Definition of Index fund

Index fund

Investment fund designed to match the returns on a stockmarket index.

index funds

Mutual funds that aim to track the performance of a specific stock or bond index. This process is also referred to as indexing and passive management.

Pure index fund

A portfolio that is managed so as to perfectly replicate the performance of the market portfolio.

Index Portfolio Rebalancing Service (IPRS)

index Portfolio Rebalancing Service (IPRS) is a comprehensive investment service that can help increase potential returns while reducing volatility. Several portfolios are available, each with its own strategic balance of index funds. IPRS maintains your personal asset allocation by monitoring and rebalancing your portfolio semi-annually.

12b-1 funds

Mutual funds that do not charge an upfront or back-end commission, but instead take out up to
1.25% of average daily fund assets each year to cover the costs of selling and marketing shares, an
arrangement allowed by the SEC's Rule 12b-I (passed in 1980).

Annual fund operating expenses

For investment companies, the management fee and "other expenses,"
including the expenses for maintaining shareholder records, providing shareholders with financial statements,
and providing custodial and accounting services. For 12b-1 funds, selling and marketing costs are included.

Arms index

Also known as a trading index (TRIN)= (number of advancing issues)/ (number of declining
issues) (Total up volume )/ (total down volume). An advance/decline market indicator. Less than 1.0 indicates
bullish demand, while above 1.0 is bearish. The index often is smoothed with a simple moving average.

Balanced fund

An investment company that invests in stocks and bonds. The same as a balanced mutual fund.

Balanced mutual fund

This is a fund that buys common stock, preferred stock and bonds. The same as a
balanced fund.

Beta equation (Mutual Funds)

The beta of a fund is determined as follows:
[(n) (sum of (xy)) ]-[ (sum of x) (sum of y)]
[(n) (sum of (xx)) ]-[ (sum of x) (sum of x)]
where: n = # of observations (36 months)
x = rate of return for the S&P 500 index
y = rate of return for the fund

Beta (Mutual Funds)

The measure of a fund's or stocks risk in relation to the market. A beta of 0.7 means
the fund's total return is likely to move up or down 70% of the market change; 1.3 means total return is likely
to move up or down 30% more than the market. Beta is referred to as an index of the systematic risk due to
general market conditions that cannot be diversified away.

Bond indexing

Designing a portfolio so that its performance will match the performance of some bond index.

Buying the index

Purchasing the stocks in the S&P 500 in the same proportion as the index to achieve the
same return.

Closed-end fund

An investment company that sells shares like any other corporation and usually does not
redeem its shares. A publicly traded fund sold on stock exchanges or over the counter that may trade above or
below its net asset value. Related: Open-end fund.

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

The CPI, as it is called, measures the prices of consumer goods and services and is a
measure of the pace of U.S. inflation. The U.S.Department of Labor publishes the CPI very month.

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

An index calculated by tracking the cost of a typical bundle of consumer goods and services over time. It is commonly used to measure inflation.

Cost of funds

Interest rate associated with borrowing money.

Dividend yield (Funds)

Indicated yield represents return on a share of a mutual fund held over the past 12
months. Assumes fund was purchased 1 year ago. Reflects effect of sales charges (at current rates), but not
redemption charges.

EAFE index

The European, Australian, and Far East stock index, computed by Morgan Stanley.

EFT (electronic funds transfer)

funds which are electronically credited to your account (e.g. direct deposit), or electronically debited from your account on an ongoing basis (e.g. a pre-authorized monthly bill payment, or a monthly loan or mortgage payment). A wire transfer is a form of EFT.

Employee stock fund

A firm-sponsored program that enables employees to purchase shares of the firm's
common stock on a preferential basis.

Endowment funds

Investment funds established for the support of institutions such as colleges, private
schools, museums, hospitals, and foundations. The investment income may be used for the operation of the
institution and for capital expenditures.

Enhanced indexing

Also called indexing plus, an indexing strategy whose objective is to exceed or replicate
the total return performance of some predetermined index.

Federal funds

Non-interest bearing deposits held in reserve for depository institutions at their district Federal
Reserve Bank. Also, excess reserves lent by banks to each other.

Federal funds market

The market where banks can borrow or lend reserves, allowing banks temporarily
short of their required reserves to borrow reserves from banks that have excess reserves.

Federal funds rate

This is the interest rate that banks with excess reserves at a Federal Reserve district bank
charge other banks that need overnight loans. The Fed funds rate, as it is called, often points to the direction
of U.S. interest rates.

Federal Funds Rate

The interest rate at which banks lend deposits at the Federal Reserve to one another overnight.

Forward Fed funds

Fed funds traded for future delivery.

Fund family

Set of funds with different investment objectives offered by one management company. In many
cases, investors may move their assets from one fund to another within the family at little or no cost.

