What Is the Significance of the Volume-Weighted Average Price (VWAP) in Measuring Execution Quality?

VWAP is the average price of an asset traded over a specific time, weighted by the volume traded at each price level. It is a key benchmark for measuring the quality of a trade's execution.

If a trader's execution price is better than the VWAP, they achieved a good price relative to the market's average, indicating a narrow effective spread. If it is worse, the effective spread was likely wide.

What Is the Significance of the “Quality” of Reserve Assets (E.g. T-Bills Vs. Commercial Paper)?
What Is the Difference between a Spot Price Oracle and a Volume-Weighted Average Price (VWAP) Oracle?
How Is ‘Volume-Weighted Average Price’ (VWAP) Used as a Benchmark for Trade Execution?
What Are the Trade-Offs between Using a TWAP and a Volume-Weighted Average Price (VWAP) Oracle?
How Can Traders Use Volume-Weighted Average Price (VWAP) to Gauge Execution Quality and Slippage?
How Can ‘Volume-Weighted Average Price’ (VWAP) Be Skewed by Wash Trading?
What Is the Difference between a Volume-Weighted Average Price (VWAP) and a TWAP?
How Does a Volume-Weighted Average Price (VWAP) Differ from a Simple Average in Settlement?

Glossar