Definition of Short-term investment services

Short-term investment services

services that assist firms in making short-term investments.

Coefficient of determination

A measure of the goodness of fit of the relationship between the dependent and
independent variables in a regression analysis; for instance, the percentage of variation in the return of an
asset explained by the market portfolio return.

Concentration services

Movement of cash from different lockbox locations into a single concentration
account from which disbursements and investments are made.

Deterministic models

Liability-matching models that assume that the liability payments and the asset cash
flows are known with certainty. Related: Compare stochastic models

Disintermediation

Withdrawal of funds from a financial institution in order to invest them directly.

Dividend reinvestment plan (DRP)

Automatic reinvestment of shareholder dividends in more shares of a
company's stock, often without commissions. Some plans provide for the purchase of additional shares at a
discount to market price. Dividend reinvestment plans allow shareholders to accumulate stock over the Long
term using dollar cost averaging. The DRP is usually administered by the company without charges to the
holder.

Euro-medium term note (Euro-MTN)

A non-underwritten Euronote issued directly to the market. Euro-
MTNs are offered continuously rather than all at once as a bond issue is. Most Euro-MTN maturities are
under five years.

Expected return on investment

The return one can expect to earn on an investment. See: capital asset
pricing model.

Financial intermediaries

Institutions that provide the market function of matching borrowers and lenders or
traders.

Foreign direct investment (FDI)

The acquisition abroad of physical assets such as plant and equipment, with
operating control residing in the parent corporation.

Future investment opportunities

The options to identify additional, more valuable investment opportunities
in the future that result from a current opportunity or operation.

Guaranteed investment contract (GIC)

A pure investment product in which a life company agrees, for a
single premium, to pay the principal amount of a predetermined annual crediting (interest) rate over the life of
the investment, all of which is paid at the maturity date.

Information services

Organizations that furnish investment and other types of information, such as
information that helps a firm monitor its cash position.

Intermarket sector

spread The spread between the interest rate offered in two sectors of the bond market for
issues of the same maturity.

Intermarket spread swaps

An exchange of one bond for another based on the manager's projection of a
realignment of spreads between sectors of the bond market.

Intermediate-term

Typically 1-10 years.

Intermediation

investment through a financial institution. Related: disintermediation.

Investment analysts

Related: financial analysts

Investment bank

Financial intermediaries who perform a variety of services, including aiding in the sale of
securities, facilitating mergers and other corporate reorganizations, acting as brokers to both individual and
institutional clients, and trading for their own accounts. Underwriters.

Investment decisions

Decisions concerning the asset side of a firm's balance sheet, such as the decision to
offer a new product.

Investment grade bonds

A bond that is assigned a rating in the top four categories by commercial credit
rating companies. For example, S&P classifies investment grade bonds as BBB or higher, and Moodys'
classifies investment grade bonds as Ba or higher. Related: High-yield bond.

Investment income

The revenue from a portfolio of invested assets.
investment management Also called portfolio management and money management, the process of
managing money.

Investment manager

Also called a portfolio manager and money manager, the individual who manages a
portfolio of investments.

Investment product line (IPML)

The line of required returns for investment projects as a function of beta
(nondiversifiable risk).

Investment tax credit

Proportion of new capital investment that can be used to reduce a company's tax bill
(abolished in 1986).

Investment trust

A closed-end fund regulated by the investment Company Act of 1940. These funds have a
fixed number of shares which are traded on the secondary markets similarly to corporate stocks. The market
price may exceed the net asset value per share, in which case it is considered at a "premium." When the
market price falls below the NAV/share, it is at a "discount." Many closed-end funds are of a specialized
nature, with the portfolio representing a particular industry, country, etc. These funds are usually listed on US
and foreign exchanges.

Investment value

Related:straight value.

Investments

As a discipline, the study of financial securities, such as stocks and bonds, from the investor's
viewpoint. This area deals with the firm's financing decision, but from the other side of the transaction.

Legal investments

investments that a regulated entity is permitted to make under the rules and regulations
that govern its investing.

Liquidity theory of the term structure

A biased expectations theory that asserts that the implied forward
rates will not be a pure estimate of the market's expectations of future interest rates because they embody a
liquidity premium.

Long-term

In accounting information, one year or greater.

Long-term assets

Value of property, equipment and other capital assets minus the depreciation. This is an
entry in the bookkeeping records of a company, usually on a "cost" basis and thus does not necessarily reflect
the market value of the assets.

Long-term debt

An obligation having a maturity of more than one year from the date it was issued. Also
called funded debt.

