Frequently Asked Questions
PiScreener doesn’t need any account. Most of the functionalities are accessible without account. However, by creating a free account you will have some enhanced features like the possibility to save the portfolio that you created and the ability to modify the positions in your portfolio to analyze how changes to your positions affect the risk score.
We use the official eToro API to get information about popular investors and smart portfolios. Stock prices are retrieved from Yahoo Finance.
Most of the statistics are updated at the same time that eToro update the stats page. This happens around midnight GMT every day. Popular investor and smart portfolio rankings are updated once a week.
To save a portfolio you first have to sign up for a free account. Next click on the “Manage portfolios” page to create, save, modify, or delete portfolios.
You can create portfolio composed of any mix of popular investors, smart portfolio, stock, currency, ETFs, cryptos. For assets different from popular investors and smart portfolio, you will have to use Yahoo Finance symbols.
One of the unique feature of piScreener is the ability to compare your etoro portfolio with benchmark portfolios composed of any mix of popular investors, smart portfolio, stock, currency, ETFs, cryptos. For instance, you can create a portfolio composed of all elite pro popular investors and use that as benchmark.
To export all the positions in your portfolio, just create a portfolio with only your eToro username. At the bottom of the page you will find the positions in your portfolio and the option to export them.
You can use piScreener to export your monthly performance to use for downstream analyses.
First you have to create and simulate a portfolio from the “Simulate your PI portfolio” tab. Next, go the the “Search PIs for my portfolio” tab and click search. We will scan all eToro popular investors to find the bests that can improve your current portfolio using a variety of statistics including, correlation with existing portfolio, performance, length of trading.
Yes! You can use the Risk Analysis tab to modify your portfolio and predict how changes to your positions will affect your score. First, you have to initialize a portfolio by using the “Simulate your PI portfolio” tab. Next, go to the Risk Analysis tab and modify your portfolio. You can use buttons to add (open) or delete (close) positions. You can also modify existing positions by double clicking on the element of the table that you want to modify. For doing this, you need to sign up for a free account. Remember to indicate the Yahoo Finance ticker when calculating the risk score.
The formula for risk score is explained in this article. The actual implementation is performed using the PerformanceAnalytics package in R. Risk free return is calculated as the 3 month yield of treasury bills.
The exact details of eToro risk score algorithm are not public. Some information are available on their website. However, some parameters might be different. On average we see high correlation between piScreener and eToro risk score (>0.8).
PiScreener is still in early stage of development, sometime there are unexpected events that caused the web app to crash. Sometimes you can solve the issue by just refreshing the page and try again, if the error persist please report the issue to our team.
You can contact us through this google form or our X account.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does piScreener get popular investors statistics?
We use the official eToro API to get information about popular investors and smart portfolios. Stock prices are retrieved from Yahoo Finance.
How can I save a portfolio?
To save a portfolio you first have to sign up for a free account. Next click on the “Manage portfolios” page to create, save, modify, or delete portfolios.
How often statistics are updated?
Most of the statistics are updated at the same time that eToro update the stats page. This happens around midnight GMT every day. Popular investor and smart portfolio rankings are updated once a week.
Do I need to create an account to use piScreener?
PiScreener doesn’t need any account. Most of the functionalities are accessible without account. However, by creating a free account you will have some enhanced features like the possibility to save the portfolio that you created and the ability to modify the positions in your portfolio to analyze how changes to your positions affect the risk score.
What assets can add to my portfolio?
You can create portfolio composed of any mix of popular investors, smart portfolio, stock, currency, ETFs, cryptos. For assets different from popular investors and smart portfolio, you will have to use Yahoo Finance symbols.
What benchmark can I use?
One of the unique feature of piScreener is the ability to compare your etoro portfolio with benchmark portfolios composed of any mix of popular investors, smart portfolio, stock, currency, ETFs, cryptos. For instance, you can create a portfolio composed of all elite pro popular investors and use that as benchmark.
How to export my eToro portfolio?
To export all the positions in your portfolio, just create a portfolio with only your eToro username. At the bottom of the page you will find the positions in your portfolio and the option to export them.
How to export my eToro statistics?
You can use piScreener to export your monthly performance to use for downstream analyses.
How is Sharpe Ratio calculated?
The formula for risk score is explained in this article. The actual implementation is performed using the PerformanceAnalytics package in R. Risk free return is calculated as the 3 month yield of treasury bills.
Can I use piScreener to reduce my eToro risk score?
Yes! You can use the Risk Analysis tab to modify your portfolio and predict how changes to your positions will affect your score. First, you have to initialize a portfolio by using the “Simulate your PI portfolio” tab. Next, go to the Risk Analysis tab and modify your portfolio. You can use buttons to add (open) or delete (close) positions. You can also modify existing positions by double clicking on the element of the table that you want to modify. For doing this, you need to sign up for a free account. Remember to indicate the Yahoo Finance ticker when calculating the risk score.
How to use piScreener to find popular investors that can improve my portfolio?
First you have to create and simulate a portfolio from the “Simulate your PI portfolio” tab. Next, go the the “Search PIs for my portfolio” tab and click search. We will scan all eToro popular investors to find the bests that can improve your current portfolio using a variety of statistics including, correlation with existing portfolio, performance, length of trading.
What is the difference between piScreener risk score and eToro risk score?
The exact details of eToro risk score algorithm are not public. Some information are available on their website. However, some parameters might be different. On average we see high correlation between piScreener and eToro risk score (>0.8).
Sometimes I get disconnected, why?
PiScreener is still in early stage of development, sometime there are unexpected events that caused the web app to crash. Sometimes you can solve the issue by just refreshing the page and try again, if the error persist please report the issue to our team.
I want to report a bug. How can I get in touch with you?
You can contact us through this google form or our X account.
What is the ideal correlation for a desired PI?
It will depend on your investment goals. Correlation ranges from -1 to 1, with higher values indicating positive correlation and vice versa. You want to choose a PI with a higher correlation to complement your portfolio performance, and vice versa when you need to hedge the market.
Operation error “An error has occurred. Check your logs or contact the app author for clarification.”
You will see this error when you attempt to Simulate your PI portfolio, which happens if you haven’t entered all fields correctly. Fix it by checking all entries and confirming the date(s) then click on ‘Update’ again to refresh the page.
Does piScreener work with any other Social Trading platform?
At the moment, no. We created piScreener to help as many people as possible and chose to use eToro because of its huge social trading client base. Perhaps we shall include other platforms as well in the future, though.
How do I share my portfolio with other traders/investors?
After creating your portfolio, load it onto the ‘Simulate your PI portfolio’ tab and run it against a benchmark such as the SPY. Then click on ‘Export portfolio’ toward the bottom of the page and download the *.CSV file. This can then be shared freely and used to create charts, graphs, etc.