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Bloomberg Barclays US Aggregate Bond Index
The Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index, or the Agg, is a broad base, market capitalization-weighted bond market index representing intermediate term investment grade bonds traded in the United States. Investors frequently use the index as a stand-in for measuring the performance of the US bond market. In addition to investment grade corporate debt, the index tracks government debt, mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and asset-backed securities (ABS) to simulate the universe of investable bonds that meet certain criteria. In order to be included in the Agg, bonds must be of investment grade, have an outstanding par value of at least $100 million and have at least one year until maturity. Index funds and exchange-traded funds are available that track this bond index. The index has been maintained by Bloomberg L.P. since August 24, 2016. Prior to then it was known as the Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond Index and was maintained by Barclays. Prior to November 3, 2008 it was known as th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Market Capitalization
Market capitalization, sometimes referred to as market cap, is the total value of a publicly traded company's outstanding common shares owned by stockholders. Market capitalization is equal to the market price per common share multiplied by the number of common shares outstanding. Description Market capitalization is sometimes used to rank the size of companies. It measures only the equity component of a company's capital structure, and does not reflect management's decision as to how much debt (or leverage) is used to finance the firm. A more comprehensive measure of a firm's size is enterprise value (EV), which gives effect to outstanding debt, preferred stock, and other factors. For insurance firms, a value called the embedded value (EV) has been used. It is also used in ranking the relative size of stock exchanges, being a measure of the sum of the market capitalizations of all companies listed on each stock exchange. The total capitalization of stock markets or eco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boutique Investment Bank
A boutique investment bank is an investment bank that specializes in at least one aspect of investment banking, generally corporate finance, although some banks' strengths are retail in nature, such as Charles Schwab. Of those involved in corporate finance, capital raising, mergers and acquisitions and restructuring and reorganizations are their primary activities. Boutiques usually provide advisory and consulting services, but lack capacity to provide funding. After the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act, investment banks have either had a retail deposit base (JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Bank of America) or have had funding from overseas owners or from Wealth Management arms ( UBS, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley). Boutique banks on the other hand often turn to other banks to provide funding or deal directly with capital rich firms such as insurers to provide capital for deals. Boutique investment banks generally work on smaller deals involving middle-market companies, and usually assist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bond Market Index
A bond index or bond market index is a method of measuring the investment performance and characteristics of the bond market. There are numerous indices of differing construction that are designed to measure the aggregate bond market and its various sectors (government, municipal, corporate, etc.) A bond index is computed from the change in market prices and, in the case of a total return index, the interest payments, associated with selected bonds over a specified period of time. Bond indices are used by investors and portfolio managers as a benchmark against which to measure the performance of actively managed bond portfolios, which attempt to outperform the index, and passively managed bond portfolios, that are designed to match the performance of the index. Bond indices are also used in determining the compensation of those who manage bond portfolios on a performance-fee basis. An index is a mathematical construct, so it may not be invested in directly. But many mutual fu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interest Rate
An interest rate is the amount of interest due per period, as a proportion of the amount lent, deposited, or borrowed (called the principal sum). The total interest on an amount lent or borrowed depends on the principal sum, the interest rate, the compounding frequency, and the length of time over which it is lent, deposited, or borrowed. The annual interest rate is the rate over a period of one year. Other interest rates apply over different periods, such as a month or a day, but they are usually annualized. The interest rate has been characterized as "an index of the preference . . . for a dollar of present ncomeover a dollar of future income". The borrower wants, or needs, to have money sooner, and is willing to pay a fee—the interest rate—for that privilege. Influencing factors Interest rates vary according to: * the government's directives to the central bank to accomplish the government's goals * the currency of the principal sum lent or borrowed * the term to m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fidelity Investments
Fidelity Investments, formerly known as Fidelity Management & Research (FMR), owned by FMR LLC and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, provides financial services. Established in 1946, the company is one of the largest asset managers in the world, with $5.8 trillion in discretionary assets under management, and $15.1 trillion in assets under administration, . Fidelity operates a brokerage firm, manages mutual funds, provides fund distribution and investment advice, retirement services, index funds, wealth management, securities execution and clearance, asset custody, and life insurance. It offers brokerage clearing and back office support and software products for financial services firms. It also offers a donor-advised fund, Fidelity Charitable, for clients seeking to donate securities. It processes 3.5 million daily average trades. It is one of the largest providers of 401(k) plans and manages employee benefit programs for more than 28,800 businesses. Abig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Vanguard Group