Long-term debt/capitalization

Indicator of financial leverage. Shows long-term debt as a proportion of the
capital available. Determined by dividing long-term debt by the sum of long-term debt, preferred stock and
common stockholder equity.

Long-term debt ratio

The ratio of long-term debt to total capitalization.

Long-term financial plan

Financial plan covering two or more years of future operations.

Long-term liabilities

Amount owed for leases, bond repayment and other items due after 1 year.

Long-term debt to equity ratio

A capitalization ratio comparing long-term debt to shareholders' equity.

Medium-term note

A corporate debt instrument that is continuously offered to investors over a period of
time by an agent of the issuer. Investors can select from the following maturity bands: 9 months to 1 year,
more than 1 year to 18 months, more than 18 months to 2 years, etc., up to 30 years.

Mutually exclusive investment decisions

investment decisions in which the acceptance of a project
precludes the acceptance of one or more alternative projects.

Net investment

Gross, or total, investment minus depreciation.

Net present value of future investments

The present value of the total sum of NPVs expected to result from
all of the firm's future investments.

Non-financial services

Include such things as freight, insurance, passenger services, and travel.

Other long term liabilities

Value of leases, future employee benefits, deferred taxes and other obligations
not requiring interest payments that must be paid over a period of more than 1 year.

Passive investment strategy

See: passive management.

Passive investment management

Buying a well-diversified portfolio to represent a broad-based market
index without attempting to search out mispriced securities.

Reinvestment rate

The rate at which an investor assumes interest payments made on a debt security can be
reinvested over the life of that security.

Reinvestment risk

The risk that proceeds received in the future will have to be reinvested at a lower potential
interest rate.

REIT (real estate investment trust)

Real estate investment trust, which is similar to a closed-end mutual
fund. REITs invest in real estate or loans secured by real estate and issue shares in such investments.

REMIC (real estate mortgage investment conduit)

A pass-through tax entity that can hold mortgages
secured by any type of real property and issue multiple classes of ownership interests to investors in the form
of pass-through certificates, bonds, or other legal forms. A financing vehicle created under the Tax Reform
Act of 1986.

Return on investment (ROI)

Generally, book income as a proportion of net book value.

Selling short

If an investor thinks the price of a stock is going down, the investor could borrow the stock from
a broker and sell it. Eventually, the investor must buy the stock back on the open market. For instance, you
borrow 1000 shares of XYZ on July 1 and sell it for $8 per share. Then, on Aug 1, you purchase 1000 shares
of XYZ at $7 per share. You've made $1000 (less commissions and other fees) by selling short.

Short

One who has sold a contract to establish a market position and who has not yet closed out this position
through an offsetting purchase; the opposite of a long position. Related: Long.

Short bonds

Bonds with short current maturities.

Short book

See: unmatched book.

Short hedge

The sale of a futures contract(s) to eliminate or lessen the possible decline in value ownership of
an approximately equal amount of the actual financial instrument or physical commodity.
Related: Long hedge.

Short interest

This is the total number of shares of a security that investors have borrowed, then sold in the
hope that the security will fall in value. An investor then buys back the shares and pockets the difference as profit.

Short position

Occurs when a person sells stocks he or she does not yet own. Shares must be borrowed,
before the sale, to make "good delivery" to the buyer. Eventually, the shares must be bought to close out the
transaction. This technique is used when an investor believes the stock price will go down.

Short sale

Selling a security that the seller does not own but is committed to repurchasing eventually. It is
used to capitalize on an expected decline in the security's price.

Short selling

Establishing a market position by selling a security one does not own in anticipation of the price
of that security falling.

Short squeeze

A situation in which a lack of supply tends to force prices upward.

Short straddle

A straddle in which one put and one call are sold.

Shortage cost

Costs that fall with increases in the level of investment in current assets.

Shortfall risk

The risk of falling short of any investment target.

Short-run operating activities

Events and decisions concerning the short-term finance of a firm, such as
how much inventory to order and whether to offer cash terms or credit terms to customers.

Short-term financial plan

A financial plan that covers the coming fiscal year.

Short-term solvency ratios

Ratios used to judge the adequacy of liquid assets for meeting short-term
obligations as they come due, including
1) the current ratio,
2) the acid-test ratio,
3) the inventory turnover ratio, and
4) the accounts receivable turnover ratio.

Short-term tax exempts

short-term securities issued by states, municipalities, local housing agencies, and
urban renewal agencies.

Term bonds

Often referred to as bullet-maturity bonds or simply bullet bonds, bonds whose principal is
payable at maturity. Related: serial bonds

Term Fed Funds

Fed Funds sold for a period of time longer than overnight.

