Asset Allocation (Répartition d’actifs) - the process of determining what proportion of a portfolio shall be comprised investments in classes of securities (generally equity and fixed income securities and possibly others called alternative investments). Also called strategic asset allocation as opposed to tactical asset allocation. See the section Asset Allocation for a discussion.

Beck- refers to a book - Peter Beck et al, Hedge Funds for Canadians, 2005, 2nd edition, John Wiley & sons Canada Ltd.

Blodget- refers to an internet site and book by this author; Henry Blodget, The Wall Street Self Defense Manual, Atlas Books, 2007; web site www.wallstreewtselfdefense.com . Henry Blodget is a world-famous ex- analyst with Merrill Lynch who fell into infamy  and was expelled for life from the USA securities industry.  He has written a wonderful book on how the average investor can protect himself  when investing.

Catalano- refers to a book by Vincent Catalano- Sectors & Styles,2006, John Wiley & Sons,Inc. A book by a USA author who does not recommend a passive index approach to investing but which is nevertheless an interesting example of the use of sector ETF funds.

CCH- refers to the booklet - CCH Tax reference Booklet 2005-2006 on taxation in Canada.

 
company (société) - used interchangeably with corporation to generally signify an entity other than a government body which carries on commercial activities for profit and issues shares and bonds to finance its activities.

Corporation (Société) - used interchangeably with company (Compagnie) to generally signify an entity other than a government body which carries on commercial activities for profit and issues shares and bonds to finance its activities.

Correlation (Corrélation) – A statistical measure of how two securities change price, one related to the other.  Un indice statistique mesurant comment deux titres changent de prix, l’un par rapport à l’autre. See sections Asset Allocation and Diversification -Asset Classes. Here is a more complete definition from definition of Correlation-Investopedia (doc.327): A statistical measure of how two securities move in relation to each other. Correlation is computed into what is known as the correlation coefficient, which ranges between -1 and +1. Perfect positive correlation (a correlation co-efficient of +1) implies that as one security moves, either up or down, the other security will move in lockstep, in the same direction. Alternatively, perfect negative correlation means that if one security moves in either direction the security that is perfectly negatively correlated will move by an equal amount in the opposite direction. If the correlation is 0, the movements of the securities is said to have no correlation, it is completely random. If one security moves up or down there is as good a chance that the other will move either up or down, the way in which they move is totally random. 

CSA (ACVM) - Canadian Securities Administrators - the association all Canadian securities commissions.

De Goey- refers to a book by anadian author John De Goey- The Professional Financial Advisor, 2003, Insomniac Press, on why financial advisers need to become more professional in their training and in their investment advice.

Debt (Dette) - from the issuer's perspective, any liability for borrowed money issued by a borrower, repayment of which at maturity is guaranteed in the sense that ultimately a default permits the lender to sue and (at least in the case of private issuers) put the borrower into bankruptcy. See the section Debt - General. from the investor's perspective, debt is an asset (if reference is being made to the acquisition of a debt security) or a liability if the investor is the issuer of  the debt.We also sometimes use the term fixed income to mean debt although it is a broader term and includes preferred shares. 

Discount Broker (Courtier à escompte) – a stockbroker who typically offers a more limited range of securities and other services in exchange for relatively lower commissions. See the AMF Definitions of Intermediaries (doc.530) and the section Alternative ways of investing-Discount Broker.

EAFE- the index created by Morgan Stanley comprised of shares issued by companies in 21 countries in Europe, Asia and the Far East with developed market economies. It  excludes and the . For more, see the site www.mscibarra.com .

EM- the index created by Morgan Stanley comprised of shares issued by companies in countries with emerging market economies. For more see the site www.mscibarra.com .

Equity (Équité) - a common share or other security which provides a return to its holder which fluctuates in proportion to the dividends which the issuer pays to the holders out of the profits of the issuer. In the liquidation of the issuer the holders of the equity are generally paid last. See in general the section Equity – General.

ETF (FNB)- An exchange traded fund is a collective investment vehicle or fund in which investors purchase units or shares on the stock exchange and which in turns invests the funds so received. Unless otherwise indicated, it is not actively managed but rather invests across broad markets in similar fashion to a MF-I or index mutual fund. See section Index Funds (ETF’s and Index Mutual Funds) for a discussion. In Europe, ETF's are sometimes referred to as trackers and ETF sector funds as active ETF's; see description Euronext doc.718.

Financial Adviser (Conseiller financier) - also known as investment advisors or securities representatives (according to the AMF Definitions of Intermediaries Death of a Stock Salesman (doc.530)) and also known in the past as a registered representative or salesman. See document doc.280. He is the individual who, acting for a full service broker, acts as the interface between broker and client, and handles the customer’s account. Not to be confused with an investment counsel or an independent advisor. See the discussion in the section Alternative ways of investing- Full Service Broker.

Full Service Broker (Courtier de plein exercice) - a stockbroker or investment dealer which offers a wide service of securities trading and other services,  typically for a relatively high level of commissions. See the AMF Definitions of Intermediaries (doc.530) and the section Alternative ways of investing-Full Service Broker.

IDA (ACCOVAM) - the Canadian Investment Dealer’s Association.

