Glossary
Absolute returns
This is an investment 'approach' which seeks positive returns in
both up and down markets.
Active fund management / Active investing
This is a process whereby the active manager selects industry
sectors in light of expected economic conditions and individual
stocks on the basis of research.
AER
The Annual Equivalent Rate (AER) is a notional rate which
illustrates what the interest rate would be if interest were paid
and compounded each year. As every advert for a savings product
that quotes an interest rate will contain an AER, you will be able
to compare more easily the return you can expect from your savings
over time.
Alternative investments
Alternative investments is a 'catch all' phrase to label those
asset classes and investment products that fall outside of the
traditional categories which include cash, bonds, stocks and
property. Examples are commodities and hedge funds.
Annuity
An annuity is the means by which the capital accumulated in a
pension fund is converted into a regular guaranteed income payable
for the life of the individual - the annuitant.
APR
The Annual Percentage Rate (APR) is the cost of credit expressed as
an annual rate.
Assets / Asset class
'Asset' is used to describe a class of investment product.
Equities, property, cash, alternative investments and bonds are all
asset classes.
Asset allocation
The process of deciding how to apportion investment capital between
the various possible asset classes: bonds, equities, property, cash
etc.
BACS
BACS (originally an acronym for 'Bankers' Automated Clearing
Services') enables electronic payments to be made from one bank
account to another in the UK. This usually takes three business
days.
Base rate
The base rate is set by central banks and is the interest rate that
central banks charge banks for unsecured overnight lending. In the
US this is called the Federal Reserve Fund and in Europe the ECB
(European Central Bank) rate. In the UK the official bank rate is
set by the Bank of England.
Benchmark
The index, or other measure, against which the performance of a
fund or portfolio is measured.
Beneficiary
A person who stands to benefit from a contractual or fiduciary
relationship.
1. A person who benefits from a trust set up on his/her
behalf
2. Anyone who benefits from the proceeds of a will
3. A person who benefits from the proceeds of a life insurance
policy.
BIC
BIC code (or SWIFT code) is a standard format of Business
Identifier Codes. It is a unique identification code for both
financial and non-financial institutions. These codes are used when
transferring money between banks, particularly for international
wire transfers, and also for the exchange of other messages between
banks. The codes can sometimes be found on account statements.
Bonds
A bond has the characteristics of a loan. Bonds are best described
as lending money to a company or government (government bonds are
known as 'gilts') and you would receive a regular income stream in
the form of interest payments (coupons). The size of these payments
is determined by a number called the 'coupon rate', which, in most
cases, is fixed. The remainder of the return comes from the
repayment of the original investment, known as the 'principal', at
the end of the life of the bond, which is known as the 'maturity
date'.
Brokerage charges
A fee charged by an agent or agent's company to facilitate
transactions between buyers and sellers. The brokerage fee is
charged for services such as negotiations, sales, purchases,
delivery or advice on the transaction.
Capital gains tax
A capital gain is a profit that results from investments into a
capital asset. The most common capital gains are realised from the
sale of stocks, bonds, precious metals and property. It is the
difference between a higher selling price and a lower purchase
price, resulting in a financial gain for the investor. Capital
gains tax (CGT) is a tax charged on capital gains. Not all
countries implement a capital gains tax and most have different
rates of taxation for individuals and corporations.
CHAPS
The Clearing House Automated Payment System (CHAPS) offers same-day
sterling fund transfers. A CHAPS transfer is initiated by the
sender to move money to the recipient's account (at another banking
institution) where the funds need to be available (cleared) the
same working day.
Collective investments
A collective (or pooled) investment is where a group of people pool
their money into a fund, which is then invested in one or more
asset classes by a fund manager.
Commodities
Basic raw materials and foodstuffs such as metals (gold, copper
etc), petroleum/oil, coffee, grain etc.
Composite
A composite is a group of portfolios managed to the same strategy,
weighted according to their value. Banking institutions must use
composite performance in order to present a fair and complete
picture of that institution's investment performance.