Term life insurance

A contract that provides a death benefit but no cash build-up or investment component.
The premium remains constant only for a specified term of years, and the policy is usually renewable at the
end of each term.

Term loan

A bank loan, typically with a floating interest rate, for a specified amount that matures in between
one and ten years and requires a specified repayment schedule.

Term insurance

Provides a death benefit only, no build-up of cash value.

Term repo

A repurchase agreement with a term of more than one day.
term structure of interest rates
Relationship between interest rates on bonds of different maturities usually
depicted in the form of a graph often depicted as a yield curve. Harvey shows that inverted term structures
(long rates below short rates) have preceded every recession over the past 30 years.

Term to maturity

The time remaining on a bond's life, or the date on which the debt will cease to exist and
the borrower will have completely paid off the amount borrowed. See: Maturity.

Term premiums

Excess of the yields to maturity on long-term bonds over those of short-term bonds.

Term trust

A closed-end fund that has a fixed termination or maturity date.

Terminal value

The value of a bond at maturity, typically its par value, or the value of an asset (or an entire
firm) on some specified future valuation date.

Terms of sale

Conditions on which a firm proposes to sell its goods services for cash or credit.

Terms of trade

The weighted average of a nation's export prices relative to its import prices.

Underinvestment problem

The mirror image of the asset substitution problem, wherein stockholders refuse
to invest in low-risk assets to avoid shifting wealth from themselves to the debtholders.
Underlying
The "something" that the parties agree to exchange in a derivative contract.

Unit investment trust

Money invested in a portfolio whose composition is fixed for the life of the fund.
Shares in a unit trust are called redeemable trust certificates, and they are sold at a premium above net asset value.

Zero-investment portfolio

A portfolio of zero net value established by buying and shorting component
securities, usually in the context of an arbitrage strategy.

LONG-TERM LIABILITIES

Bills that are payable in more than one year, such as a mortgage or bonds.

RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI)

In its most basic form, the rate of return equals net income divided by the amount of money invested. It can be applied to a particular product or piece of equipment, or to a business as a whole.

Investment centre

A division or unit of an organization that is responsible for achieving an adequate return on
the capital invested in the division or unit.

Long-term liabilities

Amounts owing after more than one year.

Return on investment (ROI)

The net profit after tax as a percentage of the shareholders’ investment in the business.

capital investment analysis

Refers to various techniques and procedures
used to determine or to analyze future returns from an investment
of capital in order to evaluate the capital recovery pattern and the
periodic earnings from the investment. The two basic tools for capital
investment analysis are (1) spreadsheet models (which I strongly prefer)
and (2) mathematical equations for calculating the present value or
internal rate of return of an investment. Mathematical methods suffer
from a lack of information that the decision maker ought to consider. A
spreadsheet model supplies all the needed information and has other
advantages as well.

return on investment (ROI)

A very general concept that refers to some
measure of income, earnings, profit, or gain over a period of time
divided by the amount of capital invested during the period. It is almost
always expressed as a percent. For a business, an important ROI measure
is its return on equity (ROE), which is computed by dividing its net
income for the period by its owners’ equity during the period.

Investment

The commitment of funds (capital) in anticipation of an increased
return of funds at some point in the future

coefficient of determination

a measure of dispersion that
indicates the “goodness of fit” of the actual observations
to the least squares regression line; indicates what proportion
of the total variation in y is explained by the regression model

investment center

a responsibility center in which the manager
is responsible for generating revenues and planning
and controlling expenses and has the authority to acquire,
dispose of, and use plant assets to earn the highest rate
of return feasible on those assets within the confines and
to the support of the organization’s goals

investment decision

a judgment about which assets will be
acquired by an entity to achieve its stated objectives

postinvestment audit

the process of gathering information
on the actual results of a capital project and comparing
them to the expected results

predetermined overhead rate

an estimated constant charge per unit of activity used to assign overhead cost to production or services of the period; it is calculated by dividing total budgeted annual overhead at a selected level of volume or activity by that selected measure of volume or activity; it is also the standard overhead application rate

reinvestment assumption

an assumption made about the rates of return that will be earned by intermediate cash flows from a capital project; NPV and PI assume reinvestment at the discount rate; IRR assumes reinvestment at the IRR

return on investment

a ratio that relates income generated
by an investment center to the resources (or asset base)
used to produce that income

Short rate

The annualized one-period interest rate.

Short sale, short position

The sale of a security or financial instrument not
owned, in anticipation of a price decline and making a profit by purchasing the
instrument later at a lower price, and then delivering the instrument to
complete the sale. See Long position.

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