What is the Difference between Position and Holding?

If you are starting your investment journey, but you are not clear about some terms, like the difference between positions and holdings. The Holding shows a tally of securities in the demat account. On the other hand, the positions tab displays any open positions taken in intraday or the derivatives segments.

What is Position?

Position is the quantity of a security, asset, or property that an individual or other entity owns, so when a trader or investor places a buy order, signalling bullish intent, and sells short securities, they are taking a position.

Long Position: Where you buy a stock expecting its price to rise.
Short Position: Where you sell a stock that you don’t own, expecting to buy it back at a more down price.

Example:

Sahil opened the Groww app and bought 200 shares of ITC at INR 424 each using the Intraday. Since he bought it for the intraday, this is called his position, and he must sell this before the market closes (3:15 PM) the same day. But if he sells these shares before the market closes, then it's a normal intraday trade, and there is no extra charge.

What is Holding?

Holding is a kind of asset in a company or a person's portfolio, such as a pension fund or mutual fund. Examples of financial tools that can be included in a portfolio. Is stocks, mutual funds, bonds, futures, options, and exchange-traded funds.

Example:

Raj bought 50 shares of ITC at INR 397 by using delivery, and he is still holding that stock in his Demat account, so this is called his holding, because he has not sold that share and kept it for the long term.

Key Difference Between Position and Holding

Here are the differences between Position and Holding:

Feature	Position	Holding
Definition	It means tallying the investor stake in a particular asset or financial security.	It's a tally of all the securities that you currently own in your investment portfolio.
Time Frame	This is generally short-term.	This can be short-term or long-term.
Purpose	To capitalise on market movements	To ensure long-term wealth building and portfolio diversification.
Includes Short Sell	Yes, this included both long positions and short positions.	No, they only represent what you own, as short selling doesn’t create a holding.
Example	Holding a long-term/short-term position in Apple Inc.	Holding 200 shares of Apple in your portfolio.

Also, check - ETFs vs Mutual Funds: Understanding the Key Differences

Conclusion

In conclusion, knowing the difference between position and holding is important for investors to succeed in the stock market. Whether you are trading or building a long-term investment portfolio.

You need to know the difference between these terms because this will help you navigate the financial markets. So we hope our blog on the difference between position and holding is helpful.

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Saniya

I am a writer, and this sentence speaks louder than anything, I love to play with words because I have a passion for writing easy and good-quality content that reflects simplicity. Readers like content that is straightforward with simple language. My priority has always been to deliver content that connects with the reader.

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