Overview

Net asset value (NAV) is the value of an entity's assets minus the value of its liabilities, often in relation to open-end, mutual funds, hedge funds, and venture capital funds. Shares of such funds registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are usually bought and redeemed at their net asset value. It is also a key figure with regard to hedge funds and venture capital funds when calculating the value of the underlying investments in these funds by investors. This may also be the same as the book value or the equity value of a business.

Net asset value may represent the value of the total equity, or it may be divided by the number of shares outstanding held by investors, thereby representing the net asset value per share. NAV gained momentum in REIT 20 years after enactment of Public Law 86-779, signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1960. This was as a result of its extensive use by Green Street Advisors in 1985.

Overview

At the completion of the valuation process and once all other appropriate accounting entries are posted, the accounting books are "closed", enabling a variety of information to be calculated and produced including the net asset value per share.

Open-ended funds

Net asset value is commonly used in the context of open-end funds. Shares and interests in such funds are not traded between investors, but are issued by the fund to each new investor and redeemed by the fund when an investor withdraws. A fund will issue and redeem shares and interests at a price calculated by reference to the NAV of the fund, with the intention that new investors receive a fair proportion of the fund and redeeming investors receive a fair proportion of the fund's value in cash.

For example, if a fund has a NAV of $200 million and 1 million shares in issue on a certain day, the "NAV per share"—the price at which shares are issued—is $200. A person investing $40 million on that day will therefore be given 200,000 shares. Immediately following their investment the total NAV of the fund will be $240 million, as the new investor's cash becomes part of the fund and is available for investment by the fund.

The investor will then be entitled to 1/6 of whatever the fund's value is when they withdraw their investment, if in the meantime their 1/6 ownership is not altered by any further withdrawals or investments to the fund.

The valuation of the assets and liabilities of an open-ended fund is therefore very important to investors. If the NAV in the above example had, with the same assets, been calculated as $160 million (and the NAV per share as $160), the investor would have been given 250,000 shares and would become entitled to 1/5 of the fund's value.

Mismarking

Mismarking in securities valuation takes place when the value that is assigned to securities does not reflect what the securities are actually worth, due to intentional fraudulent mispricing. Mismarking misleads investors and fund executives about how much the securities in a securities portfolio managed by a trader are worth (the securities' net asset value) and thus misrepresents performance.

When a rogue trader engages in mismarking, it allows them to obtain a higher bonus from the financial firm for which they work, where their bonus is calculated by the performance of the securities portfolio that they are managing.

Valuation of assets in open-ended funds and hedge funds

The NAV of a collective investment scheme (such as a U.S. mutual fund or a hedge fund) is calculated by reference to the total value of the fund's portfolio (its assets) less its accrued liabilities (money owed to lending banks, fees owed to investment managers and service providers, and other liabilities).

Calculation of the net asset value for a hedge fund, including the calculation of the fund's income and expense accruals and the pricing of securities at current market value, is a core fund administrator task, because it is the price at which investors buy and sell shares in the fund. The accurate and timely calculation of NAV by the administrator is vital.

In 2003, investors in Lancer Group sued hedge fund administrator Citco for allegedly knowingly disseminating "misleading" Net Asset Value (NAV) statements. Citco ultimately informed investors that it was resigning as administrator to Lancer's funds, but did not provide an explanation. While Citco pointed to the fact that it had sought statements from Lancer's board of directors as to the propriety of the valuations, Southern District of NY Judge Shira Scheindlin wrote: "Although these actions demonstrate Citco Group's questioning of the numbers, they could also be interpreted as Citco Group's efforts to shield its own involvement in the process".

Ultimately, Citco settled with investors.