Net Asset Value in the Daily Press

Net asset values are quoted daily in the financial pages of most newspapers. You can find them under the column usually marked "NAV." Most publications also produce a column that shows the change (Chg) in the NAV from the day before. This figure is expressed in dollars and cents. A third column called "YTD%" shows a fund's year-to-date performance. This figure is the change in the net asset value plus the reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions.

Here is an example of a NAV quote:

In this quote, we can see that XYZ Fund shares currently have a net asset value of $15, an 85¢ rise from the day before. The fund's NAV has increased a little more than 16 percent since the beginning of the year.

Some publications quote both the NAV and the public offering price (POP). These publications denote the offer price with the words "ask," "buy," "offer," or "POP." They denote no-load funds with the letters "NL." Some do not quote the offer price at all. Those that don't may quote the sales charge instead, leaving you to do the math to figure out how much the load is in dollars.

Here is an example of a quote that includes the POP (buy), using the hypothetical fund above: