NAV (net asset value)

Definition

Net asset value (NAV) is the total market value of a fund's investments and cash, less its liabilities such as accrued fees and payables. Dividing by the number of shares in issue gives the NAV per share, calculated for each share class at the fund's valuation point, usually once per business day. For a traditional fund, the NAV per share is the dealing price: subscriptions and redemptions are executed at it (sometimes adjusted by swing pricing). For an ETF, the NAV is the reference value that the exchange price fluctuates around.

Why it matters

The NAV series is the raw material for every performance and risk statistic: calendar-year and cumulative returns, annualised returns, volatility, Sharpe ratio and drawdown are all computed from it, with distributions reinvested to give total return. Because each share class has its own NAV in its own currency, performance must always be attributed to the right ISIN.

In the API

The API returns performance derived from the NAV rather than raw daily prices: an indexed series in indexedPerformance.points, calendar-year returns in calendarReturns.fund, and period returns in cumulativePerformance. Fund size is in headlineMetrics.aum. Example values:

json
{
  "cumulativePerformance": { "1y": 11.2, "3y": 38.5, "5y": 71.9 },
  "indexedPerformance": {
    "points": [{ "date": "2021-08-31", "value": 100 }, { "date": "2026-07-31", "value": 171.9 }]
  }
}

Common pitfalls

A fall in NAV on an ex-dividend date is a distribution, not a loss; use total-return figures for comparison. The NAV currency is the share class currency, which may differ from the fund's base currency. For ETFs, market price and NAV are different numbers and a premium or discount between them is normal, especially when the underlying market is closed.