YCharts, the investment research firm, announced Monday it had added a new data feed that will track the spread of COVID-19 in 148 countries.
“The coronavirus crisis is significantly impacting our global population and financial markets,” said Sean Brown, YCharts’ CEO and president. “We believe it is our mission to provide objective data and easy-to-use tools to enable investors to quickly understand the relationship between coronavirus statistics and financial market dynamics.”
The 'crisis data series,' as YCharts refers to it, is a free addition to the firm's clients. Using Johns Hopkins University and Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center, YCharts can follow the number of confirmed coronavirus cases and the related deaths. The top 10 countries and the overall number of cases and deaths will be updated throughout the day. Other data points will be daily.
Users will be able to plot cases from one or multiple countries on a chart and pair them with any portfolio, create their own watchlist of statistics related to the virus and evaluate portfolio performance as it relates to the spread of the virus, according to the company’s release.
YCharts says the feature is intended to help financial advisors better communicate the effects of the pandemic on client portfolios.
YCharts serves more than 5,000 registered investment advisors, financial planners and asset managers, which collectively oversee upwards of $750 billion in assets.