Custody
This is where a bank would hold the client's property in
safekeeping (as provided by a written agreement), collects
dividends and interest payments, and sells or delivers securities
when instructed.
Discretionary investment management
The engagement of an investment adviser who has complete discretion
(often within prescribed limits and agreed risk profiles) to manage
and invest your capital without reference to you other than at
agreed reporting dates. Also called discretionary management.
Diversification
Diversification in finance means reducing risk by investing in a
variety of assets. The simplest example of diversification is
provided by the proverb "don't put all your eggs in one basket".
Dropping the basket will break all the eggs. Placing each egg in a
different basket is more diversified.
Domicile
An individual acquires a domicile of origin, which is usually the
same as that of his or her father. If you were born in the UK and
it is your permanent and natural home it is generally the case that
your domicile is the UK. Your domicile can be displaced by a new
domicile of choice but that will only happen if you abandon your
domicile of origin. Not only does that mean moving to another
country but you also have to intend to live there permanently and
sever most of your links with your original country of
domicile.
Exchange-traded fund (ETF)
An ETF is an investment fund traded on stock exchanges, much like
stocks. An ETF holds assets such as stocks, commodities or bonds.
Most ETFs track an index.
Equities
Also called stocks, equities represent ownership rights in a
company. The 'stockholder' is entitled to a share in the company's
profits, some of which may be paid out as a dividend.
Execution only
A broker who buys and sells shares on the instructions of clients
but who offers no advice about what to buy and sell. Self-directed
investors who want to make their own decisions are most suited to
this service. Investors who want advice will need to use the
services of an advisory or discretionary
broker/manager.
Fiduciary
An individual, corporation or association holding assets for
another party, often with the legal authority and duty to make
decisions regarding financial matters on behalf of the other party
and entrusted to manage their assets and interests
(preserve/maintain that persons wealth).
Fund
A fund is made up of a variety of different types of investment.
One buys a share in a (investment) fund, you don't buy the
shares/asset directly. The major benefit of funds is that your
investment can be spread over a wide range of assets, which in turn
can reduce the risk.
Gross interest
The rate of interest before any deductions of tax applicable to
interest on savings accounts.
Hedge funds
A (typically) aggressively managed portfolio of investments that
uses advanced investment strategies with the goal of generating
high returns.
IBAN
The International Bank Account Number (IBAN) is an international
standard for identifying bank accounts across national borders. It
is a series of letters and numbers that uniquely identifies a
customer's bank account. It consists of an alphabetical country
code, followed by two digits, and up to thirty alphanumeric
characters for the bank account number. This only applies to the
majority of European countries.
Index
A stock market index is a method of measuring a section of the
stock market. Many indices are cited by news or financial services
firms and are used as benchmarks, to measure the performance of
portfolios. Examples include the FTSE 100 and S&P 500.
Indices
A plural of index. See index above.
Index-tracking funds
An index-tracking fund aims to replicate the movements of an index
of a specific financial market, regardless of market
conditions.
Leverage
Leverage (also known as gearing) refers to the use of debt to
supplement investment.
A common way to attain leverage is by borrowing money.
LIBID
The London Interbank Bid Rate (LIBID) is the rate at which a bank
is willing to borrow from other banks, ie, the rate charged by one
bank to another for a deposit.
LIBOR
The London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) is the rate at which
banks lend to other banks in the London wholesale money market (or
interbank market).
Liquidity
Liquidity is an asset's ability to be sold/converted to cash
without causing a significant movement in the price and with
minimum loss of value.
Mandate
A mandate is a binding obligation, the instructions of which an
organisation / financial institution is bound to follow.
Net interest
The rate of interest payable after the deduction of UK income tax
at the rate specified by law, currently 20%. Higher tax rate payers
will have an additional liability.
Nominee
A person or company nominated by another to hold shares on their
behalf. The most common use of nominee accounts is where
execution-only brokers act as nominees for their clients. The
shares are registered in the name of the broker, but the client has
beneficial ownership of them.
