Calculating Weighted Average Mean

One characteristic of an arithmetic mean is that all observations have equal weight (=1/N). However, this may not always be the case. In some cases, different observations may influence the mean differently. This has special relevance in portfolios where a portfolio is made up of different stocks each having a different weight.

Let’s assume that we have a portfolio comprising three stocks, A, B and C as follows:

StockReturnsWeight
A12%20%
B18%30%
C24%50%

We have the stock returns for each stock and the weight of each stock in the portfolio. For example, if the investor has a total of $1,000 invested in the portfolio, 20% or $200 is invested in Stock A, $300 is invested in stock B, and the remaining $500 is invested in Stock C.

The weighted average mean is calculated using the following formula:

The weighted mean of our portfolio will be calculated as follows:

Note that the weighted mean is closer to the returns from Stock C because Stock C has more influence (weight) on the portfolio.

Related Downloads

Data Science in Finance: 9-Book Bundle

Data Science in Finance Book Bundle

Master R and Python for financial data science with our comprehensive bundle of 9 ebooks.

What's Included:

  • Getting Started with R
  • R Programming for Data Science
  • Data Visualization with R
  • Financial Time Series Analysis with R
  • Quantitative Trading Strategies with R
  • Derivatives with R
  • Credit Risk Modelling With R
  • Python for Data Science
  • Machine Learning in Finance using Python

Each book includes PDFs, explanations, instructions, data files, and R code for all examples.

Get the Bundle for $29 (Regular $57)
JOIN 30,000 DATA PROFESSIONALS

Free Guides - Getting Started with R and Python

Enter your name and email address below and we will email you the guides for R programming and Python.

Data Science in Finance: 9-Book Bundle

Data Science in Finance Book Bundle

Master R and Python for financial data science with our comprehensive bundle of 9 ebooks.

What's Included:

  • Getting Started with R
  • R Programming for Data Science
  • Data Visualization with R
  • Financial Time Series Analysis with R
  • Quantitative Trading Strategies with R
  • Derivatives with R
  • Credit Risk Modelling With R
  • Python for Data Science
  • Machine Learning in Finance using Python

Each book comes with PDFs, detailed explanations, step-by-step instructions, data files, and complete downloadable R code for all examples.