The reports pages

The reports page is a helpful section that offers a variety of pages where you can check more information about your investments. This includes your recent transaction history, summary of your portfolio, returns, statements, and other trade-related activities on your account.

You may have some ideas already about what each page covers. But let's dive deeper to see more of its helpful features.

Recent transaction history page

The recent transaction history page is where you can find all the transactions you made in your account. If you click the Go to transaction history button on the top right of the section, you can select different time frames (1 month, 3 months, 6 months, YTD, Custom) to view your transactions.

The investment summary page displays the end of day values of your accounts (balances, book value, % return, etc.) from any day within the last five years. Here you’ll see three main sections which include summary, allocations, and investments.

Summary section

The summary section gives you a birds eye view of your portfolio for each account and information such as your open P&L, cash, market value, and total equity.

1. Open P&L shows the total ‘unrealized’ profits and losses in the account (since opening), shown in Canadian dollars. Unrealized means that these profits or losses have not been ‘locked in’ and you still own the investment(s). On the other hand, closed P&L is the total ‘realized’ profits and losses of a position upon trading which includes any potential commissions or transaction fees.
   
2. Cash shows how much available cash you have in your account.
   
3. The market value shows the overall value of the position (QTY * Symbol price).
   
4. The total equity includes your cash + the market value of your investments.

Tip: You can use the drop down menu beside Summary to change the currency view to CAD, USD, and combined CAD. The combined CAD is the approximate value of your funds, if you were to convert them into one single currency.

To get a deeper understanding of your balances including buying power, max buying power and currency conversion, please check this helpful article with examples..

Allocations section

The allocation section shows how your investments are divided, based on asset type.. You can also refer to this as your "asset allocation", where different asset types are mixed in to potentially protect your portfolio against market volatility.

When you allocate your portfolio, you may also need to manage it by rebalancing it from time to time. This can be a helpful practice to ensure you stay on your target allocation based on your investment goals.

Investments section

The investments section displays the information of the investments (or holdings) you own. You also can use the drop-down option on the side to filter the asset types you own. Each column shows specific details about your investments:

1. The first column shows the symbol and name of the security (either a stock or ETF) you currently hold.
2. Followed by the Acct # where the security is being held.
3. The Currency column shows what currency (CAD or USD) the security trades in.
4. Cost basis is the cost basis accuracy indicator. Here are some indicators on this section:
   • Book cost (BK): The cost of a security adjusted by any corporate actions, reinvested dividends, and return of capital.
   • Historical Market Value (HMV): The historical market value of the security is used to estimate some or all of its book cost.
   • Historical Market Value Date (HMVD): The market value of the security on October 30, 2015 was used to estimate some or all of its book cost.
   • Non-determinable (ND): The security is not included in your % portfolio calculation because the cost basis cannot be determined.
5. The Asset type column shows the type of asset of the investment, whether it’s a stock, ETF, or other forms of security.
6. Qty shows how many shares of the investment you currently own.
7. Cost/share shows the current price per share of the security.
8. Pos cost is the total cost of the position (Qty * cost/share).
9. Mkt price is the current market price of the position (please note: market price shows the end of day value of the date selected in the section).
10. Mkt val column shows the overall value of the position (Qty * Symbol price).
11. P&L is the dollar amount of gain or loss on the position. Negative values are shown in brackets.

The investment returns page shows interactive graphs displaying the investment returns since you opened your account. It has two sections depending on what you want to view.

The first one is the Ranges. It shows you the range of your returns which you can select by months, years, or since opening the account.

Underneath the graph, you can see the accounts you own and its corresponding colour code on the graph.

Tip: Calendar returns show how much your investments have grown or declined – on average – over each calendar year of a multi-year period.

The second graph below shows the last 12 months of your return. You can toggle the bar (left and right) at the bottom of the graph to narrow down months and see how your investment returns have changed.

Your investment returns will grow or decline based on many factors. This can include interest rates, investor confidence, government fiscal and monetary policies, and economic outlook. It’s always best practice to do your due diligence and understand your risk tolerance, time horizon, and how you’ll diversify your portfolio.

Tip: To learn more about the historical investment return of the stock market and other ways to navigate market volatility, check this helpful lesson here.

If you wish to download and have a copy of your investment return, you can do so by exporting it to an Excel spreadsheet and downloading it. 

The statements page shows statements for your self-directed and Questwealth accounts, available monthly or quarterly.

The trade confirmations display all trades made in your self-directed accounts. Filter by symbol and or date. The reports can be viewed online and then exported and downloaded in CSV or PDF format. In addition, trade confirmations are available for stocks, options, mutual funds, and fixed income securities. This database includes all trades successfully completed after January 1, 2009.

Note: For trade confirmations prior to this date, chat with us using Online chat or call us at 1.888.783.7866.

This is where you can download relevant tax slips generated for your accounts. For more information about filing your tax return in your registered and non-registered accounts, check our Preparing your taxes lesson.

Note: The information in this blog is for educational purposes only and should not be used or construed as financial or investment advice by any individual. Information obtained from third parties is believed to be reliable, but no representations or warranty, expressed or implied, is made by Questrade, Inc., its affiliates or any other person to its accuracy.