Basis point (bp) equals 1/100 of a percentage point. 1 bp = 0.01%, 100 bps = 1%.

Beta measures the volatility of a security or portfolio relative to an index. Less than one means lower volatility than the index; more than one means greater volatility.

A call option is a derivatives contract giving the owner the right, but not the obligation, to buy a specified amount of an underlying security at a specified price within a specified time.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) is an unmanaged index representing the rate of inflation of the U.S. consumer prices as determined by the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics.

Correlation measures the degree to which two variables move in relation to each other. A value of 1.0 implies movement in parallel, -1.0 implies movement in opposite directions, and 0.0 implies no relationship.

Coupon: A regular interest payment that is paid on a bond. It is described as a percentage of the face value of an investment. For example, if a bond has a face value of £100 and a 5% annual coupon, the bond will pay £5 a year in interest.

Covariance measures the directional relationship between the returns on two assets. A positive covariance means asset returns move together, while a negative covariance means they move inversely.

Duration measures a bond price’s sensitivity to changes in interest rates. The longer a bond’s duration, the higher its sensitivity to changes in interest rates and vice versa.

Margin call: A margin call occurs when a margin account runs low on funds, usually because of a losing trade.

Portfolio protection: Preservation-of-capital techniques include diversifying holdings over different asset classes and choosing assets that are non-correlating.

Put options give holders of the option the right, but not the obligation, to sell a specified amount of an underlying security at a specified price within a specified time frame.

Polarity: The idea that former support turns into resistance and former resistance turns into support.

Risk premia: In alternatives investing, risk premia are investment strategies that aim to systematically isolate and harvest excess returns from exposure to specific risk factors or returns arising from behavioral or structural market anomalies.

Option skew: The observation that not all options on the same underlying asset and expiration have the same implied volatility assigned to them in the market.

SPAC: A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) is formed to raise money through an initial public offering (IPO) to buy another company.

Standard Deviation measures historical volatility. Higher standard deviation implies greater volatility.

Tail risk: The risk that the performance of an investment will move more than three standard deviations away from the mean suggested by a normal distribution curve. These are considered events that have a small probability of occurring, but which could have a significant effect on performance were they to arise. They occur at both ends of a normal distribution curve, with ‘left-hand tail risk’ the term used to describe negative tail risk factors, and ‘right-hand tail risk’ describing unlikely events that would have a positive impact on performance

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Fixed income securities are subject to interest rate, inflation, credit and default risk. As interest rates rise, bond prices usually fall, and vice versa.

High-yield bonds, or “junk” bonds, involve a greater risk of default and price volatility.

Foreign securities, including sovereign debt, are subject to currency fluctuations, political and economic uncertainty and increased volatility and lower liquidity, all of which are magnified in emerging markets.