Fundamental analysis

Security analysis that seeks to detect misvalued securities by an analysis of the firm's
business prospects. Research analysis often focuses on earnings, dividend prospects, expectations for future
interest rates, and risk evaluation of the firm.

fundamental analysts

Analysts who attempt to find under- or overvalued securities by analyzing fundamental information, such as earnings, asset values, and business prospects.

Fundamental beta

The product of a statistical model to predict the fundamental risk of a security using not
only price data but other market-related and financial data.

Fundamental descriptors

In the model for calculating fundamental beta, ratios in risk indexes other than
market variability, which rely on financial data other than price data.

Funded debt

Debt maturing after more than one year.

funded debt

Debt with more than 1 year remaining to maturity.

Funding Costs

The price of obtaining capital, either borrowed or equity, with intent to carry on business operations.

Funding ratio

The ratio of a pension plan's assets to its liabilities.

Funding risk

Related: interest rate risk

Funds From Operations (FFO)

Used by real estate and other investment trusts to define the cash flow from
trust operations. It is earnings with depreciation and amortization added back. A similar term increasingly
used is funds Available for Distribution (FAD), which is FFO less capital investments in trust property and
the amortization of mortgages.

Global fund

A mutual fund that can invest anywhere in the world, including the U.S.

growth funds

Mutual funds that seek long-term capital growth. This type of fund invests primarily in equity securities.

Hedge fund

A fund that may employ a variety of techniques to enhance returns, such as both buying and
shorting stocks based on a valuation model.

High-coupon bond refunding

Refunding of a high-coupon bond with a new, lower coupon bond.

Income fund

A mutual fund providing for liberal current income from investments.

income funds

Mutual funds that seek regular income. This type of fund invests primarily in government, corporate and other types of bonds, debt securities, and other income producing securities and in certain circumstances can also hold common and preferred shares.

Index

A series of numbers measuring percentage changes over time from a base period. The index number for the base period is by convention set equal to 100.
indexing
Linking money payments to a price index to hold the real value of those money payments constant.

index

An index is a statistical measure of a market based on the performance of a sample of securities in that market. For example, the S&P/TSX Composite index reflects the performance of the most actively traded stocks on The Toronto Stock Exchange.

Index and Option Market (IOM)

A division of the CME established in 1982 for trading stock index
products and options. Related: Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).

Index arbitrage

An investment/trading strategy that exploits divergences between actual and theoretical
futures prices.

Index model

A model of stock returns using a market index such as the S&P 500 to represent common or
systematic risk factors.

Index option

A call or put option based on a stock market index.

Index warrant

A stock index option issued by either a corporate or sovereign entity as part of a security
offering, and guaranteed by an option clearing corporation.

Indexation

The adjustment of benefits to compensate for the effects of inflation.

Indexed bond

Bond whose payments are linked to an index, e.g. the consumer price index.

Indexing

A passive instrument strategy consisting of the construction of a portfolio of stocks designed to
track the total return performance of an index of stocks.

internally generated funds

Cash reinvested in the firm; depreciation plus earnings not paid out as dividends.

International fund

A mutual fund that can invest only outside the United States.

international fund

A mutual fund that can invest in securities issued anywhere outside of Canada.

International Monetary Fund

An organization founded in 1944 to oversee exchange arrangements of
member countries and to lend foreign currency reserves to members with short-term balance of payment
problems.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Organization originally established to manage the postwar fixed exchange rate system.

Jensen index

An index that uses the capital asset pricing model to determine whether a money manager
outperformed a market index. The "alpha" of an investment or investment manager.

Labour-Sponsored Venture Funds

Venture capital corporations established by labour unions. They function as other venture capital corporations but are subject to government regulation.

Liability funding strategies

Investment strategies that select assets so that cash flows will equal or exceed
the client's obligations.

Life Income Fund

Commonly known as a LIF, this is one of the options available to locked in Registered Pension Plan (RPP) holders for income payout as opposed to Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) holders choice of payout through Registered Retirement Income funds (RRIF). A LIF must be converted to a unisex annuity by the time the holder reaches age 80.

Load fund

A mutual fund with shares sold at a price including a large sales charge -- typically 4% to 8% of
the net amount indicated. Some "no-load" funds have distribution fees permitted by article 12b-1 of the
Investment Company Act; these are typically 0. 25%. A "true no-load" fund has neither a sales charge nor
Freddie Mac program, the aggregation that the fund purchaser receives some investment advice or other
service worthy of the charge.

Low-coupon bond refunding

Refunding of a low coupon bond with a new, higher coupon bond.

market index

Measure of the investment performance of the overall market.

