Holding Period Return Calculator
Calculate total return including income received, and the annualised equivalent over the period held.
A holding period return arrives in two pieces that behave nothing alike. The price moved, which is a paper figure until something is sold, and the holding paid something out, which is cash that arrived whether the price cooperated or not. Adding them gives the single income plus capital gain return that every holding period return calculator reports correctly, and that conceals which of the two produced it.
Formula: HPR = (ending value - beginning value + income) / beginning value
Your figures
What the holding was worth when the period started.
What it was worth when the period ended. Enter zero for a total loss.
Optional — dividends, coupons or rebates received while holding. A charge belongs in the ending value instead.
Read in the unit chosen beside it.
Days are converted to years using the day count below. Years are taken as they stand.
The year length the period is converted on, used only when the period is entered in days. Money market instruments are commonly quoted on 360 and almost everything else on 365; the two differ by about 1.4% on the annualised figure.
Results
Holding period return
+12.20%
US$1,220.00 over 292 days · +15.48% a year
- Capital gainEnding value less beginning value, and the same figure against the beginning value.
- US$800.00 · +8.00%
- Income receivedWhat was paid out while holding, and the same figure against the beginning value.
- US$420.00 · 4.20%
- Total gain
- US$1,220.00
- Total returnThe two percentages above, added. They are summed rather than recomputed, so the rows on screen agree with the total exactly.
- +12.20%
- Annualised returnThe constant annual rate that compounds to this return over the period. Annualising is compounding rather than scaling, and over short periods the gap between the two is large.
- +15.476%
- Share of the return from priceThe capital gain as a share of the total return. Negative when the price fell and income carried the result, which is a true statement rather than a fault.
- +65.57%
- Share of the return from incomeThe income as a share of the total return. This and the row above always sum to 100%.
- +34.43%
- Period measuredConverted on a 365-day year. The other basis gives a different annualised figure from identical values.
- 292 days · 0.8000 years
What this means
A holding worth US$10,000.00 at the start and US$10,800.00 at the end moved US$800.00 in price, which is +8.00% of the starting value, and paid US$420.00 of income, a further 4.20%. Added, that is a total return of +12.20%. Of that total, +65.57% came from the price and +34.43% from the income — two holdings that return the same figure can be composed in ways that have almost nothing in common, and the total alone conceals it. Over 0.8000 years that compounds to +15.476% a year. The split is shown two ways because they answer different questions: as percentages of the beginning value the two parts add to the total return, and as shares of the return itself they add to 100%.
- Every figure above is yours to enter. No price, share count, earnings figure or commission is fetched from anywhere, and no broker's commission is preset — where a field opens with one it is a round illustration. That is what lets these work on a private company, a delisted one, a statement you would rather check than trust, and a date no live feed still serves.
- The total return conceals its composition. A holding that rose 8% and paid nothing and one that fell 2% and paid 10% both returned 8%, and an investor drawing an income has a strong preference between them.
- Annualising is compounding, not scaling. A 2% return over thirty days is about 27.2% a year rather than the 24.3% that multiplying by twelve gives, and the direction of that error flatters whoever quotes the figure.
- An annualised figure taken from a short period is arithmetic on one observation. It states what the rate would be if the period repeated, which is a restatement rather than an expectation.
- Assumes one sum held throughout. Money added or withdrawn during the period changes the answer, and needs a time-weighted or money-weighted return instead.
- Excludes tax and inflation, and assumes every amount is in the currency selected above.
Holding period return: +12.20%
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About the Holding Period Return calculation
This HPR calculator takes the value at the start, the value at the end, the income received in between and the length of the period, and reports the total return, the two components as percentages of the beginning value, the annualised holding return, and the share of the total each component contributed. It converts a period entered in days on the day-count basis you choose, because 360 and 365 are both conventions and they do not agree.
The composition is the reason the page exists. A holding that rose 8% and paid nothing and one that fell 2% and paid 10% both returned 8%, and an investor drawing an income from a portfolio has a strong preference between them. A total return calculator that stops at the headline cannot distinguish the two, and neither can any ranking built on it.
