Glossary
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ABS — An abbreviation of 'Asset-Backed Security'.
Absolute Return — The returns to an investment expressed without reference to a benchmark return. An investment fund may be described as an “absolute return fund” if its objective is to generate a positive return, rather than to generate a return in excess of a stated benchmark.
Accumulating Class — Any share class which accumulates all net investment income and net realised capital gains and does not declare dividends.
Active Spread Duration — Active spread duration is the difference between the spread duration of a portfolio and that of its benchmark. Spread duration is the sensitivity of the price of a security to changes in its credit spread. The credit spread is the difference between the yield of a security and the yield of a benchmark rate, such as a cash interest rate or government bond yield.
Active Spread Duration Contribution — Active spread duration is the difference between the spread duration contribution from a particular security or market segment to a portfolio, and the contribution to the portfolio's benchmark. Spread duration contribution equals the spread duration of a security or market segment multiplied by the size of the allocation to it.
ADR — An American Depositary Receipt (ADR) is a negotiable security that represents securities of a non-U.S. company that trades in the U.S. financial markets.
AED — The lawful currency of the United Arab Emirates.
AFN — The lawful currency of Afghanistan.
Agency Pass-through — A security that collects payments from an intermediary that in turn receives payments from a pool of assets, such as mortgages, which are guaranteed by a government agency.
ALL — The lawful currency of Albania.
Alpha — The risk-adjusted excess return on an investment in the Fund compared to the benchmark.
Alternative Investment Strategies — Broadly defined, an investment that is not one of the three traditional asset types (stocks, bonds and cash). Alternative investment strategies typically operate in private, unlisted markets, or have the ability to use leverage, shorting, and active risk management in pursuit of returns that are lowly correlated with traditional asset types.
Alternative Risk Premia — A source of return that compensates for taking an investment risk that cannot be diversified away, and which is not one of the "traditional" investment risks (market risk, equity risk, credit risk, interest-rate risk, inflation risk). Examples of alternative risks are value, momentum, carry and volatility.
AMD — The lawful currency of Armenia.
Annual Report — The yearly audited record of a corporation or a mutual fund's condition and performance that is distributed to shareholders.
Annualised — A procedure where figures covering a period of less than one year or more than one year are extrapolated or averaged to present a figure for a 12-month period. Typically used to express return or volatility/standard deviation data.
AOA — The lawful currency of Angola.
Appreciation — The increase in value of a financial asset.
ARS — The lawful currency of Argentina.
Asset Allocation — The process of dividing investments among different regions, countries, asset classes, or other investment sectors in order to diversify risk and meet investment objectives.
Asset Class — A group of securities that share similar characteristics and behave similarly in the marketplace. The most common asset classes are stocks, bonds and cash equivalents. Asset classes are generally governed by the same rules and regulations.
Asset Class Attribution — Part of the portfolio's total return that is attributed to the portfolio manager's allocation to an asset class.
Asset-Backed Security — A security that is backed by a loan, lease or receivables against assets other than real estate and mortgage-backed securities.
AUD — The lawful currency of the Australia.
AUM / Portfolio Assets — Assets Under Management.
Average Credit Quality — A weighted average of the credit ratings of all of the bonds in the portfolio.
Average Duration (years) — The mean average duration of a portfolio of bonds or loans. Duration is a measure of the sensitivity of the price of a bond or loan to changes in its interest rate.
Average Monthly Return (%) — The mean average of all the calendar-month returns over the life of a fund.
AWG — The lawful currency of Aruba.
AZN — The lawful currency of Azerbaijan.
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BAM — The lawful currency of Bosnia And Herzegovina.
Bank Loans — An amount of money loaned at interest by a bank to a borrower, usually on collateral security, for a certain period of time.
Base Currency — The currency in which the net asset value of each portfolio is evaluated.
BBD — The lawful currency of Barbados.
BDT — The lawful currency of Bangladesh.
Benchmark (Bmrk) — An index that is used to compare the performance of a fund, or that is used with the purpose of tracking the return of such index, or that is used to define the asset allocation of a portfolio or to calculate performance fees.
Beta — A measure of the correlation and volatility of a portfolio relative to a benchmark based on historical returns. The beta of the benchmark will always be 1. For example, a portfolio with a beta above the benchmark (as in, more than 1) indicates that the portfolio has greater volatility than the benchmark and would be expected to outperform in up markets and expected to underperform in down markets.
BGN — The lawful currency of Bulgaria.
BHD — The lawful currency of Bahrain.
BIF — The lawful currency of Burundi.
Bloomberg — Is a major global provider of 24-hour financial news and information, including real-time and historic price data, financials data, trading news and analyst coverage.
BMD — The lawful currency of Bermuda.
BND — The lawful currency of Brunei Darussalam.
BOB — The lawful currency of Bolivia.
Bond — A bond acts like a loan or an I.O.U that is issued by a corporation, municipality or the U.S. government. The issuer promises to repay the full amount of the loan on a specific date and pay a specified rate of return for the use of the money to the investor at specific time intervals.
Bond Fund — A mutual fund that invests exclusively in bonds.
Bottom-up Analysis — A bottom-up investing approach focuses on the analysis of individual bonds and equities, and the businesses of the companies that issue them. The focus is on data specific to the issuing companies rather than on the industry in which it operates, or on the economy as a whole.
Bps — Basis point (Bps) refers to a unit of measure for interest rates and other percentages in finance. One basis point is equal to 1/100th of 1%, or 0.01% (0.0001).
BRL — The lawful currency of Brazil.
Broad-Based Indexes — An index designed to reflect the movement of the entire market.
BSD — The lawful currency of the Bahamas.
BTN — The lawful currency of Bhutan.
Buyout — The acquisition of a controlling interest in a company and is used synonymously with the term acquisition.
BWP — The lawful currency of Botswana.
BYR — The lawful currency of Belarus.
BZD — The lawful currency of Belize.
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CAD — The lawful currency of Canada.
Capital — Funds that are used to generate income or make an investment. Companies raise capital from investors by selling stocks and bonds and use the money to expand, make acquisitions, or otherwise build the business. The term "capital markets" refers to the physical and electronic environments where this capital is raised, either through public offerings or private placements.
Capital Gain — The difference between a security's purchase price and its selling price, when the difference is positive.
Carry — Carry is the cost (or gain) that accrues from holding any investment, independent of movements in its price. It can also refer to the premium paid (or received) for assuming the risk of holding an investment. A "carry trade" is a trade with two legs, in which the investor sells or borrows an asset with low carry in order to buy or lend an asset with high carry, earning the spread between the two.
Cash Equivalent — A short-term money-market instrument, such as a Treasury bill or repurchase agreement, of such high liquidity and safety that it is easily converted into cash.
CBOE Russell 2000 PutWrite Index (PUTR) — Is designed to represent a proposed hypothetical short put strategy that sells a monthly at-the money (ATM) Russell 2000 Index put option. The written Russell 2000 put option is collateralised by a money market account invested in one-month Treasury bills.
CBOE S&P 500 PutWrite Index (PUT) — Is designed to represent a proposed hypothetical short put strategy. PUT is an award-winning benchmark index that measures the performance of a hypothetical portfolio that sells S&P 500 Index put options against collateralised cash reserves held in a money market account. The PUT strategy is designed to sell a sequence of one-month, at the-money, S&P 500 Index puts and invest cash at one and three-month Treasury Bill rates.
CDF — The lawful currency of the Democratic Republic Of The Congo.
CHF — The lawful currency of Switzerland.
