features that PC users enjoy anyway, so you have to settle for certain features not working.
The latest Apple Silicon Macs with the M-series chips can also only run the ARM version of Windows which many financial planning software are not compatible with anyway.
Our strong advice is to use one of the investment apps for Mac we’ve reviewed here rather than go down this route.
We hope you find these financial investment software tracking tools help make the most of your money but if you have any experiences, suggestions or comments about the apps featured here, let us know in the comments below.