| Gearing |
A company's debts expressed as a percentage of its
equity capital. High gearing means debts are high in relation to equity
capital. |
| General Bond Funds |
A fund that invests in bonds without any quality or
maturity restrictions. |
| General Municipal Bond Fund |
A fund that invests primarily in bonds issued by municipalities
throughout the country, and which generate federally tax-exempt income. |
| General Obligation (GO) Bond |
A municipal bond whose issuer's ability to pay back
principal and interest is based on its full taxing power. |
| Generation- Skipping Transfer Tax |
A tax imposed on transfers of property that skips
an intermediate generation. For example, a gift from a grandparent
to a grandchild is a generation-skipping transfer. This 55% tax, which
applies in addition to the federal gift and estate taxes, is designed
to discourage certain generation-skipping transfers. Due to various
exclusions, however, the tax applies primarily to wealthy taxpayers. |
| Gift |
A voluntary transfer of money or property for which
the owner is not compensated. |
| Gift taxes |
Taxes imposed by the federal government and some state
governments on lifetime gifts. Federal gift taxes are designed so
that lifetime gifts are taxed in a similar way as gifts at death are
taxed by the federal estate tax. |
| Global Mutual Fund |
A mutual fund that invests anywhere in the world,
including within the United States. These can be either stock or bond
funds. |
| Gold Fund |
A fund that invests primarily in securities associated
with gold, including gold mining, refining and production concerns.
Gold funds are also sometimes referred to as precious metals funds. |
| Good Delivery |
Securities delivered to the broker from the seller
that are properly endorsed and in proper order to be delivered to
the buyer. |
| Good-Til-Cancelled (Open) Order (GTC) |
An order that does not expire at the end of the day
it is entered. Instead, it remains in force until it is either executed
or canceled. Accutrade cancels all GTC orders at the end of the next
month after the order has been placed. |
| Government Bond |
Debt security issued by the U.S. Government. |
| Government Income Fund |
A fund that invests primarily in government fixed
income securities, including U.S. Treasury bonds and notes, and federally
guaranteed mortgage-backed securities. Because of the high quality
of their portfolios, government income funds tend to be less risky
than other income funds, but to also offer less yield. In general,
government income funds seek to provide current income over growth
of capital. |
| Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA) |
A US government corporation that provides primary
mortgages through bond issuances. Its securities are called Ginnie
Maes. |
| Government Securities |
Debt (such as bonds, bills or notes) sold by the federal
government or its agencies to raise money. |
| Grantor |
A person who transfers property to another person
or into a trust. |
| Gross Estate |
All assets--including personal, business and investment
assets, retirement benefits and life insurance--that are owned by
a person at the time of death, before being reduced by payment of
estate-settlement expenses. |
| Gross Income |
As the starting point in calculating income tax liability,
gross income includes all potentially taxable income received from
any source, such as wages, salary, dividends, interest, profit from
self-employment, retirement plan distributions and so forth. |
| Growth |
An investment objective of many stock funds. Current
income, if considered at all, is a secondary concern for these funds.
Capital growth is achieved when the market value of a fund's holdings
increases, causing the fund's net asset value per share to increase. |
| Growth And Income Fund |
A fund that seeks to provide both growth of capital
and a stream of income. This is done by investing primarily in the
common stock of companies that have had not only increasing share
value, but also a solid record of paying dividends. |
| Growth Fund |
A fund that invests primarily in the stocks of companies
whose long-term earnings are expected to grow significantly faster
than the earnings of the market in general (as represented by the
S&P 500 Index). In general, growth funds seek to provide capital
gains, rather than dividend income. |
| Growth Index Fund |
A fund that invests primarily in growth stocks included
in one of the major unmanaged stock indices. Growth index funds generally
seek to match or exceed the investment performance of the targeted
index. |
| Growth Investing |
An investment strategy to increase capital by buying
stocks the manager believes will go up in price, regardless of the
stock's current price relative to its underlying value. Growth investing
is often discussed in contrast to value investing |
| Growth Stock |
Stock of a company in a new industry or of a company
participating in an emerging industry. |
| Guaranteed Renewable |
A policy provision that prohibits an insurance company
from canceling a policy for any reason other than failure to pay premiums
when they are due; also prohibits increasing premiums unless there
is a rate increase for all policyholders in a particular group. |
| Guaranty |
A promise by a third party to answer for payment of
a debt or performance of an obligation if the person liable in the
first instance fails to make payment or to perform the obligation. |
| Guardian |
Someone who manages securities in a minor's account
or someone who handles the affairs of an incompetent person. |
| Health And Biotechnology Funds |
A fund that invests primarily in the stocks of companies
in the medical industry. |
| Hedge |
To reduce the risk in one security by taking an offsetting
position in a related security. |
| Hedge Fund |
A mutual fund that uses futures to offset investment
risk. For example, a fund manager concerned about declining stock
prices might hedge his or her holdings by buying a put option of some
stocks. Put options, call options and selling short are widely used
hedging tools for stock fund managers. Hedging is also used extensively
in international funds that attempt to minimize currency risks. The
fund's prospectus discloses whether or not a fund engages in hedging. |
| HH Savings Bonds |
A savings bond that pays semiannual coupon interest,
unlike EE savings bonds. |
| High Current Yield Fund |
A fund that seeks to provide a relatively high current
yield. High current yield funds tend to invest primarily in lower
grade fixed income securities without any quality or maturity restrictions. |
| High-Yield Bond Fund |
A fund that invests primarily in high yield bonds,
also referred to as junk bonds. High yield bond funds generally seek
high returns and tend to be one of the riskier bond fund investments. |
| Historical Yield |
Yield provided by a fund (typically a money market
fund) over a specific time period. |
| Home Equity Loan |
A loan that uses the equity in one's home as collateral.
