Explain How to Calculate NAV in Mutual Funds?

Learn, Explain How to Calculate NAV in Mutual Funds?

The Net Asset Value (NAV) is the market value of the assets of the scheme deducting its liabilities. Simply put, the NAV is what investors are required to pay to buy or sell one share of the mutual fund. Keep in mind any additional fees are not included in this amount. In accounting terms, NAV is also known as the book value of the mutual fund. Also Learned, Mutual Funds, Explain How to Calculate NAV in Mutual Funds?

The net asset value per mutual fund unit on any business day is computed as follows:

NAV = (Market value of the fund’s investments + Receivables + Accrued income -Liabilities – Accrued expenses)/Number of units outstanding.

Rules Governing the Mutual Fund NAV Calculation:

Accrued Income and Expenses: The correct accrual of all incomes and expenses is a requirement for computing NAV. In practical terms, these are just estimates. For example, the investment manager’s fees have to be accrued every day for computing NAV but the fee is based on the weekly average of net assets. Changes in NAV due to the assumptions about accruals should not impact NAV by more than 1 %.
Sale and Purchase of Securities and Units: The purchase and sale of securities have to be recorded in the books of the fund, and this impacts the net assets of the fund. Sale and repurchase of units alter the number of unitholders outstanding in the fund and impacts the denominator of the NAV equation.
Initial Expenses: When a mutual fund scheme is launched, certain expenses are incurred. These relate to printing and mailing, advertisements, commission to agents, brokerage, stamp duty, marketing, and administration known as initial or pre-operational expenses, they are linked to the corpus of the scheme. The fund has to give a break up of these expenses in the prospectus.
Recurring Expenses: Apart from the initial expenses, mutual funds incur recurring expenses every year. These expenses include items like the asset management fees, registrar’s fees, and custodial fees and are charged to the profit and loss account of the scheme.
Sales and Repurchase Load: Sales or front-end load is a charge collected by a scheme when it undertakes fresh issue of units or shares. Suppose a mutual fund issues Rs.1,00,000 worth units having a face value of Rs.10 each. The company incurs some initial issue expenses, which may be around 1% of the face value, or in other words, the company may levy an entry load. Schemes that do not charge a load are called ‘No Load’ schemes. Repurchase or ‘Back-end’ load is a charge collected by a scheme when it buys back the units from the unit holders. It is because of the front-end and back-end loads the mutual fund schemes are at a premium and repurchased at a discount to NAV. The repurchase price is usually less than the reissue price.

Learn how to calculate Net Asset Value with the following examples:

Example 1: If the net assets of a fund are $10 million, and the fund holds 2 million shares. Then, the NAV per share = $5 ($10 million / 2 million).
Example 2: YTC Corporation has total assets of $3,500,000 (including intangible asset $500,000) and total liabilities of $1,000,000. The calculation for net asset value of ABC corporation is as follows: NAV = total assets – intangible assets – total liabilities = 3,500,000 – $500,000 – $1,000,000 = $2,000,000
Example 3: A mutual fund has total assets of $2,800,000, liabilities of $800,000, and 200,000 outstanding shares. Then, the NAV per share = (2,800,000 – 800,000) / 200,000 = $10.

NAV in Brief:

The Net Asset Value (NAV) of a mutual fund is the price at which units of a mutual fund are bought or sold. It is the market value of the fund after deducting its liabilities. The value of all units of a mutual fund portfolio is calculated on a daily basis, from this all expenses are then subtracted. The result is then divided by the total number of units the resultant value is the NAV. NAV is also sometimes referred to as Net Book Value or book Value. Let’s discuss its calculation in a bit more detail.

NAV indicates the market value of the units in a fund. So, it helps an investor keep track of the performance of the mutual fund. An investor can calculate the actual increase in the value of their investment by determining the percentage increase in the mutual fund NAV. NAV, therefore, gives accurate information about the performance of the mutual fund.

Calculation of NAV:

Mutual fund assets usually fall into two categories – securities & cash. Securities, here, include both bonds and stocks. Therefore, the total asset value of a fund will include its stocks, cash, and bonds at market value. Dividends and interest accrued and liquid assets are also included in total assets.

Also, liabilities like money owed to creditors, and other expenses accrued are also included.

Now the formula is:

Net Asset Value (NAV) = (Assets – Debts) / (Number of Outstanding units).

Here:

Assets = Market value of mutual fund investments + Receivables + Accrued Income

Debts = Liabilities + Expenses (accrued)

The market value of the stocks & debentures is usually the closing price on the stock exchange where these are listed.

Some points to note:

The mutual fund itself and/or certain accounting firms calculate the NAV of a mutual fund.

Since mutual funds depend on stock markets, they are usually declared after the closing hours of the exchange.

All Mutual Funds are required to publish their NAV at every business day as per SEBI guidelines.

Also, NAV is obtained by subtracting the expense ratio of a fund. This expense ratio is the total of all expenses made by the mutual fund annually, including the operating expenses and the management fees, distribution and marketing fees, transfer agent fees, custodian fees and audit fees.