Net Asset Value (NAV)

The net asset value of the fund is the cumulative market value of the assets fund net of its liabilities. In other words, if the fund is dissolved or liquidated, by selling off all the assets in the fund, this is the amount that the shareholders would collectively own. This gives rise to the concept of net asset value per unit, which is the value, represented by the ownership of one unit in the fund. It is calculated simply by dividing the net asset value of the fund by the number of units. However, most people refer loosely to the NAV per unit as NAV, ignoring the "per unit". We also abide by the same convention.

Calculation of NAV

The most important part of the calculation is the valuation of the assets owned by the fund. Once it is calculated, the NAV is simply the net value of assets divided by the number of units outstanding. The detailed methodology for the calculation of the asset value is given below.

Asset value is equal to

Sum of market value of shares/debentures

+ Liquid assets/cash held, if any

+ Dividends/interest accrued

Amount due on unpaid assets

Expenses accrued but not paid

Details on the above items

For liquid shares/debentures, valuation is done on the basis of the last or closing market price on the principal exchange where the security is traded

For illiquid and unlisted and/or thinly traded shares/debentures, the value has to be estimated. For shares, this could be the book value per share or an estimated market price if suitable benchmarks are available. For debentures and bonds, value is estimated on the basis of yields of comparable liquid securities after adjusting for illiquidity. The value of fixed interest bearing securities moves in a direction opposite to interest rate changes Valuation of debentures and bonds is a big problem since most of them are unlisted and thinly traded. This gives considerable leeway to the AMCs on valuation and some of the AMCs are believed to take advantage of this and adopt flexible valuation policies depending on the situation.

Interest is payable on debentures/bonds on a periodic basis say every 6 months. But, with every passing day, interest is said to be accrued, at the daily interest rate, which is calculated by dividing the periodic interest payment with the number of days in each period. Thus, accrued interest on a particular day is equal to the daily interest rate multiplied by the number of days since the last interest payment date.

Usually, dividends are proposed at the time of the Annual General meeting and become due on the record date. There is a gap between the dates on which it becomes due and the actual payment date. In the intermediate period, it is deemed to be "accrued".

Expenses including management fees, custody charges etc. are calculated on a daily basis.