In most cases, the interest paid on the loan is deductible. |
| Home Health Care |
Health care services provided at home may include
part-time skilled nursing care, speech therapy, physical or occupational
therapy and homemaking. Home health care may be covered by Medicare
or insurance under certain circumstances. |
| House Maintenance Call |
Demand to the customer for additional funds from the
brokerage firm because the equity in the customer's margin account
has fallen below the minimum amount allowed by the firm. |
| House Requirement |
The minimum amount of equity brokerage firms require
margin clients to maintain in the account. |
| Hypothecation |
A brokerage firm's pledging of margin securities at
a bank to secure the funds necessary to carry an account's debit balance. |
| Illiquid Capital For Income Needs |
For purposes of the premature death analysis. Refers
to any assets that are not assumed to be liquidated at the death of
a principal client, but are assumed to be available for future survivor
goal and income needs. |
| Immediate-or-Cancel (IOC) |
An instruction on an order that requires execution
of as many lots as can be filled immediately, and the rest canceled. |
| In-The-Money |
Used to describe options that the holder would profit
from exercising. Call options are in-the-money when the underlying
security's value is greater than the option's strike price. Put options
are in-the-money when the underlying security's value is less than
the option's strike price. |
| Inception Date |
The date a fund was first made available to investors. |
| Income |
Payments of dividends, interest, and/or short term
capital gains earned by securities held by a fund. Income dividends
are paid after deducting operating expenses. |
| Income Bonds |
Bonds issued when the ability of the issuing company
to pay interest is questioned. They are speculative instruments that
pay high rates of interest. |
| Income Fund |
A fund that invests primarily in fixed income securities
and/or high-yielding stocks. In general, income funds seek to provide
current income rather than growth of capital. |
| Income Stream |
A strategy of arranging bonds so that they produce
a consistent series of payments. |
| Indemnity |
1). In the case of damages or losses suffered by a
party, an indemnity is the assurance that the situation will be rectified
by another party by way of repair or monetary payments. That other
party is mostly an insurance company in which the policyholder who
has suffered damages has indemnity insurance.
2). A guarantee by a client to their bank (usually in the form of
a 'letter of indemnity') that the bank will not be held liable for
continuing to serve the interests of that client as a result of the
client's loss of documents. |
| Indenture |
The terms of a corporate bond. Also known as deed
of trust, it appears on the face of the bond certificate. |
| Independant Taxation |
A system of personal taxation introduced in the UK
in 1990-91 where a husband and wife are treated as completely separate
and independent taxpayers for both income tax and capital-gains tax
as though each was single, but with a new married person's allowance
for when one party has no income. |
| Index |
Indicators used to provide a point of reference for
evaluating a fund's performance. The most common indices for stock
funds are the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Index.
For fixed-income funds it is the Lehman Brothers Aggregate Bond Index. |
| Index Fund |
A fund that invests in a collection of securities
intended to match that of a broad-based index (NOTE: It is not possible
for investors to actually invest in the actual index, such as the
S&P 500). In general, index funds seek the same or a slightly
better return that the index they mirror. Index funds tend to charge
low administrative expenses. |
| Individual Retirement Account (IRA) |
A personal savings plan that offers tax advantages
to save and invest for retirement. Contributions are often tax deductible
in whole or in part, depending upon individual circumstances, including
compensation levels and participation in an employer sponsored qualified
retirement plan. Income derived from investments in a traditional
deductible or nondeductible IRA are tax deferred until withdrawn.
Under certain circumstances, withdrawals from a Roth IRA are tax free.
Tax penalties may apply to IRA distributions taken before age 59 1/2.