CLP — The lawful currency of Chile.
CMBS — An abbreviation for 'Commercial mortgage-backed securities', which are a type of mortgage-backed security that is secured by mortgages on commercial properties, instead of residential real estate.
CNY — Chinese Yuan Renminbi, the lawful currency of the People's Republic of China.
Collateral — A property or other asset that a borrower offers as a way for a lender to secure the loan. If the borrower stops making the promised loan payments, the lender can seize the collateral to recoup its losses. A loan that is secured in this way is "collateralised".
Commodities — A basic good used in commerce or manufacturing that is interchangeable with other commodities of the same type; commodities are most often used as inputs in the production of other goods or services, and examples include oil, copper, steel, wheat and gold.
Common Stock — Securities issued by corporations that represent ownership rights in that corporation, and which are distinct from "preferred stock", which are higher in the corporation's capital structure and offer a prior claim on the corporation's assets.
Compound — Compounding is the process whereby, over time, the growth of the dollar value of an investment exceeds that implied by the annual percentage growth rate, because the annual percentage growth rate acts upon not only the investment principal, but on the principal plus any subsequent returns. The same process means that the negative growth of the dollar value of an investment will be less than that implied by a negative annual percentage growth rate.
Consumer Discretionary — The sector of the economy representing businesses that produce goods and services which are considered non-essential by consumers, but desirable if their available income is sufficient to purchase them.
Consumer Staples — The sector of the economy representing businesses that produce goods and services which are considered essential by consumers and are unable or unwilling to cut out of their budgets regardless of their financial situation.
Contingent Deferred Sales Charge (CDSC) — A back-end sales charge imposed when shares are redeemed from a fund. This fee usually declines over time.
COP — The lawful currency of Colombia.
Corporate Bond — A bond issued by a corporation to raise outside capital.
Corporate Hybrid Bonds — Corporate hybrid bonds are structured securities which combine characteristics of both equities and bonds.
Corporates — Bonds issued by a corporation.
Correlation — The probability, based on a historical relationship, that the price of one security will move in the same direction as another security or a benchmark, over a particular period (typically one month). "Correlation risk" refers to the risk that the realised correlation between one asset and another could differ from that implied by the historical relationship.
Country Allocations — The total investments in the portfolio categorised by country.
Coupon — The periodic interest payments made by the issuer of a bond to an investor.
Co-investments — Traditionally, private equity investing is undertaken through commitments to a private equity fund that invests in companies, with due diligence performed by a single manager or general partner. Co-investments provide direct private equity exposure into companies alongside different private equity funds and managers, diversifying manager exposure.
Committed Capital — Money committed by limited partners is not invested immediately, it is drawn down over time as investments are identified. Drawdowns or capital calls are issued when a portion of the limited partner's committed capital is required to pay for that investment.
CRC — The lawful currency of Costa Rica.
Credit — Debt issued by non-government, non-agency and non-municipal entities.
Credit rating / Credit Quality — A rating assigned by an agency such as Moody's, Standard & Poor's, Fitch Ratings or others to a bond or loan, or an issuer of bonds or loans, which conveys the agency's assessment of the bond or issuer's probability of default. These ratings typically have letter designations (such as AAA, B, CC). "Credit quality" is often used synonymously to describe a bond or loan, an issuer, or a portfolio of bonds or loans.
CRTs — Securities, insurance contracts and other arrangements initiated by the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency as part of its Credit Risk Transfer program for U.S. government mortgage agencies.
CUC — The lawful currency of Cuba.
Cumulative Performance — The returns generated by an investment over an entire specified period, as opposed to the performance of an investment over each discrete period of, for example, one month, one quarter or one year.
Currency Derivatives — A derivative is a security with a price that is dependent upon or derived from one or more underlying assets. A currency derivative is a derivative whose underlying asset(s) are foreign exchange rates.
Currency Risk — The risk that the price of one currency relative to another may change. This risk is assumed by an investor that holds a security denominated in a different currency from its own "base" currency. Also referred to as "foreign-exchange" or "exchange-rate" risk.
Current Portfolio Yield (%) — Current Portfolio Yield is a market-value weighted average of the current yields of the holdings in the portfolio, calculated as the coupon (base rate plus spread) divided by current price. The measure is used to compare portfolios' estimated short-term returns, as opposed to their estimated returns over the longer term or until maturity.
Custodian — A bank that holds a mutual fund's assets, settles all portfolio trades and collects most of the valuation data required to calculate a fund's net asset value (NAV).
CVE — The lawful currency of Cabo Verde.
CZK — The lawful currency of the Czech Republic.
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Debt Securities — A debt instrument, such as a government bond, corporate bond, certificate of deposit (CD), municipal bond or preferred stock, that can be bought or sold between two parties and has basic terms defined, such as notional amount (amount borrowed), interest rate, and maturity and renewal date.
Default — Failure of a debtor to make timely payments of interest or principal as they come due, or to meet some other provision of a bond indenture.
Delta Adjusted Exposure — The amount of simple market exposure, usually expressed as a percentage of total fund assets, that a fund has, without any adjustment for the relative riskiness of the positions held (which would be measured as, for example, "beta-adjusted" exposure). "Gross exposure" is calculated by summing both long positions and short positions. This may be greater than 100% of total fund assets because long positions may be financed with leverage or by owning derivative instruments whose notional exposure is greater than the capital allocated as collateral against them, and because short positions are created either by borrowing (rather than owning) securities or by owning derivative instruments whose notional exposure is greater than the capital allocated as collateral against them. "Net exposure" is calculated by subtracting the fund's short positions from its long positions.
Discretionary Investment Process — An investment decision process that is based off a portfolio manager's judgement, as opposed to computer-derived inputs or signals, or strict rules.
Distributed Capital — Realised capital distributed to a limited partner.
Distributing Class — Any share class which declares dividends.
Diversification — The process of owning different investments that tend to perform well at different times in order to reduce the effects of volatility in a portfolio, and also increase the potential for increasing returns.
Dividend — A dividend is a portion of a company's profit paid to common and preferred shareholders. Companies are not required to pay dividends.
Dividend Yield — The annual percentage return earned by a fund from company dividends, calculated by dividing the amount of the annual dividends per share by the current net asset value or public offering price.
DJF — The lawful currency of Djibouti.
DKK — The lawful currency of Denmark.
Domestic Chinese A Shares — Shares of companies incorporated in mainland China and traded in Shanghai or Shenzhen, quoted in Chinese Renminbi (RMB).
Domestic Chinese B Shares — Shares of companies incorporated in mainland China and traded in Shanghai or Shenzhen, quoted in a foreign currency.
Domicile — The geographical location where a fund is incorporated.
DOP — The lawful currency of the Dominican Republic.
DPI (Distributed Capital/Paid in Capital) — Realised capital divided by paid in capital.
Duration — A measure of the sensitivity of the price of a bond or loan to changes in its interest rate, given in years. Longer duration indicates greater sensitivity. "Modified" duration makes no adjustments to take account of changes to the bond's expected cash flows in response to changes in yield, and is often used to assess securities with no options, such as government bonds. "Effective" duration is a calculation that includes an option-pricing model to account for embedded options, such as an option for the issuer to make an early repayment of principal, or an option for the holder to demand early principal repayment, by including. This measure of duration takes into account the fact that expected cash flows will fluctuate as interest rates change.
Duration Distribution — The portfolio's allocation to different groups of bonds, where those groups are determined by the bonds' durations. Duration is a measure of the sensitivity of the price of a bond or loan to changes in its interest rate.
