Question on Portfolio Performance Report

[montyny]

Hi,
I've been collecting data for a couple of months now. I have one account, that I have split in to several sub-portfolios and trying to compare the different approaches.

I think the Portfolio Performance report should show me this information. I don't completely understand the report though. In particular though, Cash is showing with some weird numbers. I have transferred cash between my sub-portfolios. For example, one sub-portfolio shows cash beginning value as 0, invested as being -4,000, the end value being 400 and therefore a gain 4,400. This really skewing the gain figures from what I expect - or am at least looking for.

Can you advise on how I can get the information that I am looking for?

Also, I'm loathe to dilute my main question but what is %Gain-I and %Gain-V? Perhaps you can point me to a place where I can learn more about the reports.

Thanks - Bryan

[Mark]

Hi Bryan,

To see how each field in this report is calculated, open the report, and then choose "Help / Help on Report..." from the main menu. This will show you how each field is calculated. One common misunderstanding is the "Beg Value" column. This is the value as of the start (morning) of the report starting date. This is the same as the close of the day prior. The 'invested' column shows the net effect of the money flow into/out of each line item. If the numbers don't add up the way you would expect, left click on the line item in the report in question, and this will open the Data Register. Set the 'data type' to 'Investments (all)' so you can see all the money flows in/out of the investment. This should help you see why the 'invested' column is showing the way it is.

The formulas for %Gain-I and %Gain-V are in the online help topic mentioned above. Please note that all %Gain numbers are not time-weighted, so they can sometimes be misleading depending on when/how money flowed in/out. For a time and money weighted performance metric, see the Yield column. You can customize which fields are displayed in this report under "Options / Report Preferences... / Portfolio Performance".