Frequently asked questions about Bee Portfolio | The next evolution of investment tracking apps.

Frequently asked questions

When you’re meeting the next evolution of investment tracking apps, it’s natural to have a few questions. So, we’ve collected common inquiries about Bee Portfolio—from its purpose to its features.

Got another question? Reach out to us.

Core questions

: Bee Portfolio is an investment analysis platform for everyone. Whether you monitor your investments closely or want an occasional update on how your portfolio is performing, Bee Portfolio provides the insights you want. We listened to the frustrations and concerns from thousands of investors to create this platform.

We like to say that Bee is so much more than a portfolio tracking tool. Unlike the run-of-the-mill functionality that you find across the web, Bee offers tools (like Similar Portfolios) and analysis (like Bee Benchmarks™) that show you how your portfolio is actually performing.

Powered by real investors, real portfolios, and real performance data, Bee brings together anonymous data from its community. With this objective information in hand, everyday investors can finally feel confident about their financial future—especially retirement.

Get to know us >
: No. Anonymity is foundational to Bee Portfolio. No one knows whose account is whose. Every Bee member is assigned a randomized series of numbers (similar to a license plate) without any photos, names, or any other identifying information.

Of course, following other members’ accounts is also anonymous. You’ll know how many people are following each of your accounts, but not who they are. Learn more about following accounts under How do I follow other investors and their accounts?
: Yes. Our platform is built with secure technology, so your investment account is safely linked to Bee Portfolio. We use an industry standard, Yodlee, to establish this secure connection. Our platform only reads the data from your investment account to relay into your Bee account, so no one is ever able to edit or access your account directly.

You can also rest assured that other members won’t see which accounts you own. See the question above for more on anonymity.

A little more about Yodlee: It’s a leading (and the most established) provider of bank-connection technology. Yodlee has earned the trust of 45,000,000+ customers, 15 of the top 20 banks in the U.S., and 1,500+ financial institutions.
: No. You’re allowed to connect as many investment accounts as you want.
: Bee doesn’t provide real-time data, and shouldn’t be used to make short-term decisions, like day-trading.

Though our platform provides incredible insight into your portfolio performance, all trading decisions must be based on real-time data, directly from your financial institution.

Our daily data generally is received within 24 hours of market close. Since we’re receiving it from a third party, these updates can take up to 48 hours. We use Yodlee, the most established banking/investment connection technology on the market. While our account ranking and performance data is updated by Bee daily, the data that determines the ranking and performance comes with this baked-in delay.
: No. Bee isn’t a broker-dealer, financial advisory firm, or trading platform. Instead, we give investors objective data from our community of real portfolios, so they gain insights that you can’t get from any other resource.
: Yes. Simply sign in, go to Settings, and click “Cancel Subscription.”

Important note: We don’t continue to track your performance history—and we also delete all previous history—once your account is canceled. This is due to the ongoing cost of storing and continuing to add performance data for your investment accounts. If you decide to use Bee again down the road, your accounts will begin new historical records.
: Yes. In addition to adding accounts from particular investment firms, you can add your retirement account. When you add an account from an investment firm or employer recognized by Bee, you automatically join that group—or, as we call it, a “Hive.” Read more about Hives below.

Use your Hives to see how your strategy is performing compared to your fellow employees. Thanks to Bee’s tools, you can compare what’s in your account vs. others. With this information in hand, you can decide whether to make changes to your account.

Note: Bee data shouldn’t be used for shorter-term trading decisions, such as day trading, due to our secure third-party resource’s baked-in delays.

The big picture

: After listening to the frustration, anxiety, and confusion that thousands of investors expressed, we could tell that the world needed a better source of portfolio performance insights. Too many everyday investors feel left in the dark, unsure of their financial future, because they lack the data to know how their portfolios are actually doing.

We provide clarity to investors wondering “is my portfolio truly performing okay—or well?” From our experience, that’s the biggest—and most burdensome—question weighing on investors’ minds.

Whether through the media, friends, or advisors, everyday investors encounter subjective (aka opinionated, not data-driven) input that drives down their confidence and clarity. Not to point the finger at anyone, as Bee wants every investor who needs a financial advisor to find the best ones who can really help their portfolio grow. Likewise, we want to see self-directed investors to be as successful as possible.

Everyone deserves a more enjoyable retirement, and we’re here to provide data to allow more people to do so. Learn more >
: Instead of just seeing the ups and downs in your holdings, Bee provides you with investment insights that you can’t get anywhere else.

Thanks to our secure and anonymized platform, we aggregate data from real portfolios. We group them by asset categories (see more on this in a question below), so you’re getting apples-to-apples and oranges-to-oranges comparisons.

If you’re more comfortable with the risks of the stock market and barely have any bonds, should you compare your performance to an account with mostly bonds? No, and this is what we mean by “apples to apples.” You measure your account against those with similar goals (grouped in 9 asset categories) to finally see how your portfolio is actually performing.

