Glossary

How sensitive a stock's price is to broad market movements, with 1.0 being in line with the market.

The profit realized when an investment is sold for more than what was paid for it.

The share of a portfolio held in a single position, sector, or narrow group.

The running total of money you're allowed to contribute to a registered account without tax penalty.

A measure from -1 to +1 of how closely two assets' returns move together.

The portion of a portfolio priced in currencies other than the investor's home currency.

Tax that's postponed to a future year rather than paid when the income is earned.

Spreading a portfolio across positions whose returns don't move in lockstep.

A company that has raised its dividend every year for a qualifying minimum number of consecutive years.

A Canadian tax credit that lowers the effective tax rate on dividends from Canadian corporations.

Annual dividend payment divided by current share price, shown as a percentage.

The peak-to-trough decline in a portfolio or asset over a specific period.

A plan that automatically uses a stock's cash dividends to buy more shares of the same stock.

A pooled investment fund whose shares trade on a stock exchange throughout the day.

The cutoff date — buying on or after this date means missing the next dividend payment.

The annual operating cost of a US-listed fund or ETF, as a percentage of assets.

A portfolio's deliberate overweight to an equity risk factor — value, momentum, quality, and so on.

A 0-100 composite that summarizes several market-stress signals into a single sentiment score.

Tax withheld by a foreign country on dividends or interest paid to a non-resident investor.

A portfolio tilt toward companies with fast-growing earnings, revenue, or book value.

Share price times shares outstanding — the total market value of a company's equity.

The total annual cost of owning a Canadian mutual fund or ETF, shown as a percentage of assets.

A portfolio tilt toward stocks whose recent trailing returns have been strong.

An investment account with no tax preferences — interest, dividends, and gains are taxed as they're realized.

The percentage of earnings a company pays out as dividends rather than retaining.

A stock's price divided by its book value per share — what the market pays for one dollar of reported net assets.

A stock's price divided by its earnings per share — what the market pays for one dollar of profit.

A portfolio tilt toward profitable, stable, low-debt companies.

A Canadian investment account whose tax treatment is preferential in exchange for contribution and withdrawal rules.

A portfolio's overweight or underweight to specific industry sectors compared with a benchmark.

A portfolio's excess return over the risk-free rate, divided by how much its returns swung around.

How much a series of returns typically varies from its average — the standard measure of volatility.

Investment returns that are never taxed, distinct from returns whose tax is merely postponed.

Selling a losing position to realize a capital loss that offsets realized gains elsewhere.

How far a fund's returns stray from the returns of the index it aims to track.

A portfolio tilt toward stocks that trade cheaply relative to their earnings, book value, or sales.

The line plotting government-bond yields against their maturities, from short to long.