Contents:
The Portfolio Performance Chart
How the Performance Chart Works
The Performance vs. Market chart provides a comparison between the performance of your current holdings and the overall market in which most of your holdings are traded, measured over a specified period. You can view specific date ranges by navigating through the chart, offering a clear view of how well the companies you hold have performed compared to overall market trends.
How It Differs from an Equity Curve
The Performance Chart lets you see how your current portfolio is performing relative to a broader market. It focuses solely on the holdings that you currently own, helping you evaluate your portfolio’s market position at a glance.
In contrast, the Equity Curve will provide a complete picture of your portfolio’s value history over time. Unlike the Performance Chart, which is limited to existing holdings, the Equity Curve will offer a holistic view of your entire investment journey, tracking every trade, cash flow, and fluctuation in value since inception. Currently, the Equity Curve feature is unavailable on our platform, but we’re pleased to share that we’ll be releasing this feature soon to provide a more comprehensive view of your portfolio’s historical growth.
How to View Portfolio Performance since Inception
Currently, viewing portfolio performance since inception is unavailable, but we’re excited to announce that we will soon release an update with this feature. This upcoming feature will allow you to select a portfolio’s start date and view comprehensive performance metrics from that point forward, clarifying the absolute growth and relative performance of your holdings over time.
What is a Portfolio Snowflake?
The Portfolio Snowflake is a visual tool that gives you a comprehensive overview of your entire investment portfolio by consolidating individual Snowflakes from each company within it, this also means that the scores are weighted on the number of shares you hold for each. Each company's Snowflake represents key aspects of its fundamentals—such as valuation (Value), growth potential (Future), past performance (Past), financial health (Health), and dividends (Dividend). By aggregating these into a unified, visual summary, the Portfolio Snowflake offers a snapshot of your investments, allowing you to quickly understand the quality, strengths, and weaknesses of your portfolio at a glance.
How to Interpret the Portfolio Snowflake
To get the most out of your Portfolio Snowflake, it’s helpful to understand how each assessment criteria reflects different aspects of your investments. The snowflake’s shape and color reflect an aggregated analysis of your portfolio's valuation, growth potential, historical performance, financial health, and dividend yield. Each of these components can help you understand various characteristics of your investments.
To delve deeper into interpreting these visuals, you can refer to our guide here.
How the Portfolio Snowflake Reflects Your Investment Profile
Each criterion of the Portfolio Snowflake corresponds to a specific characteristic of your investment profile. Below, you can explore and learn how each criterion is represented in the snowflake and what it signifies:
The Valuation reflects the aggregated value assessments of your portfolio's companies. A strong valuation score suggests that your investments may generally be undervalued relative to their intrinsic worth, indicating potential for capital appreciation. On the other hand, a low valuation score could signal overvaluation, where companies in your portfolio may be trading above their fair market value.
This metric reflects the expected growth potential of the companies in your portfolio. High scores in Future Growth indicate that your portfolio is positioned for potential growth based on projected revenue and earnings. This is especially useful for growth-oriented investors who prioritize capital appreciation over other factors like dividend income.
The Past Performance illustrates the historical success of your investments. High past performance suggests a track record of consistent returns or stability, while lower scores might indicate volatility or underperformance. While past performance isn’t a guarantee of future returns, it can be a helpful metric for understanding how well your investments have weathered market fluctuations.
This reflects the overall Financial Health of the companies in your portfolio, providing insight into metrics such as debt and profit margins. A strong financial health score suggests that your portfolio consists of companies with stable, robust financial structures, which is crucial for mitigating risk and ensuring sustainability during market downturns.
The Dividend captures the dividend-paying characteristics of your portfolio, showing whether your investments provide income through regular payouts. A strong dividend score suggests that your portfolio consists of high-yield investments, ideal for income-focused investors. Conversely, a lower score indicates a focus on growth rather than income, which may be preferable for investors with a higher risk tolerance.
Understanding the Holdings Section
The Holdings section provides an overview of your stock investments, listing each stock along with essential details such as the last price, fair value, 7-day return, total return, value and cost, portfolio weight, number of shares, and the average purchase price. This comprehensive summary allows for quick assessment of performance and portfolio composition.
The Total Value represents the current market worth of a holding based on the latest share price. This figure helps you see the present market value of your holdings, which may fluctuate based on the latest share prices.
Formula: Total Value = current share price x no. of shares
The Total Cost shows the cumulative amount you’ve invested in a holding. It helps you track the initial investment amount and can be compared with the current Total Value to calculate gains or losses.
Formula: Total Cost = average price x no. of shares
Illustration and Calculations:
Total Value = current share price x no. of shares
= US$170.12 x 5
= US$850.6
Total Cost = average price x no. of shares
= US$160 x 5
= US$800
Calculating the Total Return of each holding in your portfolio helps you understand the unrealized profits or losses— the gains or losses that exist on paper but have not yet been realized through a sale. This metric provides a quick snapshot of each holding's performance based on the change in its market price.
The Total Return is calculated by comparing the current share price to the average purchase price.
Formula: Total Return = (current share price - average price) ÷ average price
Illustration and Calculations:
Total Return = (current share price - average price) / average price
= (US$170.12 - US$170) ÷ US$170
= US$0.12 ÷ US$170
= 0.0007 or 0.07%
To begin sorting your holdings on your portfolio, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Access Your Portfolio: Navigate to the Portfolio section, and access your portfolio.
Step 2: Choose a Sorting Criteria: Look and click on this symbol ( ) located in the Holdings section. Once you've selected your preferred sorting criteria, apply the filter to reorganize your holdings.
Still have questions or need further assistance?
Don't hesitate to contact our support team through our support contact form or email us directly at support@simplywallst.com. We're here to ensure you have the best experience possible.