Dry Powder — A euphemism that primarily refers to the cash reserves maintained to cover any financial obligations during times of economic stress.
DZD — The lawful currency of Algeria.
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EGP — The lawful currency of Egypt.
EMD — Abbreviation for 'Emerging Market Debt'.
Emerging Markets — Countries whose financial markets are progressing toward becoming advanced, as shown by some liquidity in local debt and equity markets and the existence of some form of market exchange and regulatory body. Typically, these markets are more advanced than Frontier Markets, but less advanced than Developed Markets.
Eligible Retail Investor — Retail investors who are eligible according to the ELTIF regulation. The distributors are in charge of the marketing of the Fund to retail investors and of the verification of the investors’ eligibility according to ELTIF regulation and the prospectus.
ELTIF (European Long-Term Investment Fund) — A European fund which allows investors to put capital into companies and projects that need long-term capital.
EPS — Earnings per share: the portion of a company's profit allocated to each outstanding share of common stock.
EPS Growth — EPS growth (earnings per share growth) illustrates the growth of earnings per share over time. EPS growth rates help investors identify stocks that are increasing or decreasing in profitability. Estimated 3-5 Year EPS Growth is an estimate of how earnings per share are expected to grow in the next 3 to 5 years. There is no guarantee that the estimated EPS growth will be achieved.
Equities — Shares issued by a company which represent ownership in it as distinguished from fixed-income securities such as bonds or mortgages.
Equity Fund — A mutual fund/collective fund in which the money is invested primarily in common and/or preferred stock. Stock funds may vary, depending on the fund's investment objective.
Equity Linked Securities — Hybrid debt securities whose return is connected to an underlying equity, or derivative instruments whose price is connected to the price of an underlying equity or equity index.
Equity Market Neutral — An investment strategy that involves offsetting long and short positions in equities, such that the portfolio has little or no exposure to the movements of the equity market as a whole, and is instead exposed to more specific risks.
ERN — The lawful currency of Eritrea.
ESG — ESG represents Environmental issues, (such as the impact on natural resources), Social issues (such as human rights) and Governance, (being the way in which the company is run).
ETB — The lawful currency of Ethiopia.
ETFs — An abbreviation for 'Exchange-traded funds', which are marketable security that tracks an index, a commodity, bonds, or a basket of assets like an index fund. Unlike mutual funds, an ETF trades like a common stock on a stock exchange.
Euro, EUR or € — The single currency of participating member states of the European Monetary Union introduced on 1 January 1999.
European Event Driven & Equity Long/Short — Hedge fund strategies that position for corporate events such as mergers, acquisitions or financial distress in European stocks, and which trade long and short positions in European stocks.
Event Driven — An investment strategy that seeks to exploit pricing inefficiencies that may occur before or after a corporate event, such as a bankruptcy, merger, acquisition or spinoff.
Excess Return — Investment returns from a security or portfolio that exceed a benchmark or index.
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Financial Derivative Instruments (FDI) — Financial instruments that are linked to some other specific financial instrument or indicator or commodity, and through which specific financial risks can be traded in financial markets in their own right; their value derives from the price or level of the underlying asset or indicator. Examples include futures, options and swaps contracts.
Fixed Income — Describes an asset that makes a regular payment at a pre-defined level until maturity. Typically refers to bonds, or funds that invest in bonds.
FJD — The lawful currency of Fiji.
FKP — The lawful currency of the Falkland Islands.
Floating Rate Income — Income generated by securities or loans that have a variable interest payment, which are usually adjusted every 30-90 days and are based on changes in widely accepted reference rates.
Forward Contracts — A customised contract between two parties to buy or sell an asset at a specified price on a future date.
Forward Price/Earnings (P/E) Ratio — This is the price of a share at a given time divided by its forecasted earnings per share for the next fiscal year. The forecasted earnings are based on consensus estimates, not Neuberger Berman’s own projections, and forecasts may or may not be realized. In addition, any revision to a forecast could affect the market price of a share. If the forward P/E ratio is higher than the current P/E ratio, it indicates decreased expected earnings.)
Free Cash Flow — Free cash flow is the cash a company generates after subtracting from its net income the investments made to maintain and expand its capital.
Free Cash Flow Yield — An evaluation measure for a stock, calculated by taking the expected free cash flow per share a company is expected to earn and dividing it by the company’s share price. It is the inverse of Price to Free Cash Flow.
Free Standing — Real estate that is not attached to another structure or part of a complex of properties such as a shopping mall or an office block.
Full Investment Cycle — The phases of investment ownership from its acquisition, management for income or profit, diminishing returns, to its sale.
Full Market Cycle — The longer-term price movements in a broader market index, including one complete uptrend and one complete downtrend. A market cycle is measured from the lowest low or highest high for a given time and is deemed finished when the prices of the index approach the starting point.
Fund — A pool of money raised from a group of investors in order to buy securities.
Fundamental Analysis — A method of evaluating a security or issuing company's intrinsic value, by examining related economic, financial and other qualitative and quantitative factors.
Fundamental Shorts — Short positions in individual stocks or sectors, premised on a view of their fundamental investment characteristics (as opposed to “Market” Shorts).
Futures Contract — A contract to buy or sell a particular commodity or financial instrument at a predetermined price at a specified time in the future.
FX — An abbreviation for 'Foreign exchange'.
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GBP — The lawful currency of the United Kingdom.
GEL — The lawful currency of Georgia.
GHS — The lawful currency of Ghana.
GIP — The lawful currency of Gibraltar.
Global Credit — Bonds and loans issued by corporations and other non-sovereign entities, selected from a universe of all, or the majority of, the world's countries, both developed and emerging markets. The universe will typically be defined by a standard Global Credit Index.
Global Govt. Bonds — Debt securities issued by a government, selected from a universe of all, or the majority, of countries around the world. The universe will typically be defined by a standard Global Government Bond Index.
Global Macro — An investment strategy that creates portfolios and trades based on broad macroeconomic views, typically comparing countries' growth, interest rate and inflation expectations, and expressed through long and short positions in equity market indices, foreign exchange, government bond and interest rate markets, and commodities.
Global Rates — Short- and long-term interest rates in global currency and government bond markets.
Global TIPS — Government-issued securities whose principal valuation is linked to an inflation index, including U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) and similar securities issued by other governments.
GMD — The lawful currency of the Gambia.
GNF — The lawful currency of Guinea.
Government Bonds — A debt security issued by a government.
Gross Exposure — The notional value exposure to market movements in an investment portfolio, expressed as a total of both its "long" positions (where securities are owned directly or via the usage of derivatives) and its synthetic "short" positions (where securities are borrowed and sold to be repurchased later). For example, a strategy that has 50% of portfolio assets in "longs" and 50% in "shorts" would have 0% net market exposure but 100% gross market exposure.
GTQ — The lawful currency of Guatemala.
GYD — The lawful currency of Guyana.
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Hard Currency — A currency widely accepted around the world as a form of payment for goods and services. Examples include the U.S. dollar and the euro.
Hedged — Describes a risk in a portfolio or from an investment holding that has been wholly or partly neutralized by holding an offsetting position in a security or derivative instrument.
High Water Mark — The highest peak in value that an investment fund or account has reached. It is often used to determine when a performance fee can be charged to a fund investor.
High Yield — A security or asset, usually a bond or loan, that has received a rating below BBB-/Baa3, or has not received a rating from a nationally recognised statistical rating organisation (NRSO). Sometimes referred to as "speculative-grade", "non-investment grade" or "junk" bonds or loans.
