Performance Tracking

Understanding your portfolio's performance is crucial for making informed investment decisions. PiTrade provides comprehensive tools to track, analyze, and measure your returns.

Accessing Performance Tracking

Steps to Access

  1. Open PiTrade
  2. Tap the Portfolio tab
  3. Look for Holdings tab or section
  4. You'll see total P&L and individual stocks and there P&L

Understanding Performance Metrics

Total Return

Total return is your overall profit or loss from all investments, calculated as (Current Value - Initial Investment) ÷ Initial Investment × 100. For example, if you invested $10,000 and now have $11,000, your return is 10%. Positive returns indicate profit, negative returns indicate loss.

Return Percentage

Return percentage is the percentage gain or loss, normalized for easy comparison. If you invested $10,000 and now have $11,500, your return is 15%.

Absolute Return

Absolute return is the dollar amount of gain or loss. If you invested $10,000 and now have $11,500, your absolute return is +$1,500.

Annualized Return

Annualized return projects your return to an annual basis for standardized comparison. For example, a 6-month return of 8% annualizes to approximately 16%.

Return Calculations

Simple Return

Formula: (Ending Value - Beginning Value) ÷ Beginning Value × 100

Example: Start $10,000, End $11,000 = 10% return

Time-Weighted Return

Accounts for deposits and withdrawals, removing timing bias. Used for benchmark comparisons and professional reporting.

Money-Weighted Return

Accounts for cash flows and reflects actual investor experience. Used for personal performance tracking and real-world measurement.

Time Period Analysis

Available Time Periods

  • Daily: Change from previous day, intraday movements
  • Weekly: Change over past week, short-term trends
  • Monthly: Change over past month, monthly patterns
  • Quarterly: Change over 3 months, seasonal analysis
  • Year-to-Date (YTD): Change since January 1, calendar year performance
  • 1-Year: Change over past 12 months, annual return
  • Multi-Year: 3-year, 5-year, 10-year returns, long-term trends

Comparing Performance

Market Benchmarks

  • S&P 500: Broad market benchmark, 500 large-cap stocks
  • Nasdaq: Tech-heavy index, growth-focused
  • DIA: Large-cap index, 30 large-cap stocks

Other Comparisons

  • Similar Portfolios: Compare to similar investors for relative performance
  • Copied Traders: If copying traders, compare to their performance
  • Target Return: Your investment goal and expected return
  • Inflation: Real vs nominal returns, purchasing power

Analyzing Results

Positive Performance

Your portfolio is growing and investments are profitable. Continue current strategy, consider increasing allocation if appropriate, and rebalance if needed.

Negative Performance

Your portfolio is declining. Analyze what went wrong, review individual holdings, consider strategy changes, but don't panic sell.

Underperformance

Returns are below benchmark. Possible causes include poor stock selection, bad timing, or market conditions. Review holdings, adjust strategy, diversify better, and reduce costs.

Outperformance

Returns are above benchmark and strategy is working well. Understand what's working, document your strategy, consider scaling, and maintain discipline.

Performance Metrics to Track

Sharpe Ratio

Risk-adjusted return metric. > 1.0 is good, > 1.5 is very good, > 2.0 is excellent.

Sortino Ratio

Downside risk-adjusted return, focuses on negative volatility. > 1.0 is good, > 2.0 is very good, > 3.0 is excellent.

Maximum Drawdown

Largest peak-to-trough decline. Example: Peak $15,000, Trough $12,000 = -20% drawdown.

Win Rate

Percentage of profitable trades. > 50% is profitable, > 60% is good, > 70% is excellent.

Best Practices

  • Monitor Regularly: Daily quick check, weekly detailed review, monthly full analysis
  • Don't Obsess: Avoid checking too frequently, focus on long-term trends, ignore daily noise
  • Compare Fairly: Use appropriate benchmarks, account for time periods, consider market conditions
  • Learn from Results: Analyze wins and losses, identify patterns, improve strategy
  • Stay Disciplined: Stick to your plan, don't chase performance, avoid emotional decisions

Related Guides:

Questions? Browse our FAQ →

Was this page helpful?