Performance and returns

The Performance tab shows how your portfolio has grown over time. It plots a deposit-neutralized performance index, reports your total and annualized return, and breaks the return down by period from one month to five years. This page explains how to read the chart and how each figure is computed. The Performance tab is available on the Free, Pro Lite, and Pro plans.

Before you begin

Sign in on a plan that allows portfolios. The Performance tab is available on Free, Pro Lite, and Pro.
Build a portfolio and record at least one deposit and one buy first. For the steps, see Build your first portfolio.
To overlay a market reference on the chart, set up a benchmark first. See Benchmarks.

Quickstart

Open the Performance tab
Go to the Performance tab and select the portfolio you want to study.
Read the index line
Read the performance-index line, which starts at 100 on your inception date. A value of 130 means your invested money has grown 30% net of deposits and withdrawals.
Compare period returns
Review the period returns (1M, 3M, 6M, YTD, 1Y, 3Y, 5Y) to compare recent momentum against the longer trend.

What it shows

A performance chart of a deposit-neutralized index, a growth-of-money-invested line that starts at 100 at inception.
The headline total return and, where available, the annualized return.
Period returns for 1M, 3M, 6M, YTD, 1Y, 3Y, and 5Y.
An optional benchmark overlay, covered in Benchmarks.

Inputs

Timeframe and chart-range controls.
Benchmark selection, covered in Benchmarks.
No numeric inputs. The chart reads from your transactions and prices.

Outputs and how to read them

Performance index: a line starting at 100 on your inception date. A reading of 130 means your invested money has grown 30% net of deposits and withdrawals.
Total return: lifetime profit percent, the same figure described in the Overview.
Period returns: the return over each named window. A value can be empty when there is not enough history.

How it is calculated

Three calculations drive this tab: the daily performance index, the annualized return, and each period return.

Performance index

The performance index answers a single question: what would 100 units invested at inception be worth now, after removing the effect of money you added or took out.

index(D) = 100 × (positions value(D) + cash(D) + total withdrawals(D)) / total deposits(D)

In this formula, positions value(D) is the holdings value that day in US dollars, cash(D) is the cash that day in US dollars, and total withdrawals(D) and total deposits(D) are cumulative withdrawals and deposits to date in US dollars. If you have made no deposits yet, the index is 100. For example, deposits of 100,000 and a holdings-plus-cash value of 130,000 today with no withdrawals give 100 times 130,000 divided by 100,000, which is 130.0, a 30% gain. Holdings are valued at end-of-day prices, so the line moves once per trading day, not intraday.

Annualized return (CAGR)

The annualized return is the steady yearly rate that compounds to your total return.

years held = (today − inception) / 365.25; CAGR = ((1 + total return % / 100) ^ (1 / years held) − 1) × 100

Here total return % is the lifetime profit percent from the Overview, and inception is the portfolio's start date. For example, a total return of 57.65% over 3.50 years gives ((1.5765) ^ (1 / 3.50) minus 1) times 100, which is about 13.85%. The annualized return is undefined and shown blank when the portfolio is at a loss (a negative total return) or when no time has elapsed.

Period return

A period return tells you how much you would be up since a chosen point in time.

corrected current index = 100 + total return %; corrected past index = 100 + (raw index at date − 100) × scale; period return = (corrected current − corrected past) / corrected past × 100

In this formula, scale equals total return percent divided by (current index minus 100) when both are positive, and equals 1 otherwise. The target date is clamped to your inception date. For example, with an inception about 3.5 years ago, the 3Y and 5Y windows both clamp to inception and so equal the full lifetime return (for example, 57.65%). Because windows clamp to inception, a young portfolio shows the same number for its longer windows. This is intended behavior.

Data and timing

The tab is built from your transactions plus AlphaVantage end-of-day prices, using dividend-adjusted and split-adjusted closes for the historical chart. It recomputes on every ledger change and on the daily data refresh.

Use cases

See whether your money is compounding and at what yearly pace.
Compare recent (1M and 3M) momentum against the longer trend.
Overlay a benchmark to judge relative performance.

Limitations and disclosures

Past performance does not predict future results. The chart is end-of-day, so it moves once per trading day, and longer windows on a young portfolio clamp to inception by design.

GNG Research provides equity research and educational tools, not investment advice. Nothing on the platform is a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Do your own research and consider your circumstances before making any investment decision.