Availability heuristic

This one is not written up yet

The definition above is the short version. A full explanation — how it works, a worked example and the exam traps — is still being written. In the meantime the chapter below covers it in context.

Written up from the same chapter

• Asset allocationThe decision on how to distribute a client's wealth across asset classes — the first decision in building a portfolio, and the one that explains most of what the portfolio then does.
• Credit riskThe risk that a borrower fails to meet its obligations on a debt instrument — the risk credit rating agencies exist to grade, and the one that triggers a segregated portfolio in a mutual fund.
• Inflation riskThe risk that the money an investment pays out will be worth less in goods and services than expected, because prices have risen — highest in fixed-return products and most damaging to retirees.
• Interest rate riskThe risk that an investor in a debt instrument loses return because rates rise — existing instruments carrying the old, lower coupon fall in value until their yield matches the new market rate.
• Liquidity riskThe risk of being unable to get out of a position at or near the quoted price — because the contract is bilateral, because the order book is thin, or because volumes dry up near expiry.
• Risk profilingEstablishing how much risk an investor should carry by weighing three separate things — the need to take risk, the financial ability to take it, and the psychological willingness to bear it.