Using Set Builder to Create a Smart Set
Smart Sets are collections of portfolios built through the use of data-based rules, or criteria, that you create.
Instead of directly specifying which portfolios or portfolio groups are set members, you specify the criteria that
set members must meet. The Set Builder uses that criteria to locate all qualifying portfolios and portfolio groups
and puts them into the set.
You will want to build most of your sets as Smart Sets. However, before learning how to create a Smart Set,
review the following document which compares Smart Sets and Static Sets and how they can be used in Smart
Sets vs. Static Sets.
To Create a Smart Set
To create a Smart Set using the Set Builder:
1
While on the Portfolios tab, select Sets at the upper left, and then click the Set Builder button at the
bottom of the window to display the Set Builder window.
Note: You could also have clicked New and then selected A New Smart Set, in which case you would
skip step 2 below.
DocumentID: SPT010303
Last Updated: December 3, 2010
2
Choose Add to display the Build Smart Set dialog.
3
Enter a Name and Description for the set. The name is an internal identifier for a set. The description
field is the name of the set that appears in report settings or on a global report. As you name your set,
the Set Builder also assigns the same name to a Rule which will be stored in Rules Manager for other
uses. The rule will include the criteria you use to create this Smart Set.
Note: If you want to use an existing Rule as the basis of your new Smart Set, browse the Rule field and
select the rule from the list of rules stored in Rules Manager. If you do this, and you do not want to
change any of the criteria in the rule, you can skip to step 10 below to display set members and then
save your Smart Set.
Important
Do not leave the description field blank! Otherwise, you will not be able to see the name of the set in
report settings!
The Build Smart Set dialog box is where you enter one or more criteria, or rules, that must be met by an
individual portfolio for it to become a set member. You can also specify the same or different criteria to
determine which portfolio groups will become set members. The Define Criteria dialog works the same
for portfolio groups as it does for portfolios.
Note
If you want your set to include all portfolios, portfolio groups or both, simply check the Include All
Porfolios box, Include All Groups box, or both. Checking these boxes eliminates the need to
enter criteria in either area. In fact, if you have created criteria, and then you check an Include All
box, your criteria are ignored, as they are no longer needed.
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4
Under Portfolios Criteria, click Add Criteria.
5
Select AND or OR. As you define a criterion, you can enter one condition or you can continue to use
the ADD button to enter multiple conditions. If your criterion contains multiple conditions, they will be
connected logically by AND or OR, depending on which radio button you select at the top of the dialog.
You cannot mix AND and OR operators within the same criterion. All of the conditions in your criterion
will be related either by AND (all conditions must be satisfied) or by OR (only one of the conditions
must be satisfied).
6
Create your condition by making an entry in each of the following three fields:
Field
Description
Example
Column
A portfolio data field or attribute.
Account Type
Click the browse button to open the Select Column / Custom Field
dialog box, where you can choose from:

All portfolio fields

Any any Custom Portfolio Fields you have created

Hidden attributes, such as Last Modified Date for the portfolio,
default account, and advisor assignment

Items associated with portfolios, such as Billing Specs, Models,
and Targets
Not only can you base set membership on which of these items has
been assigned to a portfolio, but you can also base it on attributes of
these items. For instance, you could build a set to include any portfolio
that has a model assigned that is based on Asset Class.
Operator
The relationship between the Column and the Value, such as Equals,
Less than, or Greater than. The available operators depend on the
field’s data type. Use the drop down list to choose the operator for this
condition.
Equals
See “Operators for Smart Set Conditions” on page 5 for a detailed
description of each operator, including its related data types and what it
returns.
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Field
Description
Example
Value
The value to accept for the field or attribute specified in the Column
entry. Type in a value, or select from a list:
IRA

For Text and Number fields, use the selection box at the right of the
field to see a list of all possible values.

For Date fields, a calendar can be displayed.
7
When you have finished adding conditions to your criterion, click OK.
8
To define more portfolio criteria:
a
Repeat steps 4 through 7 for each criterion you want to add.
b
In the Match Portfolios Meeting field, specify how many criteria a portfolio must meet to
be included in the smart set:

Select ALL if it must meet all the criteria (like using AND for the conditions)

