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Fundology

Methodology · reviewed

Calendar-year and 12-month returns

Each year’s return compares the last weekly close of the year with the last weekly close of the year before. The five 12-month figures run to the latest quarter end, as on a UK factsheet.

The formula

return = close at the end ÷ close at the start − 1 · real = (1 + return) ÷ (CPIH at the end ÷ CPIH at the start) − 1

A year runs from the last close on or before 31 December of the year before to the last close on or before 31 December. The current year runs to the latest close.

Worked example

A fund priced £100 at the end of 2023 and £112 at the end of 2024 returned +12% in 2024; with CPIH up 3.5% that is about +8.2% after inflation.

How it is done

  1. Every close is converted to pounds at the ECB reference rate for the day it closed.

  2. Over our weekly history the last close of a year can fall up to four working days before 31 December; where we hold daily closes the date is exact.

  3. A year the record does not fully cover is left out, never estimated — including the year a fund launched, and any year before its stated launch date.

  4. A year is left out if most of its weeks have no close, or if it holds a weekly move of more than +50% or −33% in a fund that is not leveraged (a data break, not a market move).

  5. Real returns deflate by ONS CPIH from December to December. The year-to-date figure is deflated over the same number of months, ending at the latest month published.

  6. The 12-month periods end at the latest calendar quarter end the record reaches. All five are always listed; a period the record does not cover shows no figure.

Limits to know about

  • Past performance is not a guide to future returns.
  • These are price returns. For a distributing fund the income paid out is not included, and each figure says so. For some funds our older records (to July 2026) reinvest income; figures covering those years are labelled as total returns, or as partly so.
  • Weekly closes can put a year’s end a few days early, which can move a figure by a percentage point or so in a volatile week.

Sources

  • Fundology closes (TradingView, Vanguard)
  • TradingView weekly history (used for derived figures only)
  • Yahoo Finance history (to July 2026)
  • ECB reference rates via Frankfurter
  • ONS CPIH index L522 (Open Government Licence v3.0)

Reviewed . If a figure on the site does not follow this method, tell us. This is information, not advice.