HKD — The lawful currency of Hong Kong.
HNL — The lawful currency of Honduras.
Hong Kong (H Shares) — Shares of a company incorporated in the Chinese mainland that is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange or other foreign exchange.
Hong Kong (Red Chips) — A company based in Mainland China that is incorporated internationally and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
HRK — The lawful currency of Croatia.
HTG — The lawful currency of Haiti.
HUF — The lawful currency of Hungary.
Hybrid Financial Capital - Global — Bond-like securities that are considered to contribute to an issuer’s equity capital because they have equity-like characteristics, such as perpetual or very long maturity and issuer discretion to defer coupon payments.
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IDR — The lawful currency of Indonesia.
ILS — The lawful currency of Israel.
Inception Date — The date on which the fund is launched.
Index — An investment index tracks the performance of many investments as a way of measuring the overall performance of a particular investment type or category. The S&P 500 is widely considered the benchmark for large-stock investors. It tracks the performance of 500 large U.S. company stocks.
Index Allocations — The percentage of the portfolio allocated to instruments that track specified indices.
Index Products — An investment product constructed to match or track the components of a market index.
Indices — More than one index.
Inflation — A rise in the prices of goods and services, often equated with loss of purchasing power.
Information Ratio — The expected active return, relative to its benchmark of reference, of an investment strategy (Alpha) divided by its tracking error. This is a measure of the efficiency with which an investment strategy takes risk against its benchmark.
Initial Sales Charge (Max) — The maximum amount that an investor in an investment fund may be required to pay when investing in the fund, expressed as a percentage of the value of the investment.
INR — The lawful currency of India.
Interest Rate — The fixed amount of money that an issuer agrees to pay the bondholders. It is most often a percentage of the face value of the bond. Interest rates constitute one of the self-regulating mechanisms of the market, falling in response to economic weakness and rising on strength.
Interest-Rate Risk — The possibility of a change in the value of a security, especially a bond, resulting from a rise in interest rates.
Investment Advisor — An organization employed by a mutual fund to give professional advice on the fund's investments and asset management practices.
Investment Company — A corporation, trust or partnership that invests pooled shareholder dollars in securities appropriate to the organization's objective. Mutual funds, closed-end funds and unit investment trusts are the three types of investment companies.
Investment Grade — A security or asset, usually a bond or loan, that has received a rating from a leading credit ratings agency of BBB/Baa or above.
Investment Objective — The goal of an investment fund and its shareholders, e.g. growth, income, growth and income.
IRR (Internal Rate of Return) — The annualised implied discount rate calculated from a series of investment flows. It is the return that equates to the present value of all invested capital in an investment to the present value of all returns, or the discount rate that will provide a net present value of all cash flows equal to zero. IRRs are most accurately calculated based on daily investment flows and a residual value. The residual value used in all IRR calculations in this report is measured using the Net Asset Value (”NAV”) of the assets underlying the respective investment flow stream at the beginning or end of any respective period being measured.
ISIN — Abbreviation for 'International Securities Identification Number'. A unique international code which identifies a securities issue. Each country has a national numbering agency which assigns ISIN numbers for securities in that country.
ISK — The lawful currency of Iceland.
Issuer — A legal entity that develops, registers and sells securities to finance its operations.
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JMD — The lawful currency of Jamaica.
JOD — The lawful currency of Jordan.
JPY — The lawful currency of Japan.
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KES — The lawful currency of Kenya.
KGS — The lawful currency of Kyrgyzstan.
KHR — The lawful currency of Cambodia.
Key Information Document (KID) — A standardized, concise document that provides essential information about an investment product, aimed at helping investors understand its nature, risks, and costs.
KIID (Key Investor Information Document) — A short document that fund management companies are required to provide for investors, giving the key facts and figures about an investment fund.
KMF — The lawful currency of the Comoros.
KWD — The lawful currency of Kuwait.
KYD — The lawful currency of the Cayman Islands.
KZT — The lawful currency of Kazakhstan.
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LAK — The lawful currency of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.
Large-Cap — Describes companies and stocks whose market capitalization is greater than $10 billion.
LBP — The lawful currency of Lebanon.
Leverage — An investment technique which gives an investor a larger exposure to the returns of an asset than the amount invested. Typically takes the form of "financial leverage" (borrowing money to increase the size of the investment) or "derivative leverage" (allocating collateral against a derivative instrument that creates a larger, notional exposure to its underlying asset).
Lipper Ratings — The Lipper Mutual Fund Industry Average is the performance level of all mutual funds, as reported by Lipper Analytical Services of New York. The performance of all mutual funds is ranked quarterly and annually, by type of fund such as aggressive growth fund or income fund. Mutual fund managers try to beat the industry average as well as the other funds in their category.
Liquidity — The ability to have ready access to cash invested in a fund, or the ability to buy and sell a securities relatively quickly and cost-effectively. Many funds are sold in shares that can be redeemed for current value within a single business day.
Listing — The stock exchange on which a security or investment fund has been floated and is traded.
LKR — The lawful currency of Sri Lanka.
Loads (back-end, front-end and no-load) — Sales charges on mutual funds. A back-end load is assessed at redemption (see contingent deferred sales charge), while a front-end load is paid at the time of purchase. No-load funds are free of sales charges.
Long — Describes a portfolio, a portfolio holding or an investment strategy characterized by ownership of the security or securities, or an exposure created by a derivative instrument, whereby a profit will result if the price of the security or underlying asset rises. Distinct from a "short" portfolio, portfolio holding, exposure or investment strategy.
Long / Short Equity — An investment strategy that takes both long and short positions in equities or equity indices.
Long-term Debt to Capital — Is a ratio showing the financial leverage of a firm, calculated by dividing its long-term debt by the total amount of its equity and debt capital.
Long-Term Investment Strategy — A strategy that looks past the day-to-day fluctuations of the stock and bond markets and responds to fundamental changes in the financial markets or the economy.
LRD — The lawful currency of Liberia.
LSL — The lawful currency of Lesotho.
LYD — The lawful currency of Libya.
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MAD — The lawful currency of Morocco.
Managed Futures — An alternative investment strategy implemented mainly via futures contracts. The term describes a range of strategies encompassing very short-term trading to long-term trend following, and can be systematic or discretionary. Managed futures practitioners are sometimes referred to as "Commodity Trading Advisors" or CTAs.
Management Fee — The fixed annualised fee that an investor pays in order to have assets managed in an investment fund or by an investment manager.
Manufactured Homes — Housing that is mostly built in a factory (prefabricated) before being transported to a site for assembly.
Margin Increases — Rises in the difference between companies' revenues and the expenses required to generate that revenue.
Market Capitalization — The market value of a company, calculated by multiplying the number of shares outstanding by the price per share, or the market value of an entities' outstanding bonds.
Market Price — The current price of an asset.
"Market" Shorts — Short positions that are not in individual stocks or sectors, but in the full market or parts of the market of a specific market-capitalization range, implemented using S&P futures or Exchange Traded Funds.
Market Value (MV) — Used to describe the current value of the portfolio’s assets.
Maturity — The date upon which an asset, for example a bond or derivative, must be redeemed by its issuer. In the case of a bond, this is the date upon which the final coupon is paid and the principal is returned to investors. In the case of a derivative, this is the date upon which the contract expires.
Maturity Distribution — The breakdown of a portfolio's assets based on the time frame when the investments will mature.
Maximum Drawdown — The largest loss, measured from peak to trough until a new peak is attained, that a fund exhibits in its historical returns.
