Here is a glossary of all terminology used throughout the application that could be helpful when explaining a concept to a client.
Alpha
Alpha is a measure of performance. It indicates when an investment has beaten the market over a period of time.
Beta
Beta is used as a measure of volatility of an investment compared to the risk of the entire market. A score of 1 indicates the investment is as volatile as the market. Less than 1 indicates it is less volatile than the market.
Consistent Return
The Lipper Rating for Consistent Return identifies a fund that has provided relatively superior consistency and risk-adjusted returns when compared to a group of similar funds. Funds which achieve high ratings for Consistent Return may be the best fit for investors who value a fund’s year-to-year consistency relative to other funds in a particular peer group.
Investors are cautioned that some peer groups are inherently more volatile than others, and even Lipper Leaders for Consistent Return in the most volatile groups may not be well suited to shorter-term goals or less risk-tolerant investors.
Information Ratio
Information Ratio measures a portfolio’s return beyond the returns of a benchmark and compares it to the volatility of the returns.
Lipper Leader Scores
http://www.lipperleaders.com/quickinfo.aspx
Funds are ranked against their Lipper peer group classifications each month for 3-, 5-, 10-year, and overall periods. These ratings are based on an equal-weighted average of percentile ranks of the five Lipper Leaders metrics.
For each metric:
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the top 20% of funds receive a rating of ‘5’ and are named Lipper Leaders;
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the next 20% of funds receive a rating of ‘4’;
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the middle 20% of funds receive a rating of ‘3’;
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the next 20% of funds receive a rating of ‘2’;
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the lowest 20% of funds receive a rating of ‘1’.
Lipper Leaders provide context and perspective for making informed investment decisions but do not predict future performance.
Management Expense Ratio
Management Expense Ratio (“MER”) indicates how much a fund pays in management fees, operating expenses, taxes, and potentially commissions to advisors.
Maximum Drawdown
Maximum Drawdown is the maximum compounded loss an investment incurred during a period.
Portfolio Correlation
Portfolio Correlation measures how much two investments move relative to each other. Correlation falls between -1.0 and 1.0.
Preservation
The Lipper Rating for Preservation is a fund that has demonstrated a superior ability to preserve capital in a variety of markets when compared with other funds in its asset class.
Choosing a Lipper Rating for Preservation may help to minizine downside risk relative to other fund choices in the same asset class. Investors are cautioned that equity funds have historically been more volatile than mixed-equity or fixed-income funds, and that even the Lipper Rating for Preservation in more volatile asset classes may not be well suited to shorter-term goals or less risk-tolerant investors.
R-squared
R-squared measures what percentage of an investment’s performance is caused by movements in its benchmark. R-squared values range from 0 to 100%.
Sharpe Ratio
Sharpe Ratio describes how much excess return an investment produces relative to its volatility.
Standard Deviation
Standard Deviation measures the historical volatility of an investment. It compares the variance of performance relative to its average over time.
Total Return
The Lipper Rating for Total Return denotes a fund that has provided superior total returns (income from dividends and interest as well as capital appreciation) when compared to a group of similar funds.
Tracking Error
Tracking Error is the difference between the standard deviation of a fund and its benchmark. It is used to indicate how closely a fund replicates a benchmark.
Upside/Downside Capture
Upside/Downside Capture is a measure of an investment's performance during positive and negative market periods. It's used to determine how well an investment performed during periods where market returns have been positive or negative. It's presented as a percentage.