Three figures, three questions
The same portfolio can show three different return figures. Each is correct for the question it answers, and the labels say which is which.
- Unrealized P/L (Track Portfolios and the dashboard): the current value of your open positions minus what you paid for them. Dividends and gains on shares you have already sold are not included. Shown in money and as a percentage of cost.
- Total return (incl. dividends) (the portfolio value chart): everything the portfolio has earned since purchase: price change, dividends received, and realized gains on shares you sold. Shown in money and as a percentage of the capital you put in.
- Time-weighted total return and Time-weighted price return (Analytics): how your holdings performed over the period on the chart, with deposits and withdrawals removed so that adding money never looks like a gain. This is the basis funds and benchmarks report on, which is why Analytics compares it against an index. The window is the chart's period, up to three years, not the time since purchase.
Why they can differ a lot
Unrealized P/L leaves dividends and realized gains and losses out, so it differs from the chart's total return for any portfolio that has received a dividend or sold a position. The time-weighted figure covers a fixed window and removes cash flows, so a portfolio funded in stages can show a negative time-weighted return while its total return since purchase is positive, or the reverse.
Dividends on two tabs
The value chart's Dividends (all time) counts every dividend since purchase, including on holdings without a purchase date, which are assumed held throughout. The Income tab's Received (12m) counts the last twelve months only, and only shares with a recorded purchase date. Received (all time) on the same tab applies that dated-shares rule over the whole history, so for a fully dated portfolio it matches the chart.