Contributions to an IRA may not exceed $2,000 per year. Individuals
with earned income may contribute up to $2,000 to the IRA of a nonemployed
spouse. |
| Industrial Revenue Bond |
(ID Revenue, ID Revs, or Industrial Rev) A form of
municipal bond whose issuer's ability to pay interest and principal
is based on revenue earned from an industrial complex. |
| Inflation |
An increase in the prices of products and services
over time, representing the decreased purchasing power of money. |
| Inflation Adjusted |
The value of income or an asset that is measured in
terms of purchasing power. |
| Inflation Risk |
The possibility that the value of assets or income
will be eroded by inflation (the rising cost of goods and services).
Inflation risk is often mentioned in relation to conservative fixed
income funds. While these types of fixed income funds may minimize
the possibility of losing principal, they expose an investor to inflation
risk. |
| Insider |
Person with nonpublic information on a corporation.
Directors, officers and stockholders owning more than 10% of any one
class of stock are usually considered insiders. |
| Insider Dealing |
The purchase or sale of shares by someone who possesses
"inside" information about the company; i.e., information
on the company's performance and prospects which has not yet been
made available to the market as a whole and which, if available, might
affect the share price. |
| Insured Bond |
A guarantee on a municipal bond that interest and
principal will be paid timely and in full. Insured bonds tend to carry
a high credit rating but to pay a lower return than comparably rated
uninsured bonds. The largest municipal bond insurers include: The
Municipal Bond Investment Assurance Corp. (MBIA), Federal Guarantee
Insurance Corp. (FGIC), and AMBAC Indemnity Corp. (AMBAC). |
| Interest |
The cost of borrowing money. |
| Interest Rate Risk |
The risk created by changes in market interest rates.
For example, the value of bonds usually falls when interest rates
rise. See Investment risk. |
| Interim Dividend |
A dividend declared part way through a company's financial
year, authorized solely by the directors. |
| Intermediate Care |
Occasional nursing care that must be performed by
or under the direct supervision of skilled medical personnel. This
type of care is not as intensive as skilled nursing care, but is more
intensive than custodial care. |
| Intermediate Investment Grade Bond Fund |
A fund that invests primarily in investment grade
fixed income securities with dollar-weighted average maturities of
five to ten years. |
| Intermediate U.S. Government Fund |
A fund that invests primarily in government guaranteed
fixed income securities with a dollar-weighted average maturity of
five to ten years. |
| Intermediate U.S. Treasury Fund |
A fund that invests primarily in U.S. Treasury bills,
notes and bonds with a dollar-weighted average maturity of five to
ten years. |
| Intermediate-Term Bonds |
Those maturing five to ten years after original issue. |
| International Fund |
A fund that invests primarily in the securities of
companies located outside of the United States. In general, international
investing not only offers diversification and the potential for high
returns, but also involves special risks, such as currency concerns,
and rapidly changing political scenarios. |
| Intestate |
To die without a valid will. |
| Investment Assets |
Assets that are intended to achieve long-term objectives,
such as accumulating money for education or retirement. Investment
assets generally include stocks, bonds, mutual funds, annuities, certificates
of deposit, real estate, limited partnerships, business interests
and similar long-term investments. |
| Investment Banker |
See underwriter. |
| Investment Company |
An investment company invests the pooled funds of
investors in securities appropriate for its stated investment objectives.
For a fee, the investment company provides more diversification, liquidity,
and professional management service than is normally available to
individual investors. |
| Investment Grade |
High quality bonds that are rated Baa or higher by
Moody's, or BBB or higher by Standard & Poor's. Investment grade
bonds are considered safe, because the rating reflects the perceived
financial stability of the issuer. Usually, however, the higher the
bond's rating, the lower the interest it must pay to attract buyers. |
| Investment Income |
Income from investments such as interest and dividends. |
| Investment Objective |
A fund's investment goal. For example, a growth fund
typically has an investment objective of providing long-term growth
of capital. |
| Investment Risk |
The unpredictability of investment returns. The chance
that the actual return from an investment will be different from its
expected return. Investment risk is measured statistically using standard
deviation. Investment risks include economic risk, inflation risk,
interest rate risk, market risk and specific risk. |
| Investment Style |
A description of a fund's investment strategy. For
example, a growth fund might have a growth oriented style, a value-oriented
style, or a blend of the two. Fixed-income funds tend to be managed
with either an interest-rate sensitive style or a credit-sensitive
style. |
| Investment Trust |
Company whose sole business consists of buying, selling
and holding shares. |
| Issue |
(1) The process by which a new security is brought
to market. (2) Any security. |
| Issue Date |
Month and day that a security is initially issued. |
| Issued Stock |
Stock sold to the public. |
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