Cumulative total return
Table of Contents
Cumulative total return
If investments didn’t yield returns, why would anyone take the chance? Returns can be examined in a variety of ways.
Comparing the investment’s final value to its initial primary value, cumulative returns examine its return over a longer time frame. It serves largely as a method of analyzing an investment’s overall performance over time.
What is cumulative total return?
The total return produced by an investment over a predetermined period is known as the cumulative return. It is the total gain or loss on investment throughout time, regardless of the time involved.
The overall change in the investment’s price over a predetermined period is the cumulative return; this is a total return, not an annualized return. Reinvested dividends or capital gains impact an investment’s cumulative return.
This kind of return takes profits and losses from the period into account and bases the final total on the change in value from the start to the end of the same period. A cumulative return is typically shown as a percentage rather than a monetary value.
Understanding cumulative total return
Calculating the profit or loss over the purchase price makes it simple to determine the cumulative return of an asset that does not pay interest or dividends. That can be effective with assets like growth stocks and precious metals that don’t pay dividends. The cumulative return can be computed using the raw closing price.
The cumulative return of all assets can be easily calculated using the adjusted closing price. This covers investments like dividend-paying equities and bonds that pay interest. The adjusted closing price considers the impact of interest, dividends, stock splits, and other price changes on the asset. Therefore, it is possible to calculate the cumulative return by utilizing the security’s first adjusted closing price as the purchase price.
The formula for cumulative total return
The cumulative return over both periods is R c if the standard return over one period is R1 and R2 if the standard return over a second period,
Rc is equal to (1 + R1)(1 + R2) – 1
The total return is another name for the cumulative return.
Although there are ways to calculate additive cumulative returns, the cumulative return, as described here, is not additive across sub-portfolios.
How do you calculate cumulative total return?
When the cumulative rate of return is added to this equation, it becomes: (1 + RA) n = 1 + RC. Where n is the number of years taken into account in the computation of RC, RC is the cumulative rate of return, and RA is the annualized rate of return.
Using the above example, we can deduce that n = 5 and RC = 0.4. The result of fiddling with the equation is RA = [(1 + RC) (1/n)]. -1. Calculators for these mathematical issues can be found online; in this example, the yearly rate of return is 0.6961, or 6.96 percent. This is less than the inaccurate 8 percent that you would have estimated using basic math.
Using the annual compounded return as a starting point, you can compare the cumulative return with other potential investments. This can aid in your decision-making over whether to keep your money where it is currently invested or move it to a location with higher returns.
Example of cumulative total return
To better understand cumulative total return, let’s look at the following example:
Suppose you paid $10,000 for 100 shares of stock A five years ago. Your shares of stock are now worth $14,000, giving you a $4,000 increase over five years. Cumulative return is calculated as ($4,000 gain) / ($10,000 original investment) = 0.4 or 40%.
Your investment has generated a total return of 40% over the past five years. To determine which assets outperformed the others, you may compare this figure to the cumulative returns on other investments over five years. However, unless you have a straightforward loan that doesn’t compound interest, you can’t divide this number by five to achieve an annual compound return of (0.4 / 5) = 0.08, or 8 percent.
Frequently Asked Questions
The investor will use the following calculation to determine the total return rate (which is required to get the annualized return): Starting value = (ending value – beginning value)
Most investors consider an average annual return of 10% or above to be a decent ROI for long-term stock market investments.
There are a few key differences between annualized returns and cumulative returns.
- Annualized return is calculated by taking the average return over a specified period, typically one year. On the other hand, cumulative return sums up the total return over a specified period.