Select ANY if it must meet at least one criterion (like using OR for the conditions)
In the example below, the Smart Set will include portfolios that meet ALL of the following
criteria:
Account Type = 401(k), ROTH IRA, OR IRA
Advisor Name = JOHN AND Model Based On = Asset Class’
9
To include groups in the Smart Set, define one or more criteria in the Groups Criteria section. Click
Add Criteria under Groups Criteria, and repeat steps 5 through 8 until your groups criteria are
complete.
10
To display the results of your criteria, click Display Results to display a list of the portfolios and groups
that will be set members based on your criteria.
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11
Save your Smart Set by clicking the Save button in the upper right of the Build Smart Set window, and
click OK to confirm. To view the saved set members, click on the Saved Members tab. Click Close to
close the Build Smart Set window and return to the Set Builder.
Your new smart set is now listed with all other smart sets on the Set Builder screen. Click Close to close
the Set Builder window. You can also see your new set listed with all other sets by selecting SETS on
the upper left of the Portfolios Tab.
Operators for Smart Set Conditions
Operator
Data Types
Description
=
All types
Must match exactly.
<>
All types
Does not match exactly.
This operator does not return blank Text or Date fields. Number and True/False
fields cannot be Blank.
>, <, >=, <=
Text, Date,
Number
Greater than, less than, greater than or equal to, less than or equal to.
These operators do not return blank Text or Date fields.
For Text fields, these operators refer to the alphabetical order of the values.
When you specify something like “Last Name >” and select a name from the
list, your set includes all portfolios where the last name falls alphabetically after
the selected name.
Is Blank
Text, Date
No value is entered for the field.
To find portfolios with no Model, Target, etc. assigned, use the Is Blank
operator for the Name field of the associated item. For example, “Model Name
Is Blank” returns all portfolios with no Model assigned.
Is Not Blank
Text, Date
Any value has been entered for the field
Contains
Text
Contains the specified text anywhere in the field.

Use ? as a wildcard to represent a single character.
“Account Type Contains 40?(?)” returns portfolios with the account type
401(k) or 403(b).

Use * as a wildcard to represent any number of characters.
“Account Type Contains SAM*Trust” returns portfolios with the account
type SAM: CFI/Trust, SAM: AFL/Trust, etc.
Does Not
Contain
Text
Does not contain the specified text anywhere in the field.
Ends with
Text
Contains the specified text at the end of the field.
Starts with
Text
Contains the specified text at the beginning of the field.
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Example of Using a Smart Set
Veronica Lake is the operations manager for Firm X, which has 3 advisors: John Smith, Mary Doe, and Carl
Jones. For each advisor, Veronica must maintain the following sets:

All of each advisor’s accounts

Each Advisor’s Taxable Accounts

Each Advisor’s Non-Taxable Accounts

Each Advisor’s Billing Accounts

Each Advisor’s Rebalancing Accounts
That’s five sets for each advisor. With three advisors, Veronica must maintain 15 different sets. Every time a new
portfolio is added, or closed, or changed in some way (for instance moving from one advisor to another) it must
be added to or removed from all of the relevant sets.
To use a smart set to streamline the set maintenance process, Veronica considers the following:

The advisors are tracked in the Advisor field.

All portfolios are marked taxable or non-taxable with the “Taxable” flag.

Billing Accounts are the portfolios or groups that are used to generate Billing Statements. All of the Billing
accounts have Billing Specifications assigned; non-billing accounts do not.

Rebalancing Accounts are the portfolios that are periodically rebalanced, using a PortfolioCenter Model.
Rebalancing Accounts have Models assigned; non-rebalancing accounts do not.
In each of the sets mentioned above, the membership of the Sets relates to an attribute (a portfolio field) that must
be maintained, regardless of the set membership. Veronica uses those portfolio attributes to create the following
smart sets:
Smart Set
Criteria
All John Smith’s accounts
All portfolios with Advisor Name = JSMITH
John Smith’s Taxable Accounts
All portfolios with Advisor Name = JSMITH AND Taxable Flag = True
John Smith’s Non-Taxable Accounts
All portfolios with Advisor Name = JSMITH AND Taxable Flag = False
John Smith’s Billing Accounts
All portfolios with Advisor Name = JSMITH AND Billing Specification
Name Is Not Blank
John Smith’s Rebalancing Accounts
All portfolios with Advisor Name = JSMITH AND Model Name Is Not
Blank
She creates the same smart sets for Mary Doe and Carl Jones.
Veronica can now keep fifteen sets updated simply by maintaining four attributes—Advisor, Taxable, Model, and
Billing Spec—portfolio data fields that need to be maintained anyway. She no longer has to spend time adding
portfolios to various sets and removing others, nor does she have to keep track of which portfolios belong where.
The sets are maintained for her because they are based on data that has been entered in Portfolio Details.
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