Positions

A position snapshot records what the provider says an account holds in an instrument as of a date: the quantity, the cost basis in US dollars, the mark price and the resulting market value, with the provider’s snapshot ID. Snapshots are kept by date, so the desk can see how a position stood at any month-end or on the day a question was raised.

Snapshots sit beside the desk’s own orders and executions. The operations analyst compares the quantity in a snapshot with the filled orders and executions for that account and instrument; a difference is a break to resolve with the provider or custodian before positions are reported. Because each snapshot carries its provider ID, a reloaded file does not create a second snapshot for the same date.

Market value is mark price times quantity as reported, and cost basis comes from the provider. Pricing, charts and performance analytics stay in your market data and portfolio tools; this record is the reconciled position the desk relies on.

Operations analysts load and check snapshots; traders and the desk manager read them.

• As of a date. Every snapshot states the date it describes.
• Provider ID on every snapshot. Reloads do not duplicate.
• Checked against fills. Snapshot quantity is compared with the desk’s executions.

Agree which accounts and instruments are snapshotted, how often, and from which provider. Agree how a break between a snapshot and the desk’s fills is investigated and who signs it off. Decide how long snapshots are kept. Prepare examples of a matching snapshot, one with a quantity break and one reloaded twice.

At month-end the custodian’s snapshot shows 120,000 shares of a stock in a client account. The desk’s filled orders for that account add up to 125,000. The analyst finds a 5,000-share sell filled late on the last afternoon whose execution had not yet been brought in. Once the execution is recorded, the desk’s figure matches the snapshot and the break is closed with a note on the order.

• Position snapshot calendar — Snapshots by date with quantity, cost basis, mark price and market value.
• Trading orders working — Orders still open that will change positions.

• Order to fill: How fills build positions.

Check the data model before loading historical snapshots.