Holding Period Return formula
capital gain = ending value − beginning value
capital gain % = capital gain ÷ beginning value × 100
income % = income ÷ beginning value × 100
HPR % = capital gain % + income %
years = period ÷ day count (when entered in days)
annualised % = ((1 + HPR ÷ 100) ^ (1 ÷ years) − 1) × 100
share from price = capital gain ÷ total gain × 100
share from income = income ÷ total gain × 100
(the two always sum to 100%)- beginning value
- What the holding was worth when the period started, which is the base every percentage on this page is measured against.
- income
- Dividends, coupons or rebates received during the period. A charge does not belong here — reduce the ending value with it instead.
- day count
- The year length a period in days is converted on. Money market instruments are commonly quoted on 360 and most other things on 365.
- total gain
- Capital gain plus income in money terms. It is the whole that the two share-of-return figures are shares of.
- annualised
- The constant yearly rate that compounds to this return over this period. It is a restatement of one observation, not a projection of the next one.
The two components are reported as percentages of the beginning value because that is the only base on which they add to the total. Measuring the income against the ending value instead would give a figure that no longer sums with the capital gain to anything meaningful, and quoting a yield on cost rather than on the starting value answers a different question again. Keeping one denominator throughout is what lets a reader add the two rows on screen and land exactly on the third.
The second split — each component as a share of the return itself — answers the more direct question and behaves oddly in a way that is entirely correct. A holding that fell 2% and paid 10% has a total return of 8%, of which the income share is 125% and the capital share is −25%. Those still sum to 100, and they are still true: they describe income that had to cover a loss before any of it could become a return at all. It is a statement most tools cannot make because they never separate the two.
Annualising is compounding, not scaling, and over short periods the difference is large enough to change a decision. A 2% return over thirty days is about 27.2% a year, not the 24.3% that scaling it across the calendar gives, because each thirty-day stretch would earn on the one before it. The direction of the error is the flattering one for anyone quoting a monthly figure annualised the wrong way, which is exactly why it survives in so many marketing documents.
The day count is a choice rather than a constant, and it moves the annualised figure by roughly 1.4% of itself. A 292-day period is 0.8 years on a 365-day basis and 0.8111 years on a 360-day one: shortening the calendar year makes the same 292 days a larger fraction of it. Since the exponent is one divided by that figure, the shorter year produces the lower annual rate from identical money — 15.248% against 15.476% on the figures below. Neither convention is wrong; comparing two quotes computed on different ones is, and the setting is on screen rather than assumed so that the assumption is visible.
The period entered has to be the period the money was actually at work. An annualised figure taken from three weeks is arithmetic performed on a single observation: it states what the rate would be if that fortnight-and-a-bit repeated seventeen more times, which is a restatement rather than an expectation, and the shorter the period the more violently that restatement swings on small changes in the ending value.
Holding Period Return: a worked example
A holding worth 10,000 when the period opened and 10,800 when it closed, having paid 420 of dividends in between, held for 292 days and converted on a 365-day year.
- Capital gain10,800 − 10,000 = 800, or 8.00% of the beginning value
- Income420 ÷ 10,000 = 4.20%
- Holding period return8.00% + 4.20% = 12.20%, a total gain of 1,220
- Period in years292 ÷ 365 = 0.8
- Annualised1.1220 ^ (1 ÷ 0.8) − 1 = 15.476% a year
- The same figure scaled rather than compounded12.20 × 365 ÷ 292 = 15.250% — understated, because the period is under a year
- Share of the return from price800 ÷ 1,220 = 65.57%
- Share of the return from income420 ÷ 1,220 = 34.43%
- On a 360-day basis instead292 ÷ 360 = 0.8111 years, giving 15.248% a year
A total return of 12.20% over 292 days, which annualises to 15.476%. Two thirds of it came from the price and a third from the income — a composition that matters to anyone spending the income, and that a single 12.20% figure hides completely. Note which direction the shortcuts err: scaling instead of compounding understates the rate here because the period is shorter than a year, whereas over multi-year periods scaling overstates it, so the same shortcut is wrong in both directions depending on where the period sits relative to twelve months.
