% Gain Investment vs. ROI Yields

[TudorP]

This is a very basic question: can someone succinctly help me understand the difference between % Gain-I and ROI Yields? Particularly as I evaluate the performance of my portfolio?

Related, how are ROI yields useful in evaluating portfolio performance is they are N/A for any investment that was 0 at beginning or end?

Thanks!

[Mark]

Hi TudorP,

ROI Yields are time and money weighted, and an accurate measure of performance. The %Gain numbers vary in how they are calculated, but in general are not time/money weighted. If you add/remove money in the middle of a period, the %Gain numbers can sometimes be misleading, but the ROI numbers will accurately reflect the performance, including when you buy/sell within the period.

If you're getting an N/A for an ROI yield, it can be for a few reasons. Usually it is because you don't have pricing data recorded for the starting date, but it can also be if you have no shares, or things like that. To find out why, use "Help / Logs / Report Calculation..." assuming you are in a Report window. It will tell you the reason for any N/A values in your report.