TER and effective costs
TER is deducted internally from the fund’s assets, but it does not necessarily include spreads, trading commissions, platform charges or tax.
Guides
ETF Guide
This guide explains ETF costs, returns, distributions, currency exposure and replication quality without turning assumptions into forecasts.
Core ETF concepts
Accumulating and distributing
An accumulating share class reinvests income inside the fund; a distributing share class pays it to the investor. Tax, costs and reinvestment also affect the result.
Trading currency and currency exposure
The currency in which an ETF trades does not automatically remove exposure to the currencies of its underlying assets. The currency calculator models one explicit conversion pair.
Replication quality
Tracking Difference measures the average return gap from the index; Tracking Error measures how variable that gap is over time. They are different concepts.
Rebalancing
Rebalancing restores target weights and may require purchases, sales, commissions and tax consequences that are not automatically estimated.
Common limitations
Returns are assumptions entered by the user. The models use constant percentages and simplified tax; they do not reconstruct a KID, a live index or a personal tax regime.
True ETF cost
Estimate the impact of TER, spreads, commissions, annual charges and simplified tax over a chosen holding period.
Open toolETF savings plan
Model an initial investment and periodic contributions with assumed return, TER, commissions and simplified tax.
Open toolAccumulating vs distributing ETF
Compare final wealth for equivalent share classes while modelling reinvestment, distribution tax and TER.
Open toolCurrency impact on an ETF
Separate the ETF return, exchange-rate movement and combined result in the investor’s home currency.
Open toolETF rebalancing
Calculate the purchases and sales required to return up to five ETF holdings to their target weights.
Open toolTotal and annualised return
Calculate net return, CAGR, break-even and after-tax result including distributions and entered costs.
Open toolTracking Difference and Tracking Error
Compare ETF and index return series to measure average shortfall, replication variability and correlation.
Open toolFORM REFERENCE
Every field explained
Each block matches one tool. Every field explains what it represents and what value belongs there. Prices and commissions stay separate so calculations remain readable and verifiable.
True ETF cost
Open toolCurrency
Currency in which the tool expresses prices, costs and results.
Initial capital
Total capital made available at the start of the calculation.
Duration (years)
Whole number of years in the simulated horizon.
Assumed annual gross return (%)
Assumed annual return before TER and other costs. It is not a forecast.
Annual TER (%)
Annual Total Expense Ratio reported by the fund, entered as a percentage.
Estimated buy spread cost (%)
Estimated percentage cost attributed to the buy spread. Enter the actual or assumed incidence, not necessarily the entire quoted bid-ask spread.
Estimated sell spread cost (%)
Estimated percentage cost attributed to the sell spread.
Fixed annual cost
Fixed cost deducted at the end of each simulated year, such as a relevant platform charge.
Simplified tax rate (%)
Rate applied only to a positive result in the simplified model.
Buy commission
Total purchase cost used in the calculation. Enter an expected commission before the order or the actual commission after execution.
Sell commission
Total sale cost used in the calculation. For an executed trade, preferably use the broker's actual amount.
ETF savings plan
Open toolCurrency
Currency in which the tool expresses prices, costs and results.
Initial contribution
One-off amount contributed at the start of the plan. It may be zero.
Periodic contribution
Gross amount of each periodic contribution.
Contribution frequency
Number of contributions per year: 12 monthly, 4 quarterly or 1 annual.
Duration (years)
Whole number of years in the simulated horizon.
Assumed annual gross return (%)
Assumed annual return before TER and other costs. It is not a forecast.
Annual TER (%)
Annual Total Expense Ratio reported by the fund, entered as a percentage.
Contribution timing
Determines whether each contribution is invested before or after the period return.
Fixed annual cost
Fixed cost deducted at the end of each simulated year, such as a relevant platform charge.
Simplified tax rate (%)
Rate applied only to a positive result in the simplified model.
Initial contribution commission
Total purchase cost used in the calculation. Enter an expected commission before the order or the actual commission after execution.
Commission per contribution
Cost charged on every individual plan contribution.
Accumulating vs distributing ETF
Open toolCurrency
Currency in which the tool expresses prices, costs and results.
Initial capital
Total capital made available at the start of the calculation.
Duration (years)
Whole number of years in the simulated horizon.
Annual price growth (%)
Assumed annual price change, separate from distributed income.
Annual gross distribution yield (%)
Annual gross distribution paid by the distributing class and internally reinvested by the accumulating class in the model.
Accumulating ETF TER (%)
Annual Total Expense Ratio reported by the fund, entered as a percentage.
Distributing ETF TER (%)
Annual Total Expense Ratio reported by the fund, entered as a percentage.
Distribution tax rate (%)
Rate applied each year to gross distributions.
Final capital-gain tax rate (%)
Rate applied to a positive final capital gain in the simplified model.
Reinvest net distributions
Choose whether net distributions are reinvested or accumulated as cash.
Commission per reinvestment
Cost deducted whenever a net distribution is reinvested.
Currency impact on an ETF
Open toolInvestor currency
Currency in which the tool expresses prices, costs and results.
Initial price in ETF currency
Initial unit price in the ETF or market currency.
Final price in ETF currency
Final price of the same unit in the same currency.
Units held
Number of units held; fractional units are allowed.
Initial FX: home currency per 1 ETF currency
Amount of home currency for one unit of ETF currency. Use the same convention for both dates.
Final FX: home currency per 1 ETF currency
Amount of home currency for one unit of ETF currency. Use the same convention for both dates.
Simplified tax rate (%)
Rate applied only to a positive result in the simplified model.
Buy commission
Total purchase cost used in the calculation. Enter an expected commission before the order or the actual commission after execution.
Sell commission
Total sale cost used in the calculation. For an executed trade, preferably use the broker's actual amount.
ETF rebalancing
Open toolCurrency
Currency in which the tool expresses prices, costs and results.
New cash to invest
New cash entering the portfolio before rebalancing.
Minimum trade amount
Movements below this amount are ignored to avoid micro-trades.
Commission per order
Expected or actual cost of each generated buy or sell order.
ETF / component
Free label used to identify each ETF or component.
Current value
Current monetary value of the component in the portfolio.
Target weight (%)
Target percentage of the component. The five rows must add up to 100%.
Total and annualised return
Open toolCurrency
Currency in which the tool expresses prices, costs and results.
Initial investment value
Value of the units at the start of the period, without adding commissions twice.
Final unit value
Market value of the units at the end of the analysed period.
Net distributions received
Net distributions received during the period and not already included in final value.
Duration (days)
Actual duration between initial and final values, in days.
Simplified tax rate (%)
Rate applied only to a positive result in the simplified model.
Buy commission
Total purchase cost used in the calculation. Enter an expected commission before the order or the actual commission after execution.
Sell commission
Total sale cost used in the calculation. For an executed trade, preferably use the broker's actual amount.
Other total costs
Other total costs attributable to the period, excluding costs entered separately.
Tracking Difference and Tracking Error
Open toolPeriods per year
Series frequency: annual, quarterly or monthly. It is used to annualise Tracking Error.
ETF returns (%) separated by semicolons
ETF percentage-return series. Separate periods with semicolons, spaces or line breaks.
Index returns (%) separated by semicolons
Index percentage-return series with the same number and order of periods as the ETF series.