I’ve just set up a stocks and shares ISA with InvestEngine and am concerned by figures displaying incorrectly and frequently changing. Yesterday evening the small gain on my portfolio was 0.69p then 0.70p, which showed as about 1.5% gain on a starting amount of £100. So incorrect.
Today, obviously the numbers are negative, but one ETF is showing as a positive gain even though the amount is negative.
I wouldn’t normally be checking this regularly, but I feel I can’t trust the numbers, and therefore losing trust in IE too. Am I missing something really obvious here?
Hello! Thanks for getting in touch — completely understand your concerns, and happy to clarify.
What you’re seeing is actually normal and comes down to how we calculate and display returns:
The % return is based on a method called Time-Weighted Return (TWR), which measures how your portfolio has performed over time, independent of when you added money. Because of this, it’s possible to see a positive % return but a negative £ return, or vice versa — depending on how markets moved relative to when you made contributions.
For example, if most of your money was added just before a market dip, your total value might be down slightly, even if the portfolio itself has been performing well overall.
Also, ETF prices are not live; they are updated daily at 6am.
We recommend viewing this Community page which will give a more detailed explanation including examples, which will help you understand better how TWR works.
You’re definitely not missing anything. But if anything still doesn’t look right, we’re happy to check further! You can drop us a message via support@investengine.com and we will be able to take a closer look at your account.
Thank you for the reply and the detail in the link. That makes sense, but I’ve only made one transaction so far. Should the variabilities of value and TWR apply yet?
Thanks for getting back to us.
Even with just one transaction, you may still see changes in both the value and the Time Weighted Return (TWR). That’s because once your money is invested, the value of the ETFs can move up and down with the market, so your portfolio’s value and performance will reflect that.
TWR still applies, even with a single contribution, as it tracks how your investment has performed from the point you entered the market. So if the ETFs you’re holding have fluctuated since your purchase, the TWR will show that movement.
We totally understand that this can seem a bit confusing at first, especially when the numbers appear to change without you making any changes yourself. But it’s simply a reflection of daily market movement and how we measure performance over time.
Hope that clears things up, but if anything still feels off or if you’d like us to take a closer look at your portfolio, we’re more than happy to help. Just let us know.
Thank you. I think it will just take me some time to get used to. It confusing to see over 3% return on my investment of £100 which is only worth £0.36 