Passive fund management / Passive
investing
A strategy in which a fund manager makes as few portfolio decisions
as possible. One popular method is to mimic the performance of an
external benchmark index, hence passive investing is taken to be
synonymous with index-tracking.
Platform
An investment platform enables investors to consolidate their
portfolio under one administrative umbrella. Rather than holding
many separate investments with different fund managers and brokers,
through a platform investors are able to invest in different
managed funds or direct investments with online access. Transacting
on the account is centralised and consolidated reporting is
provided.
Portfolio
A collection of investments held by or for an individual,
corporation, fund or trust. Normally the portfolio will have
predetermined objectives, such as capital growth or income
generation and encompass tailored requirements to match the
client's specific profile.
QROPS (Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension
Schemes)
An overseas pension scheme that one may transfer to, from a UK
pension scheme, if it satisfies certain HMRC requirements.
Residence / Residency
A person usually has legal residence in one location or
jurisdiction or may choose to establish residence in a particular
jurisdiction, sometimes for reasons of tax. The UK and some other
countries have the concept of 'tax residence', ie, a country of
residence for purposes of taxation. In the UK, presence in a
country for more than 183 days in any one year is enough to
constitute residence for taxation purposes.
Risk
Financial risk is normally any risk associated with any form of
financing. Risk is the probability of an unfavorable condition/s;
in the financial sector it is the probability of actual return
being less than expected return.
Risk-adjusted returns
A measure of how much an investment returned in relation to the
amount of risk it took on. Often used to compare different kinds of
investment that involve different levels of risk.
SIPP
A Self-Invested Personal Pension is a specific type of personal
pension which offers a wide choice of assets in which to invest,
including stocks and shares, commercial property and cash, amongst
others. SIPPs typically allow you to take full, active control of
the underlying assets, or to appoint a discretionary investment
manager to do this on your behalf.
Sovereign debt
This is the debt of a country's government. A government borrows
money from investors, who are prepared to buy its bonds (called
'gilts' in the UK).
Standard deviation
Standard deviation is a widely used measurement of variability or
diversity used in statistics and probability theory. It shows how
much variation or 'dispersion' there is from the 'average'. It is
the degree of uncertainty of returns on an asset.
Structured deposit
A structured deposit's return is dependent on the performance of
some underlying financial instrument. Typical financial instruments
linked to such deposits include market indices, equities, interest
rates, fixed-income instruments, foreign exchange or a combination
of these.
SWIFT
Also known as TT
(telegraphic transfer). Society for Worldwide Interbank
Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) is an international system for
paying by credit transfer. A SWIFT payment is a payment from one
bank account to another using the SWIFT system and this can take up
to three working days for payments to clear.
Tactical asset allocation
An active management portfolio strategy that rebalances the
percentage (allocation) of assets held in various categories in
order to take advantage of market pricing anomalies or strong
market sectors.
Toxic assets
Assets that have significantly declined in value, which no one will
no longer buy. Toxic assets are highly risky, usually
overleveraged, backed by other assets of dubious value, difficult
to value, and therefore difficult to sell.
Trust
An arrangement which empowers one or more people (the trustees) to
safeguard and administer the assets such as property and money of
another person or people (the beneficiaries).
Trustee
A person appointed to manage and safeguard the assets of a
trust.
TT (telegraphic transfer)
Also known as 'SWIFT'. A
TT payment is a payment from one bank account to another and this
can take up to three working days for payments to clear.
Unit trusts
Unit trusts are collective funds that allow private investors to
pool their money in a single fund.
Volatility
(Also known as Standard Deviation). Often defined
as the Standard Deviation of the return on total investment. It is
the degree of uncertainty of returns on an asset.
Wrap product
A wrap account is a means of packaging financial assets into one
account or platform. Our Focus account is a 'wrapped' account. See
also 'Platform'.
Yield
The annual dividend or income on an investment expressed as a
percentage of a purchase price.