Written by Chris Bendtsen
How High-Net-Worth Investors Track Their Portfolios
How High-Net-Worth Investors Track Their Portfolios
Spreadsheets still lead, and the most-used app has the weakest recommend rate. Usage against advocacy across eleven portfolio and budget tools.
Chris Bendtsen
Research Findings
Manual spreadsheets remain the most common way high-net-worth investors track a portfolio. In Long Angle's 2026 High-Net-Worth Financial Products Study, 40% of respondents who track a portfolio used Google Sheets or Excel, ahead of Monarch Money at 22% and Empower at 19%. Advocacy did not follow usage: spreadsheet users recommended their method 72% of the time and Monarch Money users 88%, against 52% for Empower. Figures come from 165 voluntary Long Angle respondents in July 2026 and are shares of those who track, not of all respondents.
Key Takeaways
- 72% of respondents track a portfolio or net worth, and 62% track a budget.
- Manual spreadsheets lead portfolio tracking at 40% of trackers, ahead of Monarch Money at 22%.
- Usage and advocacy diverge: Empower holds 19% share and a 52% recommend rate, while Monarch Money reaches 88% on similar usage.
- Monarch Money leads budgeting on both measures, at 30% share and a 93% recommend rate.
- Shares are of respondents who track, not of all 165, and the smaller tools sit on low respondent counts.
2026 High-Net-Worth Financial Products Report
See which banks, credit cards, brokerages, lenders and insurers high-net-worth households actually use and which they recommend. Based on insights from 165 investors, entrepreneurs and executives.
Most track, and most do it outside the brokerage
72% of respondents track a portfolio or net worth, and 62% track a budget. What the tool mix shows is that brokerage apps are not where this happens, because the accounts do not sit in one place.
Manual spreadsheets are the single most common method at 40% of portfolio trackers, ahead of Monarch Money at 22% and Empower at 19%. Quicken follows at 10%, and no other tool clears 5%.
| Tool | Share of trackers | % Recommend |
|---|---|---|
| Manual spreadsheets (Google Sheets, Excel) | 40% | 72% |
| Monarch Money | 22% | 88% |
| Empower (Personal Capital) | 19% | 52% |
| Quicken / Quicken Simplifi | 10% | 83% |
| Snowball Analytics* | 4% | 80% |
| RightCapital* | 4% | 80% |
| Yahoo Finance* | 3% | 25% |
| Kubera* | 3% | 75% |
| eMoney* | 3% | 25% |
| Boldin* | 3% | 75% |
| AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude)* | 3% | 75% |
Source: Long Angle 2026 High-Net-Worth Financial Products Report, 165 respondents, 81% with net worth over $5M, fielded July 2026. Shares are of respondents who track a portfolio, not of all respondents. Rows marked with an asterisk sit on a low respondent count.
Usage and satisfaction point in different directions
The two figures in that table do not move together, which is the most useful thing in it.
Empower holds 19% of portfolio trackers and a 52% recommend rate. Monarch Money holds 22% and reaches 88%. Nearly identical share, a 36-point gap in whether users would put their name behind it. Spreadsheets, with no product team and no account aggregation, out-recommend Empower by 20 points.
Two tools with low share and low advocacy are worth naming: Yahoo Finance and eMoney both sit at 25% recommend among the respondents using them. Small bases, but the direction is consistent.
Why spreadsheets persist
The study does not ask why, so what follows is the constraint rather than the motive.
These are households with accounts at several institutions, and the study's own brokerage data shows 45% at Schwab and 43% at Fidelity, meaning many hold both. Add private market positions, capital-call schedules, direct real estate and concentrated employer equity, and the aggregation problem stops being about connecting two banks. Consumer tracking software is built to sync public-market accounts, which is the part of the portfolio these respondents can already see.
AI tools appear in both tables at small shares: 3% of portfolio trackers and 5% of budget trackers, recommended by 75% and 80% of the small number using them. Too small to carry a claim, large enough to watch in the next edition.
Budgeting is a different market
Budget tracking splits differently. Monarch Money leads at 30% of budget trackers with a 93% recommend rate, the strongest pairing of share and advocacy anywhere in the study. Spreadsheets hold 27% at 76%, and Quicken 14% at 79%.
| Tool | Share of budget trackers | % Recommend |
|---|---|---|
| Monarch Money | 30% | 93% |
| Manual spreadsheets | 27% | 76% |
| Quicken / Quicken Simplifi | 14% | 79% |
| AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude) | 5% | 80% |
| Tiller* | 4% | 100% |
| Quickbooks* | 4% | 60% |
Source: Long Angle 2026 High-Net-Worth Financial Products Report, 165 respondents, 81% with net worth over $5M, fielded July 2026. Shares are of respondents who track a budget. Rows marked with an asterisk sit on a low respondent count.
Monarch is the one tool in this study that wins its category on both measures at once. Long Angle has no partnership or referral relationship with any tool named on this page.
Long Angle earns nothing when you pick a tracker.
Long Angle is a vetted community of high-net-worth founders, executives and investors who compare the software they use to run their own balance sheets, with no affiliate link at the end of the answer.
Tracking choice follows portfolio shape more than feature lists. A household holding accounts at two custodians and nothing private is served by most of the tools here. A household with private positions, capital-call schedules and concentrated employer equity is the reason 40% of this sample still opens a spreadsheet. The question worth asking before switching tools is which parts of the portfolio the software can see.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do high-net-worth investors use to track their net worth?
Manual spreadsheets, most commonly. 40% of Long Angle respondents who track a portfolio use Google Sheets or Excel, ahead of Monarch Money at 22% and Empower at 19%.
Is Empower a good net worth tracker?
Among respondents using it, 52% would recommend it, the second-lowest rate of any portfolio tool measured. Its 19% share is the third-highest, so usage here runs well ahead of advocacy.
What is the best budgeting app for high-net-worth households?
Monarch Money had both the largest share of budget trackers, at 30%, and the highest recommend rate, at 93%. That is an observed result among 165 voluntary respondents rather than a recommendation.
Why do wealthy investors still use spreadsheets?
The study does not ask. Respondents in this sample typically hold accounts at several institutions along with private market positions and concentrated equity, and consumer tracking software is built primarily to sync public-market accounts.
Research
