Investment Return Calculator
Measure gain, ending value, percentage return, and return multiple from an initial investment and a final value. This is useful for shares, index funds, crypto, property deposits, side projects, and simple investment comparisons.
This calculator is designed for quick “start versus finish” checks. It tells you how much money was gained or lost, how large the return was as a percentage, and how many times your starting capital the ending value represents. If you enter the holding period, it also estimates annualised return to help compare investments held over different lengths of time.
Calculate investment return
Result explanation
Gain or loss is the raw money result from the investment: final value minus starting amount. ROI converts that result into a percentage of the starting capital, which makes it easier to compare opportunities of different sizes. Return multiple shows how many times your starting money the ending value represents.
Approx annualised return is useful when the holding period is known. It answers the question: “What yearly growth rate would produce this same result over this number of years?” That makes it much easier to compare a 2-year return with a 5-year return on a more equal basis.
How it works
Gain is simply Final Value − Initial Investment. ROI is (Gain ÷ Initial Investment) × 100. Return multiple is Final Value ÷ Initial Investment.
If you provide a holding period in years, this page also estimates annualised return using a compound-style comparison. This helps smooth the result into an average yearly growth figure rather than just showing the total outcome from start to finish.
Worked examples
Example 1: Simple investment gain
Start: £5,000
End: £6,500
Holding period: 3 years
This gives a gain of £1,500 and an ROI of 30%. With the holding period added, you can also estimate the annualised return instead of looking only at the headline total gain.
Example 2: Comparing different investments
Suppose one investment grows 20% in one year, while another grows 35% over four years. The second has the higher total return, but the first may still be the stronger performer on a yearly basis. That is why annualised return is useful when comparing options.
Use this with other finance tools
After checking total return here, compare the time-based growth rate with the CAGR Calculator or estimate forward growth with the Compound Interest Calculator. If you are comparing business or campaign profitability rather than investments, use the ROI Calculator.