Personal Finance Term
NAV
Net Asset Value
The per-unit value of a fund such as a unit trust or ETF, calculated as the total value of its assets minus liabilities, divided by the number of units. It is the price at which units are typically valued and traded.
A fund's NAV tells you what one unit is worth based on the underlying investments it holds. For Malaysian unit trusts, the NAV is usually calculated once a day after markets close, and you buy and redeem units at that price, sometimes adjusted by a sales charge. For ETFs, the traded price tracks the NAV but can move slightly above or below it during the day because ETFs trade live on the exchange.
Understanding NAV helps you see that a fund's growth comes from the rising value of its holdings, not from the unit price alone, and that a low NAV does not mean a fund is cheap or good value. When comparing funds, what matters is performance, fees, and what the fund invests in, not the headline NAV figure. Checking how NAV is calculated and what charges sit on top also helps you understand the true cost and return of investing in a particular fund.