Dig deeper into Bee Benchmarks >

And that’s just part of Bee Portfolio. Our tools to analyze your historical performance, compare your investment account to others at the same investment firm, and more, make Bee one of the best investment analysis tools out there.
: For us, “objective” means an outside perspective grounded in reality—without any opinions influencing the information. As we like to say, “objective” means “all data, no opinions.”

With Bee, you get the facts about how your portfolio is performing, measured against data from other real investment accounts. We created Bee Benchmarks™ (more details in an FAQ below) to provide a superior measurement of how your portfolio is actually doing.

Instead of comparing your investment account to all other accounts, your performance is measured against accounts with the same goal (i.e., those within your asset category). Finally, you gain a clear picture of how your investment account is doing, thanks to a more precise comparison—within your asset category.
: Yes. With Bee Portfolio, you can analyze your portfolio’s history. Did a change you make improve your investment account's value—or sink it? You can see how your account would’ve done, if you hadn’t made any changes.

Because we save past versions of your investment account, since you joined the Bee community, this “revision history” is at your fingertips. This is a superpower that you gain from Bee: Unlike most investors who work with brokerage firms, you can actually access these insights.

Please note: If you cancel your Bee account, all data we collect from your account(s) is deleted, due to the ongoing cost of storing and continuing to add performance data for your accounts.
: To put it succinctly: Our platform is all about objective data, whereas advisor relationships are subjective. We don’t discount the value of an advisor. Rather, the advisor relationship provides one part of the puzzle, and our objective data provides another.

With our data and the insights it offers, you can figure out whether your portfolio is actually doing okay—and know what “okay” means based on our benchmarks. You can measure how you’re doing against your asset category (more on that in a question below) and even compare your investment accounts against ones that are performing better.

Using the app

: Just follow the on-screen instructions when starting your Bee account. The process is fast, easy, and secure. You can always add more investment accounts to Bee later on, if you go to “Link an Account”.

If you’re curious about how the investment accounts are added: Our app uses Yodlee’s FastLink, and Yodlee is a leading (and the most established) provider of bank-connection technology. Yodlee has earned the trust of 45,000,000+ customers, 15 of the top 20 banks in the U.S., and 1,500+ financial institutions.
: Thanks to our pool of anonymous investor data, Bee creates benchmarks that reflect how you’re doing within your asset category.

This means that you finally know how well you’re performing—because comparing your account to ones with different (or even opposite) goals isn’t helpful. We provide apples-to-apples comparisons, so you can gain greater insight into your portfolio. As Bee demystifies the performance of your portfolio, you experience the next evolution of an investment tracking app.

Read our blog post about Bee Benchmarks >
: Depending on your investment account's bond versus stock percentages, it will land in one of nine categories. There are three overarching labels: Income, Balanced, and Growth. Within each of those three, there are three categories. We color-code these for easy identification throughout the Bee Portfolio platform.

Please note: Asset classes and risk tolerance are often synonymous with each other. As you perhaps can tell by our overarching labels, stock-heavy accounts aim for growth (which comes with the most risk), while bond-heavy accounts aim for stability (which has a “slow and steady wins the race” mentality).
: Bee Portfolio automatically evaluates all investment accounts' performance data, and then assigns rankings accordingly. The better your account performed over that time period (i.e., day, week, month, or year), the higher your account ranks. If you land in the top three, your account is displayed in the list with a bronze, silver, or gold medal!

Besides viewing a leaderboard for the entire Bee community, you can see how (anonymous) accounts rank within each Hive (learn about Hives in the questions below). This means you can see how your account at a specific investment firm, like Edwards Jones, is performing. Does your employer, like Facebook or Costco, provide a 401k? If so, you can see how yours stacks up.
: Inside the Bee community, you can join your investment firm or employer-run retirement plan’s “Hive.” For example, Hives include “Edward Jones” and “Facebook.” Within your Hives, you can see how you rank, compare similar accounts, and more.

Read more about connecting your retirement account in the FAQ above.
: You can take advantage of these two tools to change your investment account. With Similar Accounts, you see how your account is doing, compared to others with similar assets and goals. This way, you can try to optimize your account without overhauling your strategy. You can learn more about these investment goals in an FAQ above.

Using the History feature, you can review past versions of your account—and how they would’ve performed, if you hadn’t changed anything. Bee saves each previous version of your account, from the day you join the platform. This History tool can help you learn from mistakes and successes.

Please note: If you cancel your Bee subscription, all past performance and account holding data will be erased permanently. This is due to the cost of maintaining data.
: Simply click the heart icon when you see it next to an account name. Each account is assigned a unique ID. This combination of numbers is like a license plate, and it protects your anonymity. The only people who could securely “run your license plate” are Bee’s professional team, if required for customer service.

Keep learning

Your portfolio’s true value is no longer a mystery

Reveal how well—or how poorly—your portfolio is performing today. Compare your investment account with others that share your goals, such as growing as fast as possible. See how well you’re doing when you measure your account against others in your employer’s 401k.

Finally, an investment insights app—one that goes far beyond your average investment tracking app.