Market value-weighted index

An index of a group of securities computed by calculating a weighted average
of the returns on each security in the index, with the weights proportional to outstanding market value.

Match fund

A bank is said to match fund a loan or other asset when it does so by buying (taking) a deposit of
the same maturity. The term is commonly used in the Euromarket.

Money market fund

A mutual fund that invests only in short term securities, such as bankers' acceptances,
commercial paper, repurchase agreements and government bills. The net asset value per share is maintained at
$1. 00. Such funds are not federally insured, although the portfolio may consist of guaranteed securities
and/or the fund may have private insurance protection.

money market fund

A type of mutual fund that invests primarily in short-term debt securities maturing in one year or less. These include treasury bills, bankers’ acceptances, commercial paper, discount notes and guaranteed investment certficates.

Mutual fund

Mutual funds are pools of money that are managed by an investment company. They offer
investors a variety of goals, depending on the fund and its investment charter. Some funds, for example, seek
to generate income on a regular basis. Others seek to preserve an investor's money. Still others seek to invest
in companies that are growing at a rapid pace. funds can impose a sales charge, or load, on investors when
they buy or sell shares. Many funds these days are no load and impose no sales charge. Mutual funds are
investment companies regulated by the Investment Company Act of 1940.
Related: open-end fund, closed-end fund.

mutual fund

When you buy a mutual fund, you are pooling your money with that of other investors. An investment professional called a portfolio advisor takes that money and invests it for all the investors in a variety of different securities as determined by the investment objectives of the mutual fund. This gives you the benefit of diversification that is, being invested in many different investments at once.

Mutual fund theorem

A result associated with the CAPM, asserting that investors will choose to invest their
entire risky portfolio in a market-index or mutual fund.

Net advantage of refunding

The net present value of the savings from a refunding.

No-load fund

A mutual fund that does not impose a sales commission. Related: load fund

No load mutual fund

An open-end investment company, shares of which are sold without a sales charge.
There can be other distribution charges, however, such as Article 12B-1 fees. A true "no load" fund will have
neither a sales charge nor a distribution fee.

Nonrefundable

Not permitted, under the terms of indenture, to be refundable.

NSF (non-sufficient funds)

This appears on your statement if there are insufficient funds in your account to cover a cheque that you have written or a pre-authorized payment that you have already arranged. You will be charged a service fee for non-sufficient funds.

Objective (mutual fund)

The fund's investment strategy category as stated in the prospectus. There are
more than 20 standardized categories.

Open-end fund

Also called a mutual fund, an investment company that stands ready to sell new shares to the
public and to redeem its outstanding shares on demand at a price equal to an appropriate share of the value of
its portfolio, which is computed daily at the close of the market.

Optimization approach to indexing

An approach to indexing which seeks to Optimize some objective, such
as to maximize the portfolio yield, to maximize convexity, or to maximize expected total returns.

Overfunded pension plan

A pension plan that has a positive surplus (i.e., assets exceed liabilities).

Pension Fund

Assets used to pay the pensions of retirees. An investment institution established to manage the assets used to pay the pensions of retirees.

Prerefunded bond

Refunded bond.

present value index

see profitability index

Price Index

A measure of the price level calculated by comparing the cost of a bundle of goods and services in a given year with its cost in a base year. See also index.

Private Export Funding Corporation (PEFCO)

Company that mobilizes private capital for financing the
export of big-ticket items by U.S. firms by purchasing at fixed interest rates the medium- to long-term debt
obligations of importers of U.S. products.

Profitability index

The present value of the future cash flows divided by the initial investment. Also called
the benefit-cost ratio.

Profitability index

See cash value added.

Profitability Index

A method for determining the profitability of an investment. It is
calculated by dividing the present value of the future net cash flows
by the initial cash investment.

profitability index

Ratio of net present value to initial investment.

profitability index (Pl)

a ratio that compares the present value of net cash flows to the present value of the net investment

Purchase fund

Resembles a sinking fund except that money is used only to purchase bonds if they are selling
below their par value.

Refundable

Eligible for refunding under the terms of indenture.

Refunded bond

Also called a prerefunded bond, one that originally may have been issued as a general
obligation or revenue bond but that is now secured by an "escrow fund" consisting entirely of direct U.S.
government obligations that are sufficient for paying the bondholders.

Refunding

The redemption of a bond with proceeds received from issuing lower-cost debt obligations
ranking equal to or superior to the debt to be redeemed.

Regional fund

A mutual fund that invests in a specific geographical area overseas, such as Asia or Europe.

Registered Retirement Income Fund (Canada)

Commonly referred to as a RRIF, this is one of the options available to RRSP holders to convert their tax sheltered savings into taxable income.

Revenue fund

A fund accounting for all revenues from an enterprise financed by a municipal revenue bond.

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