
You will be able to compare an actual return to expected return by understanding basic math. If you invest $1000 in a bond which has been issued by BMW, you will have to subtract your possible liabilities from your returns in order to find your actual profits. So, basically, when you invest $1000 in a bond which possess a coupon rate of 9%, your expected return will be $90. If you multiplied 1000 by 0.09, you would generate an amount of 90. After grossing an amount of $90 via investing $1000 in a bond, fees could reduce the final amount and make it very small. So if a fee of $45 is taken from the gross amount, an actual return of $45 would be left as the net figure. When you are able to generate an actual return, finding an expected return becomes very likely.
Fundamentally, you will be able to generate an expected return through excluding liabilities out of your calculations when investing money in a financial product. If you bought 100000 units of EUR/USD at a price of 1.2001 and sold the currency pair at exactly 1.2011, you would generate an expected return of $10. However, an actual return will be just $7 if you trade the currency pair while receiving a 3 pip spread from your broker.
Tips
- Expected return can give you a false result as compared to an actual return.

