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Portfolio Return Calculator

Blend the returns of all your holdings into one figure. List each position with its amount and return to see your weighted total return, the annualized rate and what each holding contributed.

Written by TopicDrill Editorial Team·Updated June 2026

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Your holdings

Enter each position and its return, then press Calculate.

HoldingAmountReturn %
$
%
$
%
$
%

Total return

12.15%

12.15% per year annualized

Total invested$10,000
Ending value$11,215
Total gain$1,215

Allocation and return contribution

12.15%total return
US stocks$6.0k10.80%
Bonds$3.0k1.20%
Cash$1.0k0.15%

Right column is each holding's contribution to the total return, in percentage points.

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How the portfolio return calculator works

A portfolio is a mix of holdings, and each one usually performs differently. To find the return on the whole pot, you cannot simply average the percentages, because a 50% gain on a small slice should not count as much as a 50% gain on your biggest position. This tool weights every return by the dollars behind it, so larger holdings sway the result more.

The donut chart shows how your money is split across holdings, and the table beside it breaks the total return into each position's contribution in percentage points. Add those contributions together and you get the headline figure.

A worked example

Put $6,000 in stocks that return 18%, $3,000 in bonds returning 4% and $1,000 in cash returning 1.5%. The stocks contribute about 10.8 points, the bonds 1.2 points and cash 0.15 points, for a blended return near 12.2%. The stocks dominate because they hold the largest weight and the highest return.

Things to keep in mind

This is a snapshot return that assumes you held the same amounts for the whole period. Deposits or withdrawals partway through distort it, in which case a money-weighted or time-weighted method fits better. For background on measuring investment performance, the SEC's Investor.gov is a neutral reference. To project where a balance could grow next, try our future value calculator.

Frequently asked questions

How is a portfolio's overall return calculated?

It is a value-weighted average of the individual returns. Each holding's return is multiplied by its share of the portfolio, and the results are added up. This is the same as taking total ending value divided by total invested, then subtracting one.

Why isn't the portfolio return just the average of each return?

A simple average treats a tiny position the same as a large one. The portfolio return weights each return by how much money is actually in it, so a big winner in a small holding moves the total far less than the same return in your largest position.

What does annualized return mean here?

Annualized return is the steady yearly rate that would compound to the same total return over your holding period. For a one-year period it equals the total return. Over longer periods it smooths the total into a per-year figure you can compare across investments.

What is a holding's contribution to return?

It is the holding's weight times its return, measured in percentage points. Adding the contributions of every holding gives the total portfolio return, so the figure shows exactly how much each position pushed the result up or down.

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