Maximum Monthly Gain — The largest gain that a fund exhibits in any discreet calendar month in its historical returns.
Maximum Monthly Loss — The largest loss that a fund exhibits in any discreet calendar month in its historical returns.
MDL — The lawful currency of the Republic of Moldova.
MEA — An abbreviation for Countries in the Middle East and Africa.
Merger Arbitrage — An investment strategy that seeks to exploit the price movements in company stocks that occur when they merge or acquire one another. Typically, the strategy will hold long positions in target companies and short positions in acquiring companies.
MGA — The lawful currency of Madagascar.
MKD — The lawful currency of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
MMK — The lawful currency of Myanmar.
MNT — The lawful currency of Mongolia.
Momentum — Momentum is the tendency of the price of a security to continue moving in one direction, up or down. It can also refer to the premium paid for assuming the risk of holding (or selling) an investment whose price has been rising (or falling), or an investment strategy that seeks to exploit that premium.
Monetary Policy — The macroeconomic policy laid down by the central bank. It involves management of the money supply and interest rates in order to influence levels of inflation, consumption, growth and liquidity.
Money Market — A market where financial instruments with high liquidity and very short maturities are traded.
Morningstar Medalist Rating — The Morningstar Medalist Rating is a forward-looking, qualitative rating that assesses a fund's ability to outperform its peers over the long term, awarded in Gold, Silver, or Bronze categories.
MOP — The lawful currency of Macao.
Mortgaged-backed Securities — A mortgage-backed security (MBS) is an asset-backed security that is secured via a mortgage or collection of mortgages.
Morningstar Category — A category introduced by Morningstar which is assigned to a fund based on its underlying securities.
Morningstar Rating — A measure of a fund's risk-adjusted return, relative to similar funds, calculated by Morningstar. Funds are rated from 1 to 5 stars, with the best performers receiving 5 stars and the worst performers receiving a single star.
MRO — The lawful currency of Mauritania.
MSCI All Country World Index (Net) — The MSCI All Country World Index (Net) is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index that is designed to measure the equity market performance of developed and emerging markets. The index consists of 47 country indexes comprising 23 developed and 24 emerging market country indexes. The developed market country indexes included are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. The emerging market country indexes included are: Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Russia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and the UAE. China A shares are included starting from June 1, 2018 and are partially represented at 5% of their free float-adjusted market capitalization. Net total return indexes reinvest dividends after the deduction of withholding taxes, using (for international indexes) a tax rate applicable to non-resident institutional investors who do not benefit from double taxation treaties.
MSCI China Index (Net) — The MSCI China Index (Net) is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index that is designed to measure the equity market performance of Chinese securities readily accessible to nondomestic investors. The index includes equity securities issued by companies incorporated in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”), and listed in the form of China B shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (in US$) or Shenzhen Stock Exchange (in HK$), or China H shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (in HK$) and other foreign exchanges. It also includes Red-Chips and P-Chips, which are not incorporated in the PRC and are listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Red-Chips include companies that are directly or indirectly controlled by organizations or enterprises that are owned by the state, provinces, or municipalities of the PRC. P-Chips include non-state-owned Chinese companies incorporated outside the mainland and traded in Hong Kong. U.S.-listed China stocks are also included in the index. China A shares are included starting from June 1, 2018 and are partially represented at 5% of their free float-adjusted market capitalization. Net total return indexes reinvest dividends after the deduction of withholding taxes, using (for international indexes) a tax rate applicable to non-resident institutional investors who do not benefit from double taxation treaties.
MSCI EAFE Index — Is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index that is designed to measure the equity market performance of developed markets, excluding the US & Canada. As of November 27, 2013, the MSCI EAFE Index consists of the following 21 developed market country indices: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (Net) — The MSCI Emerging Markets Index (Net) is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index that is designed to measure the equity market performance of emerging markets. The index consists of the following 24 emerging market country indexes: Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Russia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and the UAE. China A shares are included starting from June 1, 2018 and are partially represented at 5% of their free float-adjusted market capitalization. Net total return indexes reinvest dividends after the deduction of withholding taxes, using (for international indexes) a tax rate applicable to non-resident institutional investors who do not benefit from double taxation treaties.
Multi Cap — Investment opportunities in stocks across multiple market capitalisations.
Multi-Asset — An investment strategy that invests in more than one type of asset class.
Municipal Bonds — A security issued by a state, municipality or county.
MUR — The lawful currency of Mauritius.
MV — An abbreviation of 'Market Value'.
MVR — The lawful currency of Maldives.
MWK — The lawful currency of Malawi.
MXN — The lawful currency of Mexico.
MYR — The lawful currency of Malaysia.
MZN — The lawful currency of Mozambique.
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NAD — The lawful currency of Namibia.
NAV (Net Asset Value) — The net asset value of a portfolio.
Net Asset Value per Share (NAV) — The current value of a single investment fund share; also known as share price. The fund's NAV is calculated daily by taking the fund's total assets, subtracting the fund's liabilities, and dividing by the number of shares outstanding. The NAV does not include the sales charge. The process of calculating the NAV is called pricing.
Net Exposure — The notional value exposure to market movements in an investment portfolio, expressed as its "long" positions (where securities are owned) minus its "short" positions (where securities are borrowed and sold to be repurchased later).
Net Long Exposure ex FX — The amount of exposure, usually expressed as a percentage of total fund assets, that a fund has through its long positions, without counting additional foreign-exchange exposure that may be created when those positions are denominated in foreign currencies. This may be greater than 100% of total fund assets because long positions may be financed with leverage or by owning derivative instruments whose notional exposure is greater than the capital allocated as collateral against them.
Net Short Exposure ex FX — The amount of exposure, usually expressed as a percentage of total fund assets, that a fund has through its short positions, without counting additional foreign-exchange exposure that may be created when those positions are denominated in foreign currencies. This may be greater than 100% of total fund assets because short positions are created by borrowing (rather than owning) securities, or by owning derivative instruments whose notional exposure is greater than the capital allocated as collateral against them.
Net Unsettled Positions — Reflect a strategy’s trades pending settlement.
Next Generation Mobility — Refers to the proliferation of autonomous, electrical and connected vehicles in relation to the movement of people and goods.
NGN — The lawful currency of Nigeria.
NIO — The lawful currency of Nicaragua.
NOK — The lawful currency of Norway.
Non-Agency MBS/CMOs — A mortgage-backed security (MBS) that is not guaranteed by the U.S. government or any government-sponsored agency.
Non-Agency RMBS — Securitisations of residential mortgages from across the U.S. that have not been created and marketed by one of the Federal Government's mortgage agencies.
Non-Investment Grade — A security or asset, usually a bond or loan, that has received a rating below BBB/Baa, or has not received a rating from a nationally recognised statistical rating organisation (NRSO). Sometimes referred to as "speculative-grade", "high yield" or "junk" bonds or loans.
Notional Percentage of Collateral — The notional value of options (strike price x contracts x multiplier) divided by total collateral Investments.
NPR — The lawful currency of Nepal.
NRSO — Nationally Recognised Statistical Rating Organisation.
Number of Holdings — Total number of individual securities in a fund or portfolio.
NV (Notional Value) — The total underlying asset value of an exposure implemented, or part implemented, using derivative instruments, given the current spot price of the underlying assets. A large total asset value exposure to markets can be created with a relatively small allocation of cash collateral against a derivative contract. The true size of the exposure is therefore better represented by this leveraged notional value than by the value of the cash allocation.
NZD — The lawful currency of New Zealand.
