Financial Dictionary

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Stocks

What Is a Stock? A stock is a long-term, growth-oriented investment representing ownership in a company; also known as ‘equity.’ ...

Bonds

What Is a Bond? A bond acts like a loan or an IOU that is issued by a corporation, municipality, ...

Annualized Rate of Return

What is Annualized Rate of Return? Annualized rate of return is the average annual return over a period of years, ...

Bear/Bull Market

What is a Bear or Bull Market? A bear market is a prolonged period of falling stock prices, usually marked ...

Basis Points (BPS)

What is a Basis Point? A basis point represents one gradation on a 100-point scale representing 1%. This term is ...

Asset Allocation

What is Asset Allocation? Asset allocation is the process of dividing investments among cash, equities (ex. U.S. Large Cap, International), ...

Appreciation

What is Appreciation? Appreciation means that the value of a financial asset increases over time. This increase occurs for many ...

Alternative Investments

What Are Alternative Investments? Alternative investments indicate assets that aren’t considered “conventional” investment types, like stocks, bonds, and cash. Alternative ...

inflation

Inflation

What Is Inflation? Inflation is an increase in the average price of goods or services in an economy. Each month, ...

annuity

Annuity

What Is an Annuity? An annuity is a contract with an insurance company that guarantees current or future payments in ...

fixed income investing rising rate

Fixed Income Investment

What are Fixed Income Investments? A fixed income investment is a fund or portfolio in which bonds are primarily purchased ...

Share Classes

What are Share Classes? Share classes represent ownership in the same fund that charge different fees. This can enable shareholders ...