Profit and loss (PnL)

You can see your estimated PnL (profit and loss) in the Lightyear account. It’s important to note that any PnL displayed is an estimation, as both currency and investment valuation can fluctuate in real time.

You have access to two types of PnL, each tracking different aspects of your account performance: Portfolio PnL and Investments PnL.

• The main portfolio number at the top left corner is the sum of the value of all your investments and cash held in your account
• The total PnL and main graph reflect the timeframe you have selected, so if you're viewing 1D, the PnL shown reflects today's change. If you select 1M, it reflects the past month, and so on. To learn how the profit and loss estimation is calculated, hit the “i” below the portfolio value.
• The portfolio value is shown in the currency you choose, and we use the latest interbank exchange rate. For the most accurate view, we suggest viewing your portfolio in the same currency you hold your funds and investments in whenever possible.

To dig deeper into how your total portfolio value is calculated, hit the “i” below your portfolio value.

• Investments: the estimated value of all instruments you currently hold
• Cash: funds you hold across all your multi-currency accounts
• Deposits: all funds you have ever deposited into your Lightyear account
• Rewards: any bonuses received from Lightyear
• Withdrawals: all funds you have ever withdrawn from Lightyear

You can switch to a dedicated “Profit and loss” chart view via the chart settings. This chart removes deposits, withdrawals, and transfers from the estimation entirely, so what you see reflects your investment performance only, not money movements in and out of your account.

By default, Lightyear calculates PnL using the Weighted Average Cost (WAC) method. If you prefer, you can switch to First In, First Out (FIFO) in your account settings.

• Weighted Average Cost (WAC): your average buy price is recalculated across all buys of a position. This is the default method.
• First In, First Out (FIFO): assumes the shares you bought first are the ones sold first. When generating a Capital gains statement, you can also choose between weighted average and FIFO for cost basis.

• The Investments section shows the current value of all positions you hold, displayed by default in the portfolio currency you choose
• When you open the instrument you hold, you'll see a PnL section for your position
  • Current value: the estimated value of your investment based on the latest known trading price (or closing price after market hours)
  • Change: an estimate of how your investment value has gone up or down since you opened the position
  • Shares: how many shares you currently hold
  • Avg. buy price: calculated using your chosen method (WAC or FIFO). For the default (WAC), this is the average price across all your buys. The calculation resets only when a position is fully closed and reopened.

When you make a sell order, you'll see your realised gain or loss on that order’s Activity screen in the Transactions tab. It's showed in the portfolio currency you've chosen.

If the instrument is traded in a different currency from your portfolio currency, we use an FX (currency exchange) rate to calculate this figure. On the day of the sell order, it’s an estimate based on the closest available rate, and it’s updated to the final end-of-day rate the following day. This means you get an estimate immediately, and it settles into the final figure once the rates are known.

It's important to note that the FX rate is only used to calculate this figure but your sale proceeds aren’t actually converted and stay in the instrument’s currency. For example, if you sell a EUR ETF, you receive EUR cash:

• If your portfolio currency is EUR, no FX rate is needed, and the figure won’t change the next day
• If your portfolio currency is USD, your realised gain or loss is shown in USD using the EUR/USD rate, and may change slightly the next day

Each investment's PnL can be viewed either in your portfolio currency or in the currency the instrument is traded in. You can switch between the two directly on the instrument page or in the Portfolio tab filters. If your portfolio currency already matches the instrument's trading currency, the selector won't appear since both views would show the same thing.

Yes, you can change the currency your portfolio is displayed in via your profile settings. This affects your overall portfolio view only, giving you a converted estimate of your total holdings in the currency you prefer.

Just remember, the portfolio currency is a display preference, but it’s always an estimation. For the most accurate view, we'd suggest setting your portfolio currency to match the currency you hold most of your investments or cash in.

As changing the portfolio currency is just a display preference, it does not affect your statements and these will still use the account currency. Read more about the portfolio currency vs account currency here.

Portfolio PnL and investment performance measure different things, and FX (currency exchange) is usually the reason they diverge. If you are viewing your portfolio with money movements included in the calculation, Portfolio PnL shows the difference between your portfolio's current value and the total amount you've deposited (minus any withdrawals). If you invest in assets held in a different currency to the one you deposit in, exchange rate movements affect your overall PnL, even if your investments themselves are growing.

For example, you deposit €1,000 and buy US stocks and the stocks rise 5% in USD. Then USD weakens against EUR, and when converted back to EUR, your portfolio is worth less than your original €1,000 deposit, despite the investment gain. In that case, your investments really are up, but what you're seeing is the impact of currency movements on your portfolio's value in your portfolio currency. The same is true if you only hold cash but view the app in a different currency. For the most accurate view, we suggest viewing your portfolio in the same currency you hold your funds and investments in whenever possible.

Keep in mind that the example above is for illustration only. Every portfolio is different, and the reasons why your PnL estimations change may differ. Remember that the figures shown in the app are only estimations and may fluctuate as currency and investment values change. If you’re unsure or prefer another way to see your portfolio estimation, you can always calculate returns in whichever method works best for you.

Yes, you can exclude the deposits and withdrawals. To do that, hit the cog icon/Chart settings under the main chart and select “Profit and loss” chart type.

See also: Instrument prices