What Excel function can I use to calculate cumulative total return?

[Mr. Snrub]

A particular investment returns 50% on the first trading day, it returns another 50% on the next trading day, and it returns 100% on the third trading day. The total return on my investment is 350%. Given only the percentage returns, how do I calculate this in Excel?

Start	100
After Day1	150
After Day2	225
After Day3	450

The total return is (450-100)/100 = 350%. But how can I calculate this if I'm only given the +50%, +50%, and +100% values?

 

[Mr. Snrub]

The function can be rewritten as ([start]+(1+[Day1%])*(1+[Day2%])*(1+[Day3%]), but I was wondering if there was something like FUNCTION([start], B2:B4) instead, where the daily percentage returns are in cells B2, B3, and B4.

 

[dcardno]

The cumulative return (as a factor) is the product of the intermediate returns. In this case:

(1 + 50%) * (1 + 50%) * (1 + 100%) = 4.5

We convert it back to a percentage by subtracting 1: 4.5 - 1 = 3.5, or 350%

If you convert your percentage returns to factors (ie, add 1 to each of them), take the product of the factors (easiest to use the 'PRODUCT' function) and subtract 1, you will get the cumulative return