Measuring performance
Unrealised profit and loss
Also called Paper gain or Mark to market
The gain or loss on holdings you still own, based on today’s price.
How it works
Unrealised P&L changes every second the market is open. It is real in the sense that it is what you would get today, and provisional in the sense that it is not yours until you sell.
Where it misleads people
Treating an unrealised gain as spendable is how people end up leveraged against a number that then halves. It is a valuation, not a balance.
Related terms
- Realised profit and lossGains and losses that have been locked in by selling, as opposed to those still on paper.
- Mark to marketValuing a holding at the price it could be sold for today, rather than what was paid for it.
- Cost basisWhat you actually paid for a holding, including fees — the number every gain or loss is measured from.
- Capital gainThe profit made when you sell something for more than you paid for it.
More in Measuring performance
- Yield on cost
- Tracking error
- Annualised
- Tracking difference
- Backtest
- Total return
- Behaviour gap
- Time-weighted return
All 29 Measuring performance terms · The full glossary, 433 terms
Educational reference only. Nothing here is investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell anything, and tax treatment depends on your own circumstances and the country you are in.