Charts are visual summaries of your investment performance, offering a clear representation of how the value of your non-cash assets has fluctuated over a set time period. These visual aids provide you with valuable insights into how your portfolio is performing to date. Remember, these charts are guides to help in your decision-making, and historical results are not a guarantee of future performance.
Calculating Your Returns: A Step-by-Step Guide
At Stockpile, we calculate your simple returns by first considering the total unrealized value of your portfolio, which is displayed as the large number at the top of the chart. This reflects the current total value of all your investments excluding any cash. As your portfolio values are updated they are reflected in your chart. For example, in the image of an example chart* below, your portfolio's total unrealized value is $1,050.00, updated as of September 4, PM ET time.
Next, we break down your unrealized gains or losses. The Dollar ($) value displayed on the chart shows your absolute unrealized gains or losses over the selected period: 1 Day, 1 Week, 1 Month, 1 Year, or over the lifetime of your portfolio (“All”). Here, the $50.00 increase represents the total unrealized monetary gain in your portfolio from the time the investment was made until the current date (“All”). Alongside this, the total unrealized monetary gain is shown as a percentage of the value of your portfolio from the start of the period selected,whether 1 Day, 1 Week, 1 Month, 1 Year, or over the lifetime of the portfolio (“All”).
*This example does not reflect actual investment returns and is for illustrative purposes only.
Understanding Your Portfolio Performance
What is "Unrealized Value"?
Unrealized Value is the change in value of your stock and cryptocurrency positions from the prices at which they were originally purchased to their current market prices if they were to be sold today. It represents potential gains and/or losses to date. Please note that the calculation of Unrealized Value does not consider any cash balances held in your account but rather focuses only on the performance of your investments.
This value changes based on market conditions and is called "unrealized" because it represents potential gains or losses that have not yet been realized by a sale of the securities.
Navigating Your Interactive Performance Chart
Scrubbing the Chart: By dragging the cursor across the chart, you can see the historical values of your portfolio for any point in time within the selected timeframe. This feature dynamically shows you the portfolio value, unrealized gain or loss in dollars, and percentage gain or loss, at the then current market price for each investment.
How We Calculate Your Portfolio Performance
Timeframes: You can view the changes in your portfolio over different time frames—1 Day (1D), 1 Week (1W), 1 Month (1M), 1 Year (1Y), and from the time of your initial investment (ALL).
Calculations for Specific Timeframes (1D, 1W, 1M, 1Y)
We display the current portfolio value alongside the performance for the selected period. The absolute dollar amount and the percentage performance are calculated using the following formulas:
Portfolio Performance for Specific Timeframes
Time Period Dollar Return = Current Value of Investments - Initial Value of Investments
For portfolios containing multiple assets, the portfolio performance is calculated by taking into account the weight of each asset in relation to the total portfolio value. This weighted approach provides a more accurate view of your portfolio’s performance by reflecting the contribution of each asset.
Where:
Current Value of Investments is the value of your investments at current market prices which reflects growth of the positions since the time of your initial investment.
Initial Value of Investments is the cost basis of the positions held at the beginning of the specified time period.
All-Time View
This view shows the total gains or losses since the inception of your portfolio, reflecting the cumulative unrealized gains in both dollar terms and percentage.
Portfolio Performance for All-Time
Total Return $ = Current Value of Investments - Original Cost of Investments
Total Return % = [(Current Value of Investments - Original Cost of Investments) / Original Cost of Investments] × 100
Where:
Current Value of Investments is the value of the positions at the current market price.
Original Cost of Investments is the cost basis of the positions.
Example
Imagine you started with an investment of $1,000. Over a year, the value fluctuates and is now $1,100. Here's how it looks:
Unrealized Value: $1,100
Gain: $100 increase from the original $1,000
Percentage Increase: 10% increase over the period from the original investment
*The above example does not reflect actual investment returns and is presented for illustrative purposes only. Your investments may also decrease in value and, if so, losses would be calculated in the same manner.
What Happens When You Sell?
Realized Gains and Losses: When you sell an asset, any gains or losses become "realized," meaning they are locked in and no longer reflected in your unrealized portfolio value. Instead, any cash received or lost from the sale is now included in your cash balance.
Impact on Portfolio Charts: Selling a high-performing asset can reduce the overall unrealized value and percentage of your remaining portfolio. This happens because the gains from the sold asset are no longer included in the portfolio’s performance calculation.
Consider Your Financial Documents
The official record of your investment performance is detailed in the financial documents for your account:
Account Statements: These offer a detailed transaction history and are key for monitoring your portfolio’s progress.
Tax Documents: Annual tax documents provide insights into your realized gains or losses, dividends, and interest for tax purposes.
To access your documents, follow the steps below:
Log in to the Stockpile App.
Navigate to the Account section.
Select the Documents.
View or download your Tax Documents and Account Statements.
Disclaimer: Investing involves risks, including the potential loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The examples and charts discussed above are tools to aid your understanding and decision-making. These tools are not predictive instruments. Always consider seeking advice from financial advisors for personalized investment strategies.stment strategies.