---
title: "Holdings"
slug: "holdings"
status: "update"
updated: 2025-09-16T14:51:41Z
published: 2025-09-16T14:51:41Z
canonical: "support.lusid.com/holdings"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.lusid.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Holdings

A *holding* is your position in a specific [instrument](/v1/docs/instruments) in a particular [transaction portfolio](/v1/docs/what-is-a-transaction-portfolio).

LUSID is a transaction-based system. It does not maintain a static record of your holdings in a portfolio but rather [generates them on demand](/v1/docs/understanding-how-lusid-uses-transaction-types-to-generate-holdings) from the stored history of transactions, replayed in date order. Note you *can* [manually set or adjust holdings](/v1/docs/how-do-i-manually-adjust-or-set-holdings) if you don’t have a feed of transactions.

This process is controlled using *transaction types*. Every [transaction](/v1/docs/transactions) in a portfolio must resolve to a [transaction type](/v1/docs/what-is-a-transaction-type) that defines the precise economic impact; that is, the effect on your holding in the instrument, and also potentially on holdings in other instruments in the portfolio (such as currency holdings).

For example, the built-in `Buy` transaction type provided with LUSID is intended to signal a purchase of a security such as an equity or bond. When you generate a holdings report, for every transaction with a transaction type of `Buy`, LUSID automatically:

- Increases your holding in the security instrument (ie. BP) by the number of units purchased in the transaction.
- Decreases your holding in the settlement currency instrument (ie. GBP) by the total consideration.

> **Note:** LUSID temporarily separately classifies cash holdings as ‘unsettled cash’ between trade and settlement dates. At settlement, LUSID merges these temporary holdings into a core (settled) cash balance for a currency. A holding has a [holding type](/v1/docs/what-are-the-holding-types) that indicates its state at all times.

By default, LUSID reports holdings at the instrument level; that is, one holding per security instrument per settlement currency in the portfolio, and one holding per currency instrument. You can change this:

- Using [sub-holding keys](/v1/docs/what-is-a-sub-holding-key-shk) (SHKs). For example, you could divide your overall position in BP into two holdings representing different investment strategies.
- Using [tax lots](/v1/docs/what-are-taxlots), to segregate and expand instrument holdings into separate tax lots according to a particular liquidation strategy.

You can combine these mechanisms using [custodian accounts](/v1/docs/segregating-holdings-using-custodian-accounts).

Providing you have appropriate permissions, you can [generate a holdings report](/v1/docs/how-do-i-generate-a-holdings-report) for a transaction portfolio from the **Holdings** dashboard in the [LUSID web app](https://www.lusid.com/app/home):

![](https://cdn.document360.io/d575ad81-c0ed-4980-bbd1-d59ac5c3de82/Images/Documentation/image-PXWZA5KN.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-04T01%3A47%3A05Z&se=2026-11-04T02%3A47%3A05Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=ZsSBKJBub3iF8B7w7Mp2N0e6TLFqdtBOuCXvBgOnp0I%3D)

Alternatively, you can interact with holdings programmatically:

- Using appropriate API endpoints in the [Transaction Portfolios](https://www.lusid.com/docs/api/lusid/intro) collection.
- Using the equivalent methods in the [LUSID SDK](/v1/docs/understanding-all-the-applications-in-the-finbourne-platform).
- If you have a [Luminesce](/v1/docs/luminesce-and-lumipy) license, using dedicated [read](/v1/docs/lusidportfolioholding) and [write](/v1/docs/lusidportfolioholdingwriter) providers.

**Explanation**: *See the big picture*

- [Understanding how LUSID uses transaction types to generate holdings](/v1/docs/understanding-how-lusid-uses-transaction-types-to-generate-holdings)

**Reference**: *Understand concepts and implications*

- [What is a sub-holding key (SHK)?](/v1/docs/what-is-a-sub-holding-key-shk)
- [What are the holding types?](/v1/docs/what-are-the-holding-types)
- [What is a holding ID?](/v1/docs/what-is-a-holding-id)
- [What are tax lots, and how does LUSID support tax lot accounting?](/v1/docs/what-are-taxlots)
- [Segregating holdings using custodian accounts](/v1/docs/segregating-holdings-using-custodian-accounts)

**How-to guides**: *Get something done*

- [How do I generate a holdings report?](/v1/docs/how-do-i-generate-a-holdings-report)
- [How do I manually adjust or set holdings?](/v1/docs/how-do-i-manually-adjust-or-set-holdings)
- [How do I reconcile holdings?](/v1/docs/reconciling-end-of-day-positions-with-an-external-system)