- Additionally, an annualized return takes into account the time value of money, meaning that it accounts for the fact that money today is worth more than money in the future. Cumulative return does not take this into account.
- Finally, the annualized return is a more accurate measure of investment performance than cumulative return since it accounts for the effects of compounding. Cumulative return does not account for compounding and can be misleading.
The simple cumulative daily return is determined by multiplying the daily percentage change by the cumulative factor.
The cumulative total return is an investment’s total return over time. This includes both the initial investment and any subsequent reinvestments. It is a measure of the overall performance of an investment.
The cumulative total return is significant because it provides a more accurate picture of an investment’s true return. It takes into account not only the initial investment but also any reinvestments that have been made. This makes it a more accurate measure of the investment’s overall performance.
The cumulative total return is a useful tool for investors because it allows them to compare the performance of different investments. It is also helpful in determining an investment portfolio’s overall risk and return.
Related Terms
- Central limit theorem
- Balanced scorecard
- Analysis of variance
- Annual percentage rate
- Double Taxation Agreement
- Floating Rate Notes
- Average True Range (ATR)
- Constant maturity treasury
- Employee stock option
- Hysteresis
- RevPAR
- REITS
- General and administrative expenses
- OPEX
- ARPU
- Central limit theorem
- Balanced scorecard
- Analysis of variance
- Annual percentage rate
- Double Taxation Agreement
- Floating Rate Notes
- Average True Range (ATR)
- Constant maturity treasury
- Employee stock option
- Hysteresis
- RevPAR
- REITS
- General and administrative expenses
- OPEX
- ARPU
- WACC
- DCF
- NPL
- Capital expenditure (Capex)
- Balance of trade (BOT)
- Retail price index (RPI)
- Unit investment trust (UIT)
- SPAC
- GAAP
- GDPR
- GATT
- Irrevocable Trust
- Line of credit
- Coefficient of variation (CV)
- Creative destruction (CD)
- Letter of credits (LC)
- Statement of additional information
- Year to date
- Price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio
- Individual retirement account (IRA)
- Quantitative easing
- Yield to maturity
- Rights of accumulation (ROA)
- Letter of Intent
- Return on Invested Capital (ROIC)
- Return on Equity (ROE)
- Return on Assets (ROA)
Most Popular Terms
Other Terms
- Operating expenses
- New fund offer
- Demand elasticity
- Interest rate risk
- Short Call
- Rho
- Put Option
- Premium
- Out of the money
- Option Chain
- Open Interest
- Long Put
- Long Call
- Intrinsic Value
- In the money
- Implied volatility
- Bull Put Spread
- Gamma
- Expiration date
- Exercise
- European Option
- Delta
- Covered Put
- Covered Call
- Call Option
- Bear Put Spread
- Bear Call Spread
- American Option
- Safe-Haven Currencies
- Lot
- Strangle
- Liquidity
- Pip
- Commodity Currencies
- Short Put
- Carry Trade
- Volume
- Uptrend
- Vega
- Underlying
- Time Value
- Time Decay
- Theta
- Support
- Risk-Reward Ratio
- Reversal
- Retracement
- Currency Crosses
- Resistance
- Relative Strength Index (RSI)
Know about
Tools/Educational Resources
Markets Offered by POEMS
Read the Latest Market Journal

Top traded counters in August 2023
Start trading on POEMS! Open a free account here! The market at a glance: US...

Weekly Updates 18/9/23 – 22/9/23
This weekly update is designed to help you stay informed and relate economic and company...

The Merits of Dollar Cost Averaging
Have you ever seen your colleagues, friends or family members on the phone with their...

Singapore Market: Buy the Dip or Dollar-Cost Averaging?
To the uninitiated, investing in the stock market can be deemed exhilarating and challenging. The...

What are covered calls and why are they so popular?
Table of Contents Introduction Understanding Covered Calls Benefits of Covered Calls Popularity Factors Potential Drawbacks...

Why Do Bid-Ask Spread Matter in Trading?
Why Do Bid-Ask Spread Matter in Trading? The bid-ask spread is the difference between the...

Weekly Updates 11/9/23 – 15/9/23
This weekly update is designed to help you stay informed and relate economic and company...

Exploring the Rise and Fall of the Japanese Yen (JPY) Through Time
The Japanese Yen (JPY) has long been considered a safe-haven currency due to Japan’s strong...