How to use the Holding Period Return calculator
- Enter the beginning and ending values of the same holding, both marked on a consistent basis. Mixing a purchase cost at one end with a mid-market mark at the other embeds the spread in the return.
- Put dividends, coupons and rebates in the income box. Anything that was charged rather than received belongs in the ending value, which is what reduces it.
- Set the period in days for anything under a year and in years for anything longer, using decimals where a period is not whole. The unit selector decides how the figure beside it is read.
- Match the day count to the convention the instrument is quoted on when the period is entered in days, since 360 and 365 give measurably different annual rates from identical money.
- Read both splits rather than one. The percentages of beginning value add to the total return; the shares of the return add to 100%, and each answers a question the other cannot.
- Treat an annualised figure from a short period as a restatement rather than a rate to expect, and be especially wary of one taken from a few weeks.
Limitations of the Holding Period Return calculator
Every calculation makes assumptions. These are the ones that matter here.
- Assumes a single sum held throughout the period. Money added or withdrawn part-way through breaks the calculation, and a time-weighted or money-weighted return is the measure that handles it.
- Counts income at face value with no regard to when it was received. A dividend paid in the first month and one paid in the last are treated identically, though the first could have been reinvested for almost the whole period.
- Excludes tax and inflation entirely. The figures are nominal and gross, and the tax treatment of income and of capital gains differs by jurisdiction and often between the two within one jurisdiction.
- Says nothing about the path between the two values. A holding that fell 30% mid-period and recovered reports exactly the same return as one that drifted upwards throughout, and the experience of holding them was not the same.
- Applies no charge for the cost of holding. Platform fees, custody and any borrowing cost have to be reflected in the ending value yourself, because nothing is deducted automatically anywhere here.
- Annualises from one observation. The figure states what the rate would be if the period repeated, which is a restatement of a single result rather than a property of the holding.
Frequently asked questions about Holding Period Return
What is the difference between holding period return and ROI?
They measure nearly the same thing from different starting points. Holding period return is built on a beginning and ending value with income shown separately, and is the natural form for a position marked at two dates. ROI is built on everything committed, including charges, against everything returned, and is the natural form for a completed investment. Where the inputs coincide, so do the answers.
Why is the annualised holding return compounded rather than multiplied up?
Because a return left in place earns on itself. Stretching a 2% thirty-day return across a 365-day year by simple proportion gives 24.3%, while compounding it produces about 27.2%, and only the second describes what actually happens to the money. The gap widens as the return gets larger and as the period gets shorter, and it always runs in the direction that flatters whoever is quoting the figure.
Does the day count basis genuinely change anything?
Yes, by roughly 1.4% of the annualised figure. The same 292-day, 12.20% return annualises to 15.476% on a 365-day year and 15.248% on a 360-day one, purely because the exponent divides by a different measure of the same period. It is a small difference in isolation and a real one when two quotes computed on different conventions are placed side by side.
How can the income share of the return be more than 100%?
When the price fell and the income more than covered it. A holding that lost 2% of its value and paid 10% has a total return of 8%, so the income contributed 125% of that total and the price contributed −25%. The two still sum to 100%, and the odd-looking figures are the correct description of income that had to make up a loss before it became a return.
Is holding period return the same as total return?
Over the period measured, yes — both add income to price movement. The phrase 'total return' is usually reserved for a series where every distribution is assumed reinvested on the day it was paid, which compounds slightly differently from adding income at face value. This calculator does the second, and shows the two components separately rather than merging them.
Where do platform fees and custody charges go?
Into the ending value, by reducing it. There is no separate cost box on this page, so a holding worth 10,800 that was charged 60 in fees over the period is entered at 10,740 if you want the return net of them. Doing that consistently matters more than which convention you pick, since a net figure compared with a gross one flatters the gross.
Last reviewed . See our methodology and editorial policy.
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