Independent Adviser (Conseiller indépendant) - an adviser that provides financial planning services and operates on an hourly basis only, without selling additional financial services (such as portfolio management) and without revenue sharing with brokers. See the AMF definition of a financial planner (AMF Definitions of Intermediaries (doc.530); a financial planner may, depending on how he operates, constitute an independent advisor as we define the term. See also the section Alternative ways of investing- Independent Adviser.

Index Mutual Fund (FCP-I) - a mutual fund which invests in the securities markets broadly, generally investing in each security, in proportion to its relative importance or weight in the market. See section Index Funds (ET’s and Index Mutual Funds) for a discussion.

Investment Counsel (Conseiller en valeurs) - A firm also sometimes known as an adviser (see the AMF Definitions of Intermediaries (doc.530) which specializes in advising typically high net-worth clients (often institutional clients) in investing in securities, without directly providing the trade execution services of a broker. In summary, it is the person a client goes to for investment advice and who may also look after the management of the client’s portfolio (in which event, the firm uses a broker for trade execution). See the section How to invest- investment counsel.

Issuer (Émetteur) - a company, trust or other organization which can issue shares or units to finance its activities. An issuer is a broader term than company or corporation since it includes entities such as ETFs, mutual funds and income trusts which issue units and are not created under corporate legislation.

MacKenzie- refers to a book by Canadian author Warren MacKenzie- A Second Opinion on your Finances, Second Opinion Publishing, which discusses the occasional use of an independent investment adviser on asset allocation.

Un auteur bien connu des lecteurs du jornal Les Affaires, et qui soutient l’approche de sélection individuels de titre, Bernard Mooney, a écrit le livre Investir à la Bourse et s’Enrichir, 2004, Éditions Québecor.

Mutual Fund (FCP) – a collective investment vehicle or fund in which investors purchase in the primary market pursuant to a prospectus units or shares and may require their repurchase at any time at a price set by reference to the market value of the fund’s assets. It may refer to an actively-managed mutual fund (see section Equities-qactively Managed Funds for a discussion) or an index mutual fund;see section Equities-Index Funds (ETF and Index Mutual Funds) for a discussion).  See also History of Mutual Funds by Investopedia (doc.300).  See document of AMF (doc. 510) for the following definition: A mutual fund is made up of money that is pooled by investors and managed on their behalf by a portfolio manager who uses the money to purchase securities such as shares and bonds based on its objectives. In consideration of the money you place into the mutual fund you receive units or shares that represent your share of the mutual fund’s assets. …In general, mutual funds offer units continuously, which mean that new investors can purchase them. Generally, existing investors can ask for their units to be redeemed at any time, and obtain the proceeds quickly. When you ask for your units to be redeemed, the amount received is based on their value, less any redemption fee.

NASA - the association of securities commissions in and the .

O'Donnell- refers to a book on retirement The Canadian Retirement Guide, by Jill O’Donnell, Graham McWaters et John A. Page, 2004, Insomniac Press.

OSC (CVMO) - the Ontario Securities Commission.

Portfolio rebalancing (Rééqulibrage de portefeuille) - the process of regularly reviewing the asset allocation of a portfolio and varying the proportion of the classes of securities to take into account changes since the previous review. See section Investment returns-Portfolio Rebalancing for a discussion.

Publisher (Éditeur) - Cyber InfoInvest reg., the owner, publisher and editor of this site.

RRB (ORR) - a real return bond is a debt instrument generally issued by a Canadian federal or provincial government. Instead of a fixed amount of interest, a return is paid which is adjusted periodically to take into account the rate of inflation. See section Fixed income- Bonds and Inflation for a discussion.

RRSP (REÉR) - a registered retirement savings plan is an investment account set up with a trustee to which an individual contributes within the limits set by Canadian federal and Quebec income tax legislation. It benefits from favourable tax treatment. It may be self-managed (the investor decides on each investment in the RRSP) or not (in which event the trustee or another entity decides on how it is to be invested). See sections RRSP Accounts Taxation-Taxation and Investing and for a discussion.

Siegel- refers to a book by Jeremy J. Siegel,  The Future for Investors, 2005, Crown Business.Mr. Siegel is a professor who became famous for correctly predicting the end of the technology bull market in 2000. 

Tactical Asset Allocation (Répartition d’actifs tactique) - A short term invarious asset classes in a portfolio to take account of market pricing anomalies or to take into account a strong performing market sectors. See sections Investment returns-Asset Allocation and Equities-Beat the market for a discussion. See also definition of tactical asset rebalancing in Investopedia (doc.296).

Taleb- refers to a magnificent book by Nassim Nicholas Taleb explaining the hidden role of luck in every day life and in the financial markets: : Fooled by Randomness, 2^nd edition, 2004, Random House.

Top10- the following 10 financial groups in Canada:
(for more, see the section Financial System):
Royal Bank of Canada - www.rbc.com
Bank of Montreal - www2.bmo.com
Toronto Dominion Bank - www.td.com
Bank of Nova Scotia - www.scotiabank.com
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce - www.cibc.com
National Bank of Canada - www.bnc.ca
Mouvement des Caisses Desjardins - www.desjardins.com
Sun Life Financial Inc. - www.sunlife.com
Manulife Financial Group- www.manulife.com
Power Financial Corporation – www.powerfinancial.com.