Mutual Funds, ESG and Performance Analysis

A series of flashcards containing terms and definitions related to mutual funds, ESG factors, and performance evaluation in investment analysis.

Mutual Funds

Investment vehicles that pool money from many investors to purchase a diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds, or other securities.

Net Asset Value (NAV)

The total value of a fund's assets minus the total value of its liabilities, typically expressed on a per-share basis.

Performance Evaluation

The process of analyzing the returns of an investment relative to its risk and comparing it to a benchmark.

Environmental Factors

Elements related to environmental issues, including greenhouse gas emissions and ecological impacts.

Social Factors

Elements related to social concerns, such as human rights, workplace health, and customer welfare.

Governance Factors

Elements related to the governance of a company, including board independence and shareholder rights.

Total Expense Ratio (TER)

A measure that expresses the total costs of a mutual fund as a percentage of its net assets.

Money Market Funds

Funds that invest in short-term, low-risk securities to provide liquidity and regular income.

Equity Funds

Mutual funds that invest primarily in stocks, aiming for long-term capital growth.

Fixed Income Funds

Funds that invest in bonds and other debt instruments, focusing on fixed interest returns.

Sharpe Ratio

A measure of risk-adjusted return, calculated as the average return earned in excess of the risk-free rate per unit of volatility.

Alpha

The measure of the active return on an investment compared to a market index; a positive alpha indicates better performance than the market.

Beta

A measure of a fund's volatility relative to the market; a beta greater than 1 indicates more volatility than the market.

ESG Fund

Funds that integrate environmental, social, and governance factors into investment analysis and decision-making.

Absolute Return Funds

Investment funds that seek to deliver positive returns in any market environment, independent of benchmark performance.

ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund)

A type of fund that holds a collection of assets and is traded on stock exchanges, often aiming to track an index.

Time-Weighted Return

A method of measuring the performance of an investment portfolio that eliminates the effects of cash flows.

Dollar-Weighted Return

A method of evaluating investment performance that accounts for the timing and size of cash flows into and out of the portfolio.