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The short answer
A mutual fund's NAV is the value of everything it owns minus what it owes and its accrued fees; divided by the units in issue, it gives the unit price. Under the SEC's 2019 rule amendments, Nigerian open-ended funds calculate bid and offer prices from NAV daily, and closed-ended funds publish their closing price daily.
NAV stands for net asset value: what a fund owns, minus what it owes, after fees. Divided by the number of units in issue, it gives the value of one unit, which is the price at which you buy into or sell out of a mutual fund. Every Nigerian unit trust is priced this way, and the SEC's rules set out how. This guide explains the calculation, the difference between bid and offer prices, how often prices are published and where to find them.
The basic calculation
In its simplest form:
- Add up the value of everything the fund holds: shares, bonds, treasury bills, other investments, cash, and dividends or interest due.
- Subtract what the fund owes (payables).
- Subtract accrued fees and expenses: fund manager, trustee, custodian, auditor, registrar and other allowed costs.
- The result is the NAV after fees.
- Divide by the number of units outstanding to get the NAV per unit.
This is the layout used in the SEC's December 2019 amendments to its collective investment scheme rules, in the schedule on computing bid and offer prices.
Bid and offer prices
Many funds show two prices. The offer price is what you pay to buy a unit; the bid price is what you receive when you sell one. The difference covers the dealing costs the fund would face in buying or selling the underlying shares. In the SEC's 2019 schedule:
- The bid price starts from NAV after fees and deducts charges on the fund's quoted ordinary shares: stamp duty, brokerage, and on the sell side exchange and CSCS charges.
- The offer price starts from the same NAV and adds stamp duty, brokerage and an SEC charge on the buy side.
- Both are then divided by the number of units outstanding.
For money market and many fixed income funds, which hold few or no listed shares, the gap is small or nil, and some managers show a single price.
A worked example
The figures are invented, and the dealing-charge ratios are those printed in the SEC's 2019 schedule, used here only to illustrate. The fund has 5,000,000 units in issue.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Quoted shares | ₦6,000,000 |
| Fixed income investments | ₦3,500,000 |
| Cash and bank | ₦1,000,000 |
| Total assets | ₦10,500,000 |
| Less payables | (₦100,000) |
| Less accrued fees | (₦40,000) |
| NAV after fees | ₦10,360,000 |
| NAV per unit (÷ 5,000,000) | ₦2.072 |
- Bid side charges
- Schedule ratios 0.0075 + 0.003 + 0.003 + 0.0075 = 0.021 of ₦6,000,000 = ₦126,000
- Bid price
- (₦10,360,000 − ₦126,000) ÷ 5,000,000 = about ₦2.047
- Offer side charges
- 0.0075 + 0.003 + 0.003 = 0.0135 of ₦6,000,000 = ₦81,000
- Offer price
- (₦10,360,000 + ₦81,000) ÷ 5,000,000 = about ₦2.088
So ₦100,000 invested at the offer price would buy about 47,888 units (₦100,000 ÷ ₦2.0882), and selling them straight back at the bid price of ₦2.0468 would return about ₦98,017, a loss of roughly 2% before the fund has earned anything. That gap is why short-term trading in and out of an equity fund is costly, and why it pays to hold for long enough for returns to outweigh it.
How holdings are valued
The SEC schedule's notes say securities traded on an exchange are generally valued at the last traded price on the valuation date, or the last published sale price or recorded bid if there was no trade. Unlisted shares start at cost and are then valued at the manager's discretion, other unlisted securities at their last known market price or at cost plus accrued interest, and foreign-currency values are converted at the prevailing market exchange rate.
How often prices are published
- Open-ended funds: the 2019 amendments changed the basis from weekly to daily calculation of bid and offer prices.
- Closed-ended funds: the same amendments require the closing unit price to be published daily on the fund manager's website.
- Monthly: the SEC's homepage links a Monthly NAV report for collective investment schemes.
- Money market funds: many keep the unit price at a fixed figure and report a yield instead. ARM's FAQ says its money market fund's unit price is kept at ₦1.
Prices you see on a manager's app or website are usually the latest calculated, which may be the previous working day's.
What NAV does and does not tell you
A higher NAV per unit does not make a fund better or worse; a fund that started at ₦1 a unit and one that started at ₦100 can perform identically. What matters is how the NAV per unit changes over time, after fees, compared with the fund's benchmark. Fees are already taken out before the NAV is struck, which is why our guide to mutual fund fees matters even though you never see a fee line on your statement.
To put the price to use, see how to buy a mutual fund step by step, how long redemption takes and how money market funds work.
Questions people ask
What is NAV in mutual funds?
Net asset value: the fund's assets minus its liabilities and accrued fees. NAV per unit is that total divided by the units in issue, and it sets the price at which you buy and sell.
How is NAV calculated in Nigeria?
Under the SEC's 2019 schedule, add up all investments, cash and income due, deduct payables and fees, then adjust for dealing charges to get bid and offer prices, and divide by units outstanding.
How often is mutual fund NAV published in Nigeria?
Open-ended fund prices are calculated daily under the 2019 SEC amendments, and closed-ended fund prices must be published daily on the manager's website. The SEC also publishes a monthly NAV report.
What is the difference between bid and offer price?
The offer price is what you pay to buy a unit and the bid price what you get when you sell. The gap reflects dealing costs on the fund's listed shares.
Sources
- SEC Nigeria: New Rules and Amendments, collective investment schemes (23 December 2019) · accessed Oct 2026
- ARM Investment Managers: FAQs (modified 27 March 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- SEC Nigeria: homepage (investor links, Monthly NAV for CIS) · accessed Oct 2026
This article is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Products described are provided under the terms on this site and are subject to regulation and eligibility.