Glossary › Net asset value (NAV)
Net asset value is a fund’s assets minus its liabilities, divided by the number of units – the price at which units are issued and redeemed.
For listed securities the price is fixed every day. Private companies, loans or infrastructure have no market price; their value is estimated with models, usually from comparable multiples or discounted cash flows. Many holdings are only revalued quarterly, and underlying funds often report their values with a delay.
Two things follow. Net asset value fluctuates less than a comparable market value because valuations are smoothed and lagged – the risk is not smaller, it only becomes visible later. And entry and exit take place at a value based on estimates. The valuation rules in the prospectus, the frequency of valuation and an independent review therefore matter.
For 124 of the 139 active funds the database holds a net asset value series, 2,795 values in total, mostly monthly. The longest series starts in June 2014. The performance page calculates the equal-weighted asset class indices from these series.
The three longest NAV series · as at 16 Oct 2026
the NAV valuation chapter · asset class performance · all terms in the glossary