Each brokerage firm’s statement looks a little different, but all statements provide similar information. Among the details you’ll want to check each time your statement arrives are:
Account summary. This
section reports the total value of your holdings
plus any gains and losses — realized and unrealized —
since the previous statement.
Portfolio detail. This
section lists the individual assets in your account,
the size of your holdings, the value as of the
date the statement was issued, any change in value
since the previous statement, and the estimated
income and yield for each asset. Some statements
also report changes in value since time of purchase.
Income summary. This
section includes the interest and dividends your
investments have paid for the statement period
and the year-to-date.
Daily activity. All
the transactions that occurred in your account
during the statement period are reported in this
section. If yours is a
discretionary
account,
which means your broker is
authorized to buy and sell without notifying you
of each trade before it goes through, it’s
especially important to pay close attention to
this section.
The SIPC guarantee
Your quarterly statement will
report that your account is guaranteed by the
Securities
Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC).
That means
if your brokerage firm goes bankrupt, your account
value is insured to a maximum of $500,000. But SIPC
doesn’t protect you against losses that result
from a drop in the market value of your investments.
