INSTALLATION GUIDE

Version 6.3

August 2014

INSTALLATION GUIDE

Table of Contents Before Installation ____________________________________________________ 3 Cautions ___________________________________________________________ 3 Installation _________________________________________________________ 3 Starting the Asset Allocation System ______________________________________ 3 Start-Up Problems ____________________________________________________ 4 Quick Guides and Help Manuals __________________________________________ 5 Support ____________________________________________________________ 5 Known Issues ________________________________________________________ 5

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INSTALLATION GUIDE

Before Installation Microsoft Office must be installed and used before installing the Asset Allocation System, but prepare for installation by closing any Office programs. New Frontier supports Office 2007, Office 2010, the 64-bit version of Office 2010, and Office 2013 (both 32-bit and 64-bit). However, the combination of Windows 8.1 64-bit with Office 2013 64-bit is known to cause crashes. We do not recommend that combination. We recommend a quad core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, Windows 7 (x64) SP1, and Office 2010 (x86), as Office 2013 is slower than Office 2007 and Office 2010. Your HASP key must be attached to the local machine in order to estimate, optimize, rebalance, or run any of the applications. It is not necessary for installation.

Cautions In January 2008, New Frontier released the Demo Optimizer in conjunction with the second edition of Efficient Asset Management (Oxford University Press)1. The Demo Optimizer cannot be installed on the same machine as the Asset Allocation System. Also, do not install the Asset Allocation System on a machine that currently has the Demo Optimizer installed.

Installation Insert the CD. A splash screen appears containing this quick guide and the prominent Install option. (If the splash screen does not appear, access the CD’s contents through the My Computer Option in the main start menu and click on the setup.exe file.) The installer automatically detects what version of Office you have. Click on the Install option. A security warning may appear; if it does, click run. A wizard appears to guide you through the installation. Accept the terms of the license agreement. Follow the directions on the screen to complete the installation process. If you have licensed the Equity Optimizer, check the Equity Optimizer Quick Guide for special installation instructions.

Starting the Asset Allocation System After the initial installation, NFA Asset Allocation System 6.3 is one of the options in the Windows main start menu. Selecting the Estimator from the NFA Asset Allocation System 6.3 Richard O. Michaud and Robert O. Michaud. Efficient Asset Management: A Practical Guide to Stock Portfolio Optimization and Asset Allocation. Oxford University Press, 2008. 1

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folder opens the default Estimator case. (Other sample cases appear in C:/Program Files/ NewFrontier/6.3/samples unless you changed the default installation destination.) Office 2007 requires additional security assurances. The first time that you open the new version of the Asset Allocation System, you must enable macros. When you access the application, a security warning appears. Click on the security warning to access the Microsoft Office Security Options Window. Ensure that the signature box lists New Frontier Advisors, LLC. Select the Trust All Documents from this Publisher Radio Button. Click the OK Button. Office 2010 and 2013 warns you as you open each module of the Asset Allocation System after a new installation. Click on the Enable Content Button each time. The NFA ribbon for the specific application appears.

Start-Up Problems Some users may experience start-up problems the first time that they start the application. A common start-up error involves third party add-ins, which may have been disabled.  For Office 2007, click on the Office Button, followed by the Excel Options Button. Select the Add-ins Option from the list on the left. Scroll down to see any disabled items or select Disabled Items from the Manage drop down menu. If any New Frontier items appear on the Disabled Items list, enable them. Close all Excel windows. Launch the application.  For Office 2010 and Office 2013, access the File ribbon. Click on the Options option at the bottom of the list to the left. The Excel Options Window appears. Click on the Add-Ins option at the bottom of the list to the left. Select Disabled Items in the Manage drop down menu. Click the Go Button. Select any New Frontier items that appear in the Disabled Items Window. Click Enable. If the addins do not appear in the disabled list, try a computer restart. If the problem persists, contact New Frontier. New Frontier will be able to respond to your support question more efficiently if you include information about your computer. Relevant information appears in the Systems Information Window, accessed from Start → All Programs → NFA Asset Allocation System 6.3 → Toolbox. You can collect the information and paste it into an e-mail to [email protected] or click the button to e-mail the information to support directly. Your HASP key must be attached and correctly licensed to run operations within the Asset Allocation System. If there is a HASP key problem, the application will show you an error message when you try to run. If there is no error message that mentions HASP keys when you run the application, your key is attached and properly licensed. Use the NFA Key Updater to request and receive updates to the license on your HASP key. This is available from the

