Net Asset Value (NAV) Calculator: NAV per Share, Premium or Discount and Offering Price

How it works

NAV = (investments + cash + receivables and other assets) − (accrued expenses and payables + borrowings) · NAV per share = NAV ÷ shares outstanding · premium (+) / discount (−) = market price ÷ NAV per share − 1 · offering price = NAV per share ÷ (1 − sales load) · NAV total return = (NAV end − NAV start + distributions) ÷ NAV start

Net asset value is what a fund would be worth to its shareholders if it sold every holding at today’s prices and paid off everything it owes. Add the market value of the investments, the cash and anything owed to the fund (dividends and interest receivable, proceeds of securities sold), then subtract what the fund owes: accrued management fees and expenses, payables for securities bought and any borrowing. Divide by the shares or units outstanding to get NAV per share. US mutual funds must compute it at least once each business day, normally after the exchanges close, and every buy or sell order placed that day is filled at that next NAV (forward pricing). ETFs and closed-end funds also trade on an exchange, so their market price can differ from NAV. Enter the market price and the calculator shows the premium (price above NAV) or discount (price below NAV). For load mutual fund share classes, add the front-end sales charge under More options to get the public offering price you would pay; the load is a percent of the offering price, so the price is NAV ÷ (1 − load). Add the NAV at the start of a period and any distributions paid to see the NAV total return, which, unlike the plain change in NAV, credits the dividends and capital gains the fund paid out. This tool works from a fund’s balance sheet. To project how a fund investment grows over time, use the mutual fund returns calculator instead.

Worked example

A fund holds $48,500,000 of investments, $1,200,000 in cash and $300,000 of receivables, so total assets are $50,000,000. It owes $600,000 in accrued expenses and payables and has no borrowing, so NAV = $50,000,000 − $600,000 = $49,400,000. With 2,500,000 shares outstanding, NAV per share is $49,400,000 ÷ 2,500,000 = $19.76. If the shares trade on an exchange at $18.90, the price is $18.90 ÷ $19.76 − 1 = −4.35%, a 4.35% discount to NAV.

Sources: Investor.gov (SEC): Net asset value, definition and daily calculation rule · Omni Calculator: NAV (Fund Alpha example) · Wall Street Prep: Net asset value (mutual fund example)

Frequently asked questions