Understanding your portfolio valuation

Your portfolio's value uses real-time data and will change based on standard market processes like asset pricing and trade settlements. This article explains how these processes work and answers common questions about why your valuation might look different from day to day.

The total value displayed in portfolio valuation reports may be different depending on where the report is generated.

1. For reports accessed from Digital Banking and Adviser Online, each report will display real time data based off the latest information available for the relevant reporting period.
2. For legacy reports, your adviser can still access (Wrap Online). These reports will display data as at the end of the previous business day.

The three main reasons for the difference in reports are:

• Investment Prices: (1) uses live prices and (2) uses the previous day’s closing prices.
• Cash Balance: (1) includes today's cash movements, (2) uses cash balances as at the end of the previous day.
• Pending Trades: (1) uses today’s in progress trades, (2) uses trade information as at the end of the previous day.

You might notice that the cost of your investments is presented differently when you run a report for today compared to a report for a past date. This is because the system is using two different ways to calculate the cost.

• For past dates, the report shows the 'original cost', which is simply the price you originally paid for the investment.
• For today's date, the report shows the 'adjusted cost'. This is a more up-to-date value that accounts for things like tax adjustments that have happened since you first purchased the investment.

The value of your investments is calculated by multiplying the units you hold by the latest available price. It's important to note that Macquarie receives this pricing data from specialist third-party providers and the relevant stock exchanges.

The frequency of these price updates is the key to understanding your valuation.

• Australian shares – Valued using the most recent price from the ASX. When the market is open, there may be as little as a 20-minute delay on our platform. Otherwise, the previous day's closing price is used.
• International shares – Valued at the last closing price on their respective overseas exchange, which is then converted to Australian Dollars.
• Term deposits – The value reflects the initial amount you invested (your capital).
• Managed funds – The price of a managed fund (its ‘Net Asset Value’ or NAV) is calculated by the fund manager, not by Macquarie, unless it is specifically stated in the investment's product documentation. This happens at set intervals, which is a common reason for perceived delays.
  • Daily priced funds – Provide a new price each business day
  • Non-daily priced funds (NDPFs) – Many funds are only priced weekly or  monthly. When you invest in an NDPF, your cash is sent to the fund manager, but the transaction will not be finalised (and your unit holding will not appear) until the manager next strikes a price. During this time, your investment will not appear as 'pending' in the same way a share trade does.
• Separately managed accounts (SMAs) – A SMA's value is the total of all the assets held within its model portfolio. The valuation of the SMA is therefore directly affected by the pricing frequency of its underlying assets. If an SMA holds even one monthly-priced managed fund, the total confirmed value of the entire SMA can only be finalised on that monthly cycle.

When you buy or sell an investment, there’s a standard delay between the trade being executed and when the ownership and cash are officially transferred. This is the settlement period.

For IDPS accounts, these use a Cash Management Account (CMA) for settlements. You may see the cash from a sale reported in your CMA before the investment holding is officially removed from your portfolio.

For Super, Pension, and Investment Accumulator accounts, these use a central Wrap Cash Hub/Account. Your entire portfolio balance, including cash and investments, is updated together after the trade has fully settled.

When an investment order is in-progress, your 'available cash' is adjusted to show the funds you have available after the order is placed, and the investment is reflected in your portfolio valuation as a 'pending settlement'. Your available cash will automatically update once the trade has settled. Should you have any queries regarding in-progress orders or your available cash, please contact your adviser.

This is expected, your cash has been securely sent to the fund manager to place your order. However, particularly for a Non-Daily Priced Fund (NDPF), the transaction won’t appear in your holdings until the fund manager next calculates their official unit price (which could be weekly or monthly). Your order is in the queue and will be processed at the next available pricing date.

Daily NDPF orders: These NDPF’s accept orders on a daily basis.  Units are allocated in your holdings after the fund manager calculates their daily official unit price.  

Non-daily NDPF orders: These NDPF’s will not accept orders on a daily basis. In this scenario, cash may remain in your account until a few days before the purchase/ sell window closes. For more information about these windows, please refer to our NDPF timetable here. 

Our platform is only updated to reflect trades executed by an external broker once we are notified through a contract note by the external broker. This process typically takes 1-2 business days from the execution date. The transaction will appear in your account only after this note has been received and processed.