Realized P&L is the profit or loss from positions a strategy has already closed; open P&L is the profit or loss from positions it still holds, valued at their current price. Realized P&L is locked in; open P&L is a mark-to-market figure that moves with the market until the position is sold.
Also seen as: unrealized P&L, paper profit, mark-to-market P&L
How does Fincanva handle it?
- The P&L breakdown shows realized and open results as four separate bands — "Realized profit" and "Realized loss", "Open profit" and "Open loss" — so you can tell locked-in profit and loss from profit and loss still exposed to the market.
- The realized bands stop changing once positions close; the open bands revalue as prices move over the period.
What separates realized P&L from open P&L?
Realized P&L is banked and open P&L is still in play. A closed position's gain or loss is settled — selling it turned the paper result into a realized one that no later price move can change. An open position's gain or loss is unrealized: it is measured by marking the position to its current price, so it rises and falls every day the position is held and only becomes realized when the position is closed. Together they make the strategy's P&L:
- the strategy's profit or loss to date
- the settled result of positions already closed
- the result of positions still held, at today's price
What does it look like in practice?
A strategy holds two positions. It sells the first for a gain of +800 — that +800 is realized profit, banked, and it will not change no matter what the market does next. The second it still holds, and at today's price it is up +450 — that +450 is open profit, and it will keep moving until the position is sold. The strategy's total P&L today is +1,250, but only the +800 is locked in; the +450 could grow, shrink, or turn negative before it is realized.