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OAS (bps) — The "Option-Adjusted-Spread" ("OAS") is the difference, in basis points ("bps"), between the yield of an asset and the yield of a benchmark rate such as the risk free rate cash index, adjusted to take account of the value of options embedded in that asset. Some bonds and loans, for example, give the issuer the option to "call" the security earlier than the maturity date (in other words, to redeem and repay the principal value to the investor early).
Obligors — Also known as a debtor, is a person or entity who is legally or contractually obliged to provide a benefit or payment to another.
OMR — The lawful currency of Oman.
Ongoing Charge Figure (OCF) — The ongoing charge figure represents the annual costs of a fund, and it includes the ongoing costs of running the fund, such as operating costs, management costs, administration costs, distribution costs and transaction costs incurred as a result of buying or selling investments. The ongoing charge figure does not include one-off costs such as entry or exit charges and performance fees. The ongoing charge figure replaced the Total Expense Ratio (TER).
Option — A financial derivative written by one party and held by another. The contract offers the holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy (if it is a call option) or sell (if it is a put option) a security or other financial asset at an agreed-upon price (the strike price) during a certain period of time or on a specific date (exercise date).
Option Strategies — An investment strategy utilising the buying and selling of options.
OTC Derivatives — An abbreviation for 'Over-The-Counter derivatives', which are private contracts that are traded between two parties without going through an exchange or other intermediaries.
Overweight Allocations — Portfolio allocations to securities or sectors that have a greater weight than they do in the benchmark index.
Overweight Security Holdings — Portfolio allocations to securities that have a greater weight than they do in the benchmark index.
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PAB — The lawful currency of Panama.
Paid In Capital — The amount of capital that has been called or drawn down.
Par Value — Par value is the amount originally paid for a bond and the amount that will be repaid at maturity. Bonds are typically sold in multiples of $1,000.
Paying Agent — An institution, usually an investment bank, that accepts funds from the issuer of a security and distributes them to that security's holders.
PEN — The lawful currency of Peru.
PGK — The lawful currency of Papua New Guinea.
PHP — The lawful currency of the Philippines.
PKR — The lawful currency of Pakistan.
PLN — The lawful currency of Poland.
Portfolio — A collection of investments owned by one organization or individual, and managed as a collective whole with specific investment goals in mind.
Portfolio Allocation — Amount of assets in a portfolio specifically designated for a certain type of investment.
Portfolio Assets / AUM — Assets Under Management.
Portfolio Ending Active Share — Measures the percentage of the stock holdings in a manager's portfolio that differs from the benchmark index.
Portfolio Holdings — Investments included in a portfolio.
Portfolio Manager — The person or entity responsible for making investment decisions of the portfolio to meet the specific investment objective or goal of the portfolio.
Portfolio Price — The weighted average of the market prices of securities held in a portfolio. Typically used for bond portfolios.
Portfolio Yield — The expected income return from an investment portfolio expressed annually as a percentage.
Preferred Stock — A class of stock with a fixed dividend that has preference over a company's common stock in the payment of dividends and the liquidation of assets. There are several kinds of preferred stock, among them adjustable-rate and convertible.
Preferred Credit — A financial obligation that is considered more important than–or takes priority over other types of debt. This form of debt obligation typically has to be paid first because it carries more significance than other types of debt.
Premium — The amount by which a bond or stock sells above its par value.
Price / Earnings — The price to earnings ratio is the measure of the share price relative to the annual net income earned by the firm per share.
Price / Funds From Operation — A valuation metric commonly applied to Real Estate Investment Trusts, which compares the market price of the REIT with its cash flow from operations, calculated by adding depreciation and amortization to earnings and then subtracting gains on sales.
Price to Free Cash Flow — An evaluation measure for a stock, calculated by taking a company’s share price and dividing it by the expected free cash flow per share it is expected to earn. It is the inverse of Free Cash Flow Yield.
Price / Sales — A company's share price divided by its sales revenue per share. An alternative method to price/earnings ratio for valuing a stock.
Price Volatility — The price fluctuation of an investment or security, typically expressed as its standard deviation.
Price-to-Book — The price per share of a stock divided by its book value (net worth) per share. For a stock portfolio, the ratio is the weighted average price-to-book ratio of the stocks it holds.
Primaries / Primary Investments — Refers to investment commitments into the Private Equity Funds of third party Managers at inception of those funds.
Principal — The original sum of money put into an investment.
Prospectus — A formal written offer to sell securities that sets forth the plan for proposed business enterprise or the facts concerning an existing one that an investor needs to make an informed decision. A Prospectus also contains information such as the history, background of managers, fund objectives and policies, financial statement, risks, services and fees.
Publicly Traded Shares — Shares that are traded on at least one stock exchange or the over-the-counter market.
Put Options — An option contract giving the owner the right, but not the obligation, to sell a specified amount of an underlying security at a specified price within a specified time.
PYG — The lawful currency of Paraguay.
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QAR — The lawful currency of Qatar.
Quasi-Sovereign — Quasi-sovereign bond issuers include official government-backed agencies, local government entities, and corporations that are wholly-owned by sovereigns, or in which sovereigns hold more than 50% of the voting rights.
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Rates — Interest-rate bearing securities issued by sovereign entities. Securities that pose additional risks to the investor, such as foreign-currency risks, would need to have those additional risks hedged out to be referred to as "rates".
Redemption — Sale of mutual fund shares by a shareholder.
REITs — An abbreviation for 'Real Estate Investment Trust', which is a company that owns or finances real estate and is listed as a security on a stock exchange.
Return on Equity — Return on equity is the level of net income returned as a percentage of the shareholder's equity.
Return / Unit of Risk — A ratio that represents the amount of return a fund achieved for each unit of risk involved in generating that return. Risk is typically defined as volatility.
Risk Considerations — Risks of investing in the fund that an investor should be aware of before investing.
Risk of Default — The risk that companies or individuals will be unable to meet their required payments on their debt obligations.
Risk Premia — The return in excess of the risk-free rate of return an investment is expected to yield; an asset's risk premium is a form of compensation for investors who tolerate the extra risk, compared to that of a risk-free asset, in a given investment.
Risk Tolerance — The degree to which you can tolerate volatility and losses in your investment values.
Risk-Adjusted Total Return — An investments total return including income and capital appreciation, after taking into consideration the level of risk involved in producing that return. Risk-adjusted returns are typically expressed as a ratio of the amount of return achieved for each unit of risk involved in generating that return.
RON — The lawful currency of Romania.
RSD — The lawful currency of Serbia.
R-Squared — A statistical measure representing the percentage of an investment portfolio's movements that can be explained by movements in the benchmark. A high R-squared (between 85 and 100) indicates the portfolio's performance patterns have been historically in line with the benchmark.
RUB — The lawful currency of the Russian Federation.
Russell 2000® Index — Is an unmanaged index consisting of the securities of approximately 2,000 issuers having the smallest capitalisation in the Russell 3000® Index, representing approximately 10% of Russell 3000 total market capitalisation. The smallest company’s market capitalisation is roughly $78 million. The Russell 2000® Value Index measures the performance of those Russell 2000® companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values.
RWF — The lawful currency of Rwanda.
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S&P 500 Index — A capitalisation weighted index comprised of 500 stocks chosen for market size, liquidity, and industry group representation. The S&P 500 Index is constructed to represent a broad range of industry segments in the U.S. economy. The S&P 500 focuses on the large-cap segment of the market with over 80% coverage of US equities. Criteria for inclusion include financial stability (minimise turnover in the index), screening of common shares to eliminate closely held companies, and trading activity indicative of ample liquidity and efficient share pricing. Companies in merger, acquisition, leveraged-buy-outs, bankruptcy (Chapter 11 filing or any shareholder approval of recapitalisation which changes a company's debt-to-equity ratio), restructuring, or lack of representation in their representative industry groups are eliminated from the index.
