Understanding Key Terms in Your Portfolio

Investing can sometimes seem complicated, but understanding key terms can help demystify your portfolio. Let’s break down three ways your assets and trades are represented in the Pave app.

1. Shares: A share represents a unit of ownership in a company. When you buy shares, you buy a small piece of that company. The price of a single share can fluctuate depending on company performance and market conditions.

2. Value: The value refers to the total worth of your shares represented in a dollar amount. It's calculated by multiplying the number of shares you own by the current price per share.

3. Percentage: The percentage indicates how much of your total investment portfolio is made up of a particular stock or asset. It's calculated by dividing the value of a specific stock by the total value of your portfolio and then multiplying by 100 to get a percentage.

For instance, if you own 10 shares of a company, you own a portion of that company. If the company performs well, the value of your shares can increase. If each share you own is currently worth $50, the total value of those shares is $500. If your total investment portfolio is worth $5,000, the 10 shares of this company’s stock make up 10% of your portfolio.

Pave represents your assets in all 3 ways. However, when Pave generates your recommended set of trades each month, they are automatically displayed as percentages of your total portfolio. For example, if the Pave recommendation is to increase the percentage of Company A’s stock from 5% to 10% of your portfolio, Pave is recommending you buy another 5% of your portfolio’s worth in this stock. If this percentage decreases, we are recommending that you sell a portion or all of an asset. If you prefer a more tangible visual, simply adjust to display trade value in dollar amounts on the same screen.

Understanding these concepts can help you see how your investments are performing and how they fit into your overall investment strategy. By keeping an eye on the shares you own, their value, and their percentage in your portfolio, you can see firsthand the importance of a diversified portfolio capable of adjusting to current market conditions.