The Vanguard Group, Inc. is an American registered investment adviser founded on May 1, 1975, and based in Malvern, Pennsylvania, with about $10.4 trillion in global assets under management as of 31 January 2025. It is the largest provider of mutual funds and the second-largest provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the world after BlackRock's iShares. In addition to mutual funds and ETFs, Vanguard offers brokerage services, educational account services, financial planning, asset management, and trust services. Several mutual funds managed by Vanguard are ranked at the top of the list of US mutual funds by assets under management. Along with BlackRock and State Street, Vanguard is considered to be one of the Big Three index fund managers that play a dominant role in retail investing. Founder and former chairman John C. Bogle is credited with the creation of the first index fund available to individual investors and was a proponent and major enabler of low-cost inves ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thrift Savings Plan
The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is a defined contribution plan for United States civil service employees and retirees as well as for members of the uniformed services. As of December 31, 2023, TSP has approximately 7million participants (of which approximately 4.1million are actively participating through payroll deductions), and more than $845.4billion in assets under management; it purports to be the largest defined contribution plan in the world. The TSP is administered by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, an independent agency. The TSP is one of three components of the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS; the others being the FERS annuity and Social Security) and is designed to closely resemble the dynamics of private sector 401(k) and Roth 401k plans (TSP implemented a Roth option in May 2012). It is also open to employees covered under the older Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) but with far fewer benefits (mainly the lack of matching contributi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IShares
iShares is a collection of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and index mutual funds managed by BlackRock, which acquired the brand and business from Barclays in 2009. The first iShares ETFs were known as World Equity Benchmark Shares (WEBS) but have since been rebranded. Most iShares funds track a bond or stock market index, although some are actively managed. Stock exchanges listing iShares funds include the London Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange, BATS Exchange, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Mexican Stock Exchange, Toronto Stock Exchange, Australian Securities Exchange, B3 (stock exchange), and a number of European and Asian stock exchanges. iShares is the largest issuer of ETFs in the US and globally, and also manages index mutual funds. History In 1993, State Street, in cooperation with American Stock Exchange, launched Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts () (now the 'SPDR S&P 500'), which was traded in real time and tracked the S&P 500 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corporate Bond
A corporate bond is a bond issued by a corporation in order to raise financing for a variety of reasons such as to ongoing operations, mergers & acquisitions, or to expand business. It is a longer-term debt instrument indicating that a corporation has borrowed a certain amount of money and promises to repay it in the future under specific terms. Corporate debt instruments with maturity shorter than one year are referred to as commercial paper. Definition A corporate bond is a bond issued by a corporation in order to raise financing for a variety of reasons such as to ongoing operations, mergers & acquisitions, or to expand business. The term sometimes also encompasses bonds issued by supranational organizations (such as European Bank for Reconstruction and Development). Strictly speaking, however, it only applies to those issued by corporations. The bonds of local authorities ( municipal bonds) are not included. Trading Corporate bonds trade in decentralized, dealer-b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Treasury Security
United States Treasury securities, also called Treasuries or Treasurys, are government debt instruments issued by the United States Department of the Treasury to finance government spending as a supplement to taxation. Since 2012, the U.S. government debt has been managed by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, succeeding the Bureau of the Public Debt. There are four types of marketable Treasury securities: Treasury bills, Treasury notes, Treasury bonds, and Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS). The government sells these securities in auctions conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, after which they can be traded in secondary markets. Non-marketable securities include savings bonds, issued to individuals; the State and Local Government Series (SLGS), purchaseable only with the proceeds of state and municipal bond sales; and the Government Account Series, purchased by units of the federal government. Treasury securities are backed by the full faith a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Municipal Bond
A municipal bond, commonly known as a muni, is a bond issued by state or local governments, or entities they create such as authorities and special districts. In the United States, interest income received by holders of municipal bonds is often, but not always, exempt from federal and state income taxation. Typically, only investors in the highest tax brackets benefit from buying tax-exempt municipal bonds instead of taxable bonds. Taxable equivalent yield calculations are required to make fair comparisons between the two categories. The U.S. municipal debt market is relatively small compared to the corporate market: total municipal debt outstanding was $4 trillion as of the first quarter of 2021, compared to nearly $15 trillion in the corporate and foreign markets. But conversely, the number of municipal bond issuers (state and local governments and other affiliated entities) far exceeds the number of corporate bond issuers. Local authorities in many other countries in the wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscription model, requiring readers to pay for access to most of its articles and content. The ''Journal'' is published six days a week by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corp. As of 2023, ''The'' ''Wall Street Journal'' is the List of newspapers in the United States, largest newspaper in the United States by print circulation, with 609,650 print subscribers. It has 3.17 million digital subscribers, the second-most in the nation after ''The New York Times''. The newspaper is one of the United States' Newspaper of record, newspapers of record. The first issue of the newspaper was published on July 8, 1889. The Editorial board at The Wall Street Journal, editorial page of the ''Journal'' is typically center-right in its positio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
