Performance & Return
Unrealized Gain
Definition
The increase in value of a position that has not yet been sold and therefore has not yet been converted to cash.
Unrealized gain is the mark-to-market profit embedded in an open position, calculated from current value relative to cost basis.
Why it matters
It exists on paper and can reverse. It does not represent cash in hand until the position is sold.
What most investors miss
The gap between what the term means and how it is usually applied.
They treat unrealized gains as performance. They are potential performance. They can disappear before the position is sold.
How to read it
Read unrealized gain as context not as result. It shows where value has accumulated but says nothing about what will be kept.
Multi-account lens
How this term reads differently across brokers and accounts.
Across accounts unrealized gains should be viewed in consolidated form to understand where the portfolio's embedded value sits and where tax exposure may concentrate.
Related terms
Terms that connect to unrealized gain.
Continue only if the next question is clearer now
Diagnosis first, then workflow, then fit.
Follow Upogee on X
Product updates, portfolio review ideas, and building notes.