Index

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

• AlphaThe return a fund earned above what its beta and the benchmark say it should have earned — the slice of performance left over once the market has been given credit for its share.
• BenchmarkThe independently published index a scheme's performance is measured against, chosen to match its investment objective, asset allocation and strategy, and disclosed in the Scheme Information Document.
• Exchange Traded FundA mutual fund scheme whose units are listed and traded on a stock exchange like a share, so you transact at live prices through the day instead of at one end-of-day NAV.
• Impact costThe percentage by which a market order's actual execution price degrades against the ideal price — the mid-point of the best bid and the best offer — and so the real cost of trading in size.
• LiquidityThe degree of ease with which you can turn an investment back into cash at a fair value — one of the three pillars of investing, alongside safety and return.
• Tracking errorThe gap between the return of a passive fund and the return of the index it is trying to replicate — the measure of how faithfully an index fund or ETF does its one job.