Investment Terms Explained
This is a guide to some investment terms; not all will not be relevant for every fund. Please contact your financial adviser if you need an explanation of the terms used.
Acc/Accumulation Class
Any share which accumulates all the net investment income and net realised capital gains and does not declare dividends.
Active Positions
Percentage weighting in the fund of a position above or outside of the benchmark as at the date indicated.
Active Share
Active Share is a measure of the percentage of stock holdings in a fund that differ from the benchmark index.
Alpha
The excess return on an investment in the fund compared to the benchmark.
Annual Fee
A charge made each year to cover the expenses associated with running the fund. Although it is expressed in annual percentage figures it is usually split into 12 monthly amounts and taken from the fund monthly.
Ann/Annualised
The amount the Fund has gained or lost over a rolling 12 month period as a percentage after fees.
AUM
Assets under management.
Base Currency
The currency in which the net asset value of each portfolio is calculated.
Bloomberg
A financial data and news company headquartered in New York. Traders, fund managers or analysts use Bloomberg terminals to extract data, securities prices and other financial information.
Bond
A debt investment where an investor loans money to an entity which borrows the funds for a defined period of time at a variable or fixed interest rate. Owners of bonds are creditors of the issuer.
Bottom Up Stock Selection/Portfolio Construction
An investing approach which focuses on the analysis of individual stocks rather than the broader market and economic environment.
Cum/Cumulative
The total amount the Fund has gained or lost in the period specified as a percentage after fees.
Convertible
Convertibles are securities that can be converted into common stock on the stock exchange. Convertibles are usually convertible bonds where bond holders can convert their creditor position to an equity holder at an agreed upon price.
Cut-Off
The specified end of the trading day to accurately define settlement periods with respect to buying and selling trades.
Dealing
Arranging the sale and purchase of units or shares in the Fund.
Discrete Annual Performance
Discrete performance is calculated between two fixed specific time and static dates.
Dist/Distributing Class
Any share class which can declare and distribute dividends.
Fixed Income
Any type of investment under which the borrower or issuer is obliged to make payments of a fixed amount on a fixed schedule.
Geographic Exposure
The geographical location in which the holdings of the Fund are listed. Exposure represents the relative risk particular to the percentage of investment in that particular geographic location.
Hedged Class
A share class which is denominated in a currency other than the base currency of the portfolio. The investment manager employs techniques and instruments to protect against fluctuations between the class and the base currency of the portfolio.
High Water Mark
A high water mark is the highest peak in value that an investment fund or account has reached in the context of a specified period of time.
Historic Yield
A measure of the dividend return of a fund. It is calculated by dividing the dividend per share for a particular period of time by the NAV per share at a particular date and multiplying by 100.
Index
The benchmark the fund has used to track performance. Further details of this are contained in the important information section of this document.
ISIN
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.
KIID
Key Investor Information Document.
Leverage
The extent of borrowing as against the equity held by a person or company in an asset. The ability to increase exposure by investing in futures contracts without making the underlying cash available.
Long
Buying stocks/shares and other securities with the aim of generating capital gains and income from positive performance of those assets.
Market Capitalisation Exposure
The percentage of the fund’s assets that are invested in companies having market capitalisation of a particular size.
Monthly Distribution
Refers to income paid out to investors of a fund on a monthly basis.
NAV per Share
Is an expression for net asset value that represents a fund’s value per share. It is calculated by dividing the total net asset value of the fund or company by the number of shares outstanding.
Ongoing Charges Figure (OCF)
This is a figure representing all annual charges and other payments taken from the fund.
Open-Ended UCITS
An open-ended fund is a fund which does not have restrictions on the amount of shares that the fund will issue. A UCITS is an undertaking for collective investment in transferable securities, within the UCITS regulations.
Outperformance
Where an equity or financial instrument has performed better than the market return.
Overweight
Where the fund has more of a particular security when compared to the security’s weight in the underlying benchmark portfolio.
Performance Attribution
The difference between the portfolio return and the benchmark return. The Top Contributors to the Fund reflect the portfolio holdings which most contributed to positive performance in the Fund. The Top Detractors indicate which holdings in the portfolio influenced underperformance in the fund against the benchmark.
Performance Fee
A fee charged on any returns that, subject to a High Water Mark, the fund achieves above its performance fee benchmark. Please refer to the prospectus for further information.
Portfolio
A grouping of financial assets such as stocks, bonds and cash equivalents, managed by a financial professional.
Sector Exposure
The percentage of the fund’s assets which are invested in a particular sector or industry. Exposure represents the relative risk particular to the percentage of investment in that particular sector.
SEDOL
Stock Exchange Daily Official List. A SEDOL number is a unique code used in the UK and Ireland to identify securities.
Share Class
Share class is a designation applied to a share in a fund. Different share classes within the same fund will confer different rights on their owners.
Sharpe Ratio
A measure of risk adjusted performance. The higher the ratio, the better risk adjusted performance has been.
Short
Borrowing shares to sell in the open market with the goal of buying these shares back at lower prices in the future, and at that time returning the shares to the lender.
Tracking Error
Measures how closely the fund’s performance follows the benchmark.
Underperformance
Where an equity or financial instrument has performed worse than the market return.
Underweight
Where the fund has less of a particular security when compared to the security’s weight in the underlying benchmark portfolio.
Valuation
The worth of an asset company based on its current price.
Volatility of Returns
Volatility is a measure of how quickly the value of an investment rises and falls over time and is a term applied to single shares, markets and collective investments schemes.
YTD
Year-to-Date. Refers to the amount the Fund has gained or lost since the first day of the calendar year.