Sales Charge — An amount charged for the sale of some fund shares, usually those sold by brokers or other sales professionals. By regulation, a mutual fund sales charge may not exceed 8.5 percent of an investment purchase. The charge may vary depending on the amount invested and the fund chosen. A sales charge or load is reflected in the asked or offering price. See loads.
SAR — The lawful currency of Saudi Arabia.
SBD — The lawful currency of Solomon Islands.
SCR — The lawful currency of Seychelles.
Sector — A group of similar securities, such as equities in a specific industry.
Sector Allocations — A portfolio's allocation to investments that operate in an area of the economy that share the same or related product or service.
Sector Breakdown — Breakdown of securities in a portfolio by industry categories.
Secondaries — Refers to buying investment commitments from existing investors (who made the Primary Investment) into the Private Equity Funds of third party Managers.
Secured Bonds — A type of bond that is secured by the issuer's pledge of a specific asset, which is a form of collateral on the loan.
Secured Loans — A loan where the asset collateral of the borrower is pledged to repay the lenders in the event of default under a credit agreement. Secured loans are commonly used in the leveraged loan market.
Securities — Another name for investments such as stocks or bonds. The name 'securities' comes from the documents that certify an investor's ownership of particular stocks or bonds.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — The federal agency created by the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 that administers the laws governing the securities industry in the United States of America, including the registration and distribution of mutual fund shares.
Securitized — A pooled group of financial assets that together create a new security, which is then marketed and sold to investors.
SEK — The lawful currency of Sweden.
Senior Loans — Are loans where in the event of the borrower defaulting, the lender is the first to be repaid before all other interested parties receive repayment.
Settlement (Subscription) — The process by which securities or units in an investment fund are delivered in exchange for cash.
SGD — The lawful currency of Singapore.
Share — A unit of ownership in an investment, such as a share of a stock or a mutual fund.
Share Class — Classes represent ownership in the same fund but charge different fees. This can enable shareholders to choose the type of fee structure that best suits their particular needs.
Sharpe Ratio — Characterises how well the return of the Fund compensates the investor for the risk taken relative to a risk free cash investment. When comparing two funds versus a common benchmark, the one with a higher Sharpe Ratio provides better return for the same risk (or, equivalently, the same return for lower risk).
Short Equity Holdings — The holdings in a portfolio that are short positions in equities or equity indices.
Short Exposure — Indicates the proportion of the Fund's NAV invested in short positions. A short position means the Fund benefits from a fall in the price of a security. Funds implement short exposures via synthetic investments using derivatives, which will generate leverage in the portfolio.
Short Portfolio Composition — The breakdown of a portfolio's short positions on securities that are expected to depreciate in value.
Short Position — An investment position created by borrowing a security and then selling it into the market, with a view to buying it back again at a lower price and returning it to its owner. "Short selling" is a way to generate profit from falling security prices.
Short Term Trading — A trading strategy where the duration between buying and selling is within a range of a few days to a few weeks.
Short-Term Investment — Asset purchased with an investment life of less than a year.
Singapore S Chips — Chinese companies or companies with operations in China listed on the Singapore Exchange.
SLL — The lawful currency of Sierra Leone.
Small-Cap — The market capitalization of the stocks of companies with market values typically less than $3 billion.
SOS — The lawful currency of Somalia.
Sovereign — A government.
Sovereign Bonds — Bonds issued by a government.
Spread — The difference between the yields of two bonds. Typically, investors look at the spread between the yield of a corporate bond and the government bond of equivalent maturity issued in the corporation's country, or the spread between the yield of non-U.S. government bonds and the U.S. Treasury bond of equivalent maturity.
Spread Duration — The sensitivity of the price of a security to changes in its credit spread. The credit spread is the difference between the yield of a security and the yield of a benchmark rate, such as a cash interest rate or government bond yield.
SRD — The lawful currency of Suriname.
Standard & Poor's Index — Broad-based measurement of changes in stock market conditions based on the average performance of 500 widely held common stocks commonly known as the Standard & Poor's 500 or S&P 500.
Standard Deviation — Measures the historical volatility of the Fund's return. Standard deviation is a statistical measure of the dispersion of a set of data relative to its mean value. The higher the standard deviation, the wider the variability of the returns is and the higher the portfolio risk. In investment the term is usually applied to a series of historical returns, and is often referred to as "volatility".
Statistical Arbitrage — An investment strategy that typically deploys very short-term trades, both long and short, based on complex statistical models that aim to identify small abnormalities in securities' intraday pricing patterns.
STD — The lawful currency of Sao Tome And Principe.
Stock — A long-term, growth-oriented investment representing ownership in a company; also known as 'equity'.
Stockholder — The owner of common or preferred stock of a corporation. Also called 'shareholder'.
Strategy Attribution — Part of the portfolio's total return that is attributed to the portfolio manager's allocation to a strategy.
Sub Sovereign — Government entities below the sovereign. Examples include states, regions, local authorities and municipalities.
Sub-Advisors — A money manager who works outside of the fund, and is hired by a fund manager to help with an investment portfolio.
Sub-Investment Grade Securities — Securities that have a lower credit rating because they carry a higher risk of not being paid back and typically offer a higher income to make them attractive to certain investors.
Supranational — An entity formed by two or more central governments to promote economic development for the member countries. Supranational Institutions finance their activities by issuing bond debt.
SVC — The lawful currency of El Salvador.
Synthetic Short Position — A short position created with a derivative instrument, rather than by borrowing a cash-market security and selling it into the open market.
SYP — The lawful currency of Syrian Arab Republic.
Systematic — An investment selection process based on a computerised mathematical model.
Systematic TAA Overlay — A strategy that is implemented with derivative instruments, "overlaying" a static or long-term strategic asset allocation implemented with cash-market securities, designed to adjust the strategic asset allocation tactically, in response to perceived shorter-term risks and opportunities. The strategy is "systematic" when it is implemented using computer-derived inputs and signals to adjust the allocation, rather than a portfolio manager's discretion.
SZL — The lawful currency of Swaziland.
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T+3 — The settlement date of the security transaction occurs 3 days after the transaction date.
TER (Total Expense Ratio) — A measure of the total costs associated with managing and operating an investment fund, which is inclusive of the management fee, shareholder administration fee and distribution fee.
THB — The lawful currency of Thailand.
Time to Maturity — The remaining life of a debt instrument.
TJS — The lawful currency of Tajikistan.
TMT — The lawful currency of Turkmenistan.
TND — The lawful currency of Tunisia.
TOP — The lawful currency of Tonga.
Top-tier — Private equity firms are usually ranked by benchmarks based on their historical returns. Top tier refers to firms that are above the mean on those benchmarks and/or well-recognised firms.
Top 10 Country Allocations — The ten largest country allocations in a portfolio based on asset value.
Top 10 Holdings — The ten largest holdings in a portfolio based on asset value.
Total Return — Accounts for all of the dividends and interest earned before deductions for fees and expenses, in addition to any changes in the value of the principal, including share price, assuming the funds' dividends and capital gains are reinvested.
Tracking Error — A measure of the volatility of the difference between the return to an investment strategy and the return to its benchmark. It is a measure of how closely the strategy's performance may differ from that of the benchmark. A higher tracking error implies that a portfolio is actively managed versus its benchmark.