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INSTALLATION GUIDE

Windows Start menu (Start → All Programs → NFA Asset Allocation System 6.3 → Toolbox → NFA Key Updater or from the Update License Button in the ribbon. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

The Sentinel HASP RUS Window appears. Select the Collect Key Status Info tab. Click the Collect Information button. The Save Key Status As window appears. Change the file destination as desired; the default is the Desktop. Assign a name to the file (*.c2v). Click the Save button. A status message appears on the Collect Key Status Info tab. If successful, the file appears at the designated file destination. E-mail the file to [email protected]. When New Frontier replies with a HASP update file (*.v2c), save the file to the Desktop or another folder. (We recommend not using Outlook Web Access to download the file). Right click on the file. Select the Update NFA HASP Key option. The Sentinel HASP RUS Window appears with the file name in the Update File field of the Apply License Update tab. Click the Apply Update button.

Quick Guides and Help Manuals The quick guides, available in Start → All Programs → NFA Asset Allocation System 6.3 → Documentation, provide introductions to the individual modules within the Asset Allocation System. The manual will open in your default internet browser except Chrome. When the manual opens in Internet Explorer, you may need to allow blocked content in order to view the table of contents and make use of the search function. If you did not allow blocked content quickly enough, closing Internet Explorer and reopening the help manual will give you a second chance to allow blocked content.

Support Please e-mail [email protected] with problems, feature suggestions, and questions. New Frontier will respond shortly.

Known Issues The combination of Windows 8.1 64-bit with Office 2013 64-bit is known to causes crashes. We do not recommend that combination at present. If Internet Explorer 10 is your default browser, then when you open the help manual, an "Allow Blocked Content?" message appears. The help pages become available after maximizing the

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INSTALLATION GUIDE

Internet Explorer Window or clicking on the url bar and pressing the Enter Button on your keyboard. (Internal Reference #10916) When the assets have been flipped in the Display--Charts Menu, hovering over the first asset in the Portfolio Composition Map causes the Optimizer to display "Plot Area" rather than the asset name. (Internal Reference #11002) If you install on Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012, an error message appears saying that .NET is not installed even though it is. Hit OK to continue. (Internal Reference #10667) When you ask the application to identify available cores in preferences, the "best settings for my computer", your computer selects the number that are currently available, which can change within seconds. This means that depending on when the application checks the preferences, your computer could be running on fewer cores than are available. If you have a dual core machine or have licensed multi-core software from New Frontier, we recommend entering your number of physical cores manually on the same tab in preferences. (Internal Reference # 9366) If the Excel add-in Goldmine is present, but not enabled, the NFA addins will not work properly. Enable Goldmine to fix this problem. (Internal Reference # 9524) If the Excel add-in Miner 3D is present during installation and security verification (initial enabling of macros), the Asset Allocation System will not work properly. Disable Miner 3Daddins, install the Asset Allocation System, enable macros for each of the three applications, and then reenable Miner 3D. (Internal Reference # 9520) Double clicking or triple clicking on a button on the ribbon causes the operation to run two or three times. To avoid this problem, use a single click. (Internal Reference # 9349) The Asset Allocation System is incompatible with Bloomberg Excel Tools v.3 build 6284. When this add-in is enabled, the Asset Allocation System will start to open before crashing without an error message. The solution is to disable the Bloomberg Excel Tools add-in. Sometimes when you access the Constraints Analysis II Worksheet, you will see an Excel alert asking you to remove lines between colors. Select No.

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