The main focus of this page is to understand how the terms are used in StocksCafe.
Definitions are extremely simplified so as to make explanations easier. For a detailed explanation of what investment terms mean, there are many resources out there, some of which we will link below.
Time-Weighted Rate of Return (TWR)
TWR measures the growth of your portfolio over a time period, ignoring the size of your portfolio.
Below is an example TWR portfolio report (you can find your own on this page).
| Year | Portfolio | ES3 |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | -2.66% | 3.52% |
| 2017 | 33.79% | 20.68% |
| 2018 | 4.15% | -7.43% |
| 2019 | 27.91% | 8.78% |
| 2020 | 3.57% | -8.83% |
| 2021 | -1.92% | 0.99% |
| Overall | 76.23% | 15.82% |
Example: Year 2018
Looking at 2018, it shows that the portfolio grew by 4.15% that year (Jan 1 to Dec 31). This means if the portfolio totaled $100 on Jan 1, it totaled $104.15 on Dec 31.
Compare this with the ES3 benchmark, which saw a -7.43% decrease. i.e. If the portfolio only has ES3, a portfolio total of $100 on Jan 1 would total $92.57 on Dec 31.
Overall
Overall TWR = [(1 + Year_1_TWR) x (1 + Year_2_TWR) x .. x (1 + Year_N_TWR)] – 1
Notes
All dividends and fees are included in TWR calculations.
Resources
Investopedia’s article on TWR (link)
Extended Internal Rate of Return (XIRR)
While TWR is weighted on time, XIRR is weighted on money. This means that any money deposited or withdrawn from the portfolio will have an impact.
Below is an example of a XIRR portfolio report (you can find your own on this page).
| Year | XIRR | Capital Flow |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | -17.56% | SGD 59,150 |
| 2017 | 34.04% | SGD 36,957 |
| 2018 | 5.32% | SGD 28,276 |
| 2019 | 28.30% | SGD -9,858 |
| 2020 | 3.46% | SGD -7,506.57 |
| 2021 | -13.15% | SGD -1,151.28 |
| Overall | 14.61% | SGD 105,867.15 |
Example: Year 2018
The portfolio’s XIRR for 2018 is 5.32%. This means if the portfolio totaled $100 on Jan 1, it totaled $105.32 on Dec 31.
It is worth noting that XIRR is annualized, which means that even if the portfolio above started trading in 2016 July, -17.56% is extrapolated to cover the entire of year 2016.
Capital flow
This is simply the total amount of money that is deposited or withdrawn from the portfolio. Note that dividends are considered as money withdrawn. In the year 2018, the net is $28,276 deposited to the portfolio.
Overall
Overall XIRR is unlike TWR which can be derived from its yearly value because it considers the size of portfolio.
Resources
Read more about XIRR (link)
Can TWR be positive while XIRR is negative (and vice versa)?
This is a common question, and the answer is yes.
Here is an example to illustrate:
| Year | Portfolio on 1 Jan | Portfolio on 31 Dec | TWR | XIRR |
| 2016 | $100 | $110 | +10% | +10% |
| 2017 | $1000 (deposited $890 into portfolio) | $950 | -5% | -5% |
| Overall | – | – | 4.5% | -3% |
The reason goes back to them being weighted differently. TWR ignores how much money you have (since it is weighted on time), whereby XIRR takes into account how much you have (as it is weighted on money).
Generally speaking, TWR and XIRR won’t differ too much, unless you have big changes (i.e. capital inflow / outflow) to your portfolio.