Trading Deadline — The last point on each day at which a request to subscribe or redeem units in an investment fund can be submitted to the fund management company. Requests to trade submitted after this deadline will be executed the next day.
Treasury Bill — Negotiable short-term (one year or less) debt obligations issued by the U.S. government and backed by its full faith and credit.
Treasury Bond — Negotiable long-term (10 years or longer) debt obligations issued by the U.S. government and backed by its full faith and credit.
Treasury Note — Negotiable medium-term (one year to 10 years) debt obligations issued by the U.S. government and backed by its full faith and credit.
Trend Following — An investment strategy that attempts to capture gains through the analysis of an asset's momentum in a particular direction.
TRY — The lawful currency of Turkey.
TTD — The lawful currency of Trinidad And Tobago.
TWD — The lawful currency of Taiwan.
TZS — The lawful currency of the United Republic of Tanzania.
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UAH — The lawful currency of Ukraine.
UCITS — An abbreviation for 'Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferrable Securities', which is the regulatory framework of the European Commission that creates a harmonised regime throughout Europe for the management and sale of mutual funds.
UGX — The lawful currency of Uganda.
Uncovered Selling — A transaction involving the sale of a security that the portfolio or fund does not currently own.
Undervalued — A security or other type of investment that is selling for a price presumed to be below the investment's true value.
Unhedged — Describes an investment position that brings certain risks into a portfolio that can be hedged, such as interest rate or foreign-exchange risk, but which have not been hedged. Most often used to describe positions that carry foreign-exchange risk.
Unrated Debt Securities — Debt securities that have not been assessed by a credit ratings agency.
US ADRs — An American depositary receipt (ADR), is a stock that trades in the United States but represents a specified number of shares in a foreign corporation.
US IG Credit — Debt securities issued in the US which have a credit rating of BBB or higher.
US MBS — A mortgage-backed security (MBS) is a type of asset-backed security that is secured by a mortgage or collection of mortgages.
US Nominal Treasury — A bond issued by the U.S. Treasury with a set level of principal value (as opposed to a U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Security, whose principal varies with an inflation index).
US TIPS — Treasury inflation protected securities (TIPS) refer to a Treasury bond whose principal value fluctuates according to an inflation index.
US$, USD or US Dollars — The lawful currency of the United States of America.
UYU — The lawful currency of Uruguay.
UZS — The lawful currency of Uzbekistan.
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VALOR — The code which uniquely identifies listed securities and financial instruments in Switzerland.
Valuation — An estimate of the value or worth of a company; the price investors assign to an individual security.
Value — Value refers to the premium paid for assuming the risk of holding an investment that is undervalued relative to the market, or an investment strategy that seeks to exploit that premium.
Value-At-Risk (1-Day, 95%) — A measure of market risk representing the maximum loss which can occur with 95% confidence over a holding period of one day.
VEF — The lawful currency of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
Vehicle — Any structure established to accept cash from investors with which to make investments in assets and securities. Examples include closed- or open-ended collective investment funds, limited partnerships, and exchange traded funds.
VND — The lawful currency of Viet Nam.
Volatility — Also referred to as the standard deviation of the stream of returns to an asset, portfolio, market or benchmark.
Volatility Relative Value — Hedge fund strategies that seek to exploit relative value opportunities in equity options and other volatility-related derivative instruments.
VUV — The lawful currency of Vanuatu.
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Weighted Average Breakeven (%) — The average percentage decline/increase required for the underlying price level to fall/rise below the breakeven price level (strike less/plus the premium collected).
Weighted Average Coupon — Is the weighted-average gross interest rate of a pool of securities at the time the securities were issued.
Weighted Average Current Yield (years) — The mean average yield of a portfolio of bonds or loans, where each holding is weighted according to its size in the portfolio, and where yield is calculated simply by dividing the annual coupon payments for the portfolio by the current market value of the portfolio. The measure is used to compare bonds' or loans' estimated short-term returns, as opposed to their estimated returns over the longer term or until maturity.
Weighted Average Days to Expiration — The average number of days to expiration (weighted by notional exposures).
Weighted Average Delta — The approximate percentage change in the Fund’s price for a corresponding one percent change in price in the underlying index(s).
Weighted Average Duration (years) — The mean average duration of a portfolio of bonds or loans, where each holding is weighted according to its size in the portfolio. Duration is a measure of the sensitivity of the price of a bond or loan to changes in its interest rate.
Weighted Average Market Cap — The mean average market capitalisation of a portfolio of securities, where each holding is weighted according to its size in the portfolio. Market capitalisation is the total value, at current market prices, of all the outstanding issues of one type of security, from one issuer.
Weighted Average Percentage of Moneyness (%) — The average strike price of options as a percentage of the current underlying index/ETF price.
Weighted Average Price — The weighted average of the market prices of securities held in a portfolio. Typically used for bond portfolios. Same as Portfolio Price.
Weighted Average Yield to Maturity (%) — The market value weighted average yield for individual securities in the portfolio. The yield to maturity for a security is the discount rate that makes the present value of future cash flows equal its current market price plus accrued interest, assuming the security is held till maturity. The calculation of yield to maturity (YTM) takes into account the current market price, par value, coupon rate and time to maturity. It is assumed that all coupons are reinvested at the YTM rate.
Weighted Average Yield to Worst (%) — The mean average yield of a portfolio of bonds or loans, where each holding is weighted according to its size in the portfolio, and where yield is the worst available when calculated to maturity, and calculated to take account of call options (the right of the borrower to pay back principal before maturity), put options (the right of the lender to demand payment of principal before maturity), or any other special features.
Weighted Duration (years) — The weighted average amount of time until a portfolio of debt securities reaches maturity. It is also used to measure the percent change in price for a 100 bps shift in interest rates.
Witholding Tax — Refers to the tax that has been deducted before the dividend/interest is paid.
WON — The lawful currency of the Republic of Korea (South Korea).
Writing Put Options — The “writer” (or seller) of a put option provides the purchaser with the right to sell the underlying instrument to the writer at a specific price (i.e., the exercise price or strike price). The writer receives a premium (money) from the purchaser for granting it this option.
WST — The lawful currency of Samoa.
- X -
XAF — The single currency of the 6 independent states in central Africa.
XCD — The single currency of the 7 full member and 1 associate member of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.
XOF — The single currency of the eight independent states in West Africa.
- Y -
YER — The lawful currency of Yemen.
Yield — Annual percentage rate of return on capital. The dividend or interest paid by a company expressed as a percentage of the current price.
Yield to Call — The yield of a bond or note if you were to buy and hold the security until the call date, but this yield is valid only if the security is called prior to maturity. Some bonds and notes, for example, give the issuer the option to "call" the security earlier than the maturity date (in other words, to redeem and repay the principal value to the investor early). The date the issuer calls the security is the call date.
Yield to Maturity — The total annualised return anticipated on a bond if it is held until the end of its lifetime. Yield to maturity is considered a long-term bond yield, but is expressed as an annual rate.
Yield to Worst — The lowest potential annualised total return that can be received on a bond without the issuer defaulting. This can be different from the yield to maturity because it assumes that the issuer will exercise any option it has to "call" the security at the earliest opportunity (to redeem and repay the principal value to an investor early).
YTD - Year-To-Date — Year-to-date return on an investment including appreciation and dividends or interest.
- Z -
ZAR — The lawful currency of South Africa.
ZMW — The lawful currency of Zambia.
ZWL — The lawful currency of Zimbabwe.