---
url: /topics/nav.md
---
# NAV

A NAV (net asset value) is the price of one share of an instrument. The Quarzo API represents each NAV as a JSON object with three fields:

```json
{
  "value": 1034571,
  "scale": 4,
  "currency": "EUR"
}
```

This value represents `103.4571 EUR` for each share.

The API, the SDK and the MCP tools use this format.

## Fields

| Field | Type | Rule |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `value` | integer | The price without a decimal point. A JSON number from `0` to `9007199254740991`. |
| `scale` | integer | The number of decimal places of `value`. A JSON number from `0` to `15`. |
| `currency` | string | The ISO 4217 code of the currency of the price, in uppercase: `EUR` or `USD`. |

Use this rule to read a NAV:

```text
decimal value = value / 10^scale
```

| `value` | `scale` | `currency` | Value |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `1034571` | `4` | `EUR` | 103.4571 EUR |
| `122600` | `4` | `EUR` | 12.26 EUR |
| `1050` | `2` | `USD` | 10.50 USD |
| `0` | `4` | `EUR` | 0 EUR |

## A NAV is not a Money value

A [Money](/topics/money) value is an amount in the minor unit of its currency: it has no `scale` field, and `EUR` has 2 decimal places. A NAV can have more decimal places than its currency: `103.4571 EUR` has 4. For this reason, a NAV has its own format, with a `scale` field.

A NAV is not a [Shares](/topics/shares) value: a share count has no currency.

| Value | Format | Example |
| --- | --- | --- |
| An amount of money | [Money](/topics/money) | `{ "amount": "126225", "currency": "EUR" }` |
| A number of shares | [Shares](/topics/shares) | `{ "quantity": 1220000, "scale": 5 }` |
| The price of one share | NAV | `{ "value": 1034571, "scale": 4, "currency": "EUR" }` |

## Scale

The `scale` field is the number of decimal places of the NAV of the instrument. Quarzo does not remove trailing zeros. At scale `4`, a NAV of 12.26 EUR is:

```json
{
  "value": 122600,
  "scale": 4,
  "currency": "EUR"
}
```

## Limits

The largest `value` is `9007199254740991` (2^53 − 1). The largest `scale` is `15`. A NAV is zero or more.

With these limits, a JSON parser that reads a number as a 64-bit float or as a 64-bit integer reads each `value` exactly. Do not read `value` as a 32-bit number.

## Rules for a client

* Read `scale` from each value. Do not keep one scale for each instrument, because the number of decimal places of the NAV of an instrument can change.
* Read `value` as an integer. Do not divide it with floating-point arithmetic before a comparison or a calculation.
* To calculate what a number of shares is worth, multiply the two integers: `quantity × value`. The result has `shares scale + NAV scale` decimal places. Round it to the minor unit of the currency with the rule of your business.
* Two NAVs are equal when their `currency` is the same and their decimal values are equal. If the scales are different, change the two values to the larger scale before you compare them.

For example, 12.2 shares at a NAV of 103.4571 EUR:

```text
quantity = 1220000 (scale 5)
value    = 1034571 (scale 4)
product  = 1262176620000 (scale 9) = 1262.17662 EUR
```

## Values that are not valid

The API never returns these values:

| Value | Problem |
| --- | --- |
| `{ "value": "1034571", "scale": 4, "currency": "EUR" }` | `value` is a string. |
| `"103.4571"` | The value is a decimal string. |
| `{ "value": 103.4571, "scale": 4, "currency": "EUR" }` | `value` has a decimal point. |
| `{ "value": 1034571, "currency": "EUR" }` | The `scale` field is missing. |
| `{ "value": 1034571, "scale": 16, "currency": "EUR" }` | `scale` is larger than `15`. |
| `{ "value": 1034571, "scale": 4 }` | The `currency` field is missing. |
| `{ "amount": "10345", "currency": "EUR" }` | A NAV is not a [Money](/topics/money) value. |