Realized vs open P&L

Also seen as: unrealized P&L, paper profit, mark-to-market P&L

What separates realized P&L from open P&L

Realized P&L is banked and open P&L is still in play. A closed position's gain or loss is settled — selling it turned the paper result into a realized one that no later price move can change. An open position's gain or loss is unrealized: it is measured by marking the position to its current price, so it rises and falls every day the position is held and only becomes realized when the position is closed. In the P&L breakdown each side has its own bands — "Realized profit" and "Realized loss", "Open profit" and "Open loss".

Defaults in Fincanva

• The P&L breakdown shows realized and open results as four separate bands, so you can tell locked-in profit and loss from profit and loss that is still exposed to the market.
• The realized bands stop changing once positions close; the open bands revalue as prices move over the period.

Worked example

A strategy holds two positions. It sells the first for a gain of +800 — that +800 is realized profit, banked, and it will not change no matter what the market does next. The second it still holds, and at today's price it is up +450 — that +450 is open profit, and it will keep moving until the position is sold. The strategy's total P&L today is +1,250, but only the +800 is locked in; the +450 could grow, shrink, or turn negative before it is realized.

These figures describe what a strategy would have done on historical data, not what it will do. Fincanva provides no financial advice — see Is this financial advice?.