External Data Fields Overview

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Overview

Professional and Enterprise Services clients are able to use three types of External Data fields (EDFs) in Optuma:

• data imported from an Excel or .csv file
• user-defined data entered manually in to a Watchlist
• data imported from Bloomberg (Enterprise Services only, with a connection to Bloomberg)

EDFs can display data for Technical values (e.g. RSI14), Fundamental values (E.g. Price / Earnings Ratios), along with other general information such as Sector or Industry.

Related Articles:

Working with External Data Fields

Using External Data Fields for Portfolio Management

Adding an EDF

To add an EDF to Optuma run through the following steps:

1. Click on the Data menu

2. Left click Exchange Data Fields

   

3. In the window that opens, click New and select the source you want to use from the list that appears.

   

4. By default, a list of Bloomberg fields will display. You can type in the name of the field you are wanting to add (Sharpe Ratio - 1 Yr, for example) to shorten the list.

   

5. Left-click on the field you want to add.

   The EDF will be added to the list of available items which can be used in a number of areas throughout Optuma.

User-defined fields in a Watchlist

Data can be manually typed in to a watchlist as a user-defined field. Click the + icon in the watchlist to add the column, and then New > User Defined Field:

In the window that opens give the data field a name, and select the Field Type if required (eg Text, Number). Then in the watchlist click in the cell and enter the data. In this example, Entry Price has been added:

Bloomberg EDFs in Watchlists

Custom Columns can be added to Watchlists sourced from Bloomberg Data.

All available EDFs will be displayed in the list of available fields (under the External Data Field subheading).

EDFs in Scripting

EDFs can be used in a number of different scripts, which are available in Scans, Alerts, and Scripting tools (such as Show View, Show Bar, Show Plot, etc).

The DataField() function is used to access EDFs in scripting. This Script can be used in a Scan to find all equities that have a PE_Ratio greater than 5.

More information on how you can use Scripting can be found here - Optuma Scripting

You can also find education videos on Scripting in Optuma here - Scripting Courses

EDFs in Chart Headers

Chart Headers can be setup to display EDF fields while in Edit mode:

Setting an EDF as an Indicator

Some EDF values contain historical data, which allow it to be used as an indicator. To allow an EDF to be selected via the Tools menu, tick the Available as Indicator checkbox when adding the EDF to your list.

Once the EDF has been marked as an indicator, the Tools menu will display the field as an available indicator under the Bloomberg Tools subheading.