Definition of Pension Fund

Pension Fund

Assets used to pay the pensions of retirees. An investment institution established to manage the assets used to pay the pensions of retirees.

Overfunded pension plan

A pension plan that has a positive surplus (i.e., assets exceed liabilities).

Underfunded pension plan

A pension plan that has a negative surplus (i.e., liabilities exceed assets).

Institutional investors

Organizations that invest, including insurance companies, depository institutions,
pension funds, investment companies, mutual funds, and endowment funds.

Annual fund operating expenses

For investment companies, the management fee and "other expenses,"
including the expenses for maintaining shareholder records, providing shareholders with financial statements,
and providing custodial and accounting services. For 12b-1 funds, selling and marketing costs are included.

Balanced fund

An investment company that invests in stocks and bonds. The same as a balanced mutual fund.

Balanced mutual fund

This is a fund that buys common stock, preferred stock and bonds. The same as a
balanced fund.

Beta (Mutual Funds)

The measure of a fund's or stocks risk in relation to the market. A beta of 0.7 means
the fund's total return is likely to move up or down 70% of the market change; 1.3 means total return is likely
to move up or down 30% more than the market. Beta is referred to as an index of the systematic risk due to
general market conditions that cannot be diversified away.

Beta equation (Mutual Funds)

The beta of a fund is determined as follows:
[(n) (sum of (xy)) ]-[ (sum of x) (sum of y)]
[(n) (sum of (xx)) ]-[ (sum of x) (sum of x)]
where: n = # of observations (36 months)
x = rate of return for the S&P 500 Index
y = rate of return for the fund

Closed-end fund

An investment company that sells shares like any other corporation and usually does not
redeem its shares. A publicly traded fund sold on stock exchanges or over the counter that may trade above or
below its net asset value. Related: Open-end fund.

Contingent pension liability

Under ERISA, the firm is liable to the plan participants for up to 39% of the net
worth of the firm.

Cost of funds

Interest rate associated with borrowing money.

Dividend yield (Funds)

Indicated yield represents return on a share of a mutual fund held over the past 12
months. Assumes fund was purchased 1 year ago. Reflects effect of sales charges (at current rates), but not
redemption charges.

Employee stock fund

A firm-sponsored program that enables employees to purchase shares of the firm's
common stock on a preferential basis.

Endowment funds

Investment funds established for the support of institutions such as colleges, private
schools, museums, hospitals, and foundations. The investment income may be used for the operation of the
institution and for capital expenditures.

Federal funds

Non-interest bearing deposits held in reserve for depository institutions at their district Federal
Reserve Bank. Also, excess reserves lent by banks to each other.

Federal funds market

The market where banks can borrow or lend reserves, allowing banks temporarily
short of their required reserves to borrow reserves from banks that have excess reserves.

Federal funds rate

This is the interest rate that banks with excess reserves at a Federal Reserve district bank
charge other banks that need overnight loans. The Fed funds rate, as it is called, often points to the direction
of U.S. interest rates.

Forward Fed funds

Fed funds traded for future delivery.

Fund family

Set of funds with different investment objectives offered by one management company. In many
cases, investors may move their assets from one fund to another within the family at little or no cost.

Fundamental analysis

Security analysis that seeks to detect misvalued securities by an analysis of the firm's
business prospects. Research analysis often focuses on earnings, dividend prospects, expectations for future
interest rates, and risk evaluation of the firm.

Fundamental beta

The product of a statistical model to predict the fundamental risk of a security using not
only price data but other market-related and financial data.

Fundamental descriptors

In the model for calculating fundamental beta, ratios in risk indexes other than
market variability, which rely on financial data other than price data.

Funded debt

Debt maturing after more than one year.

Funding ratio

The ratio of a pension plan's assets to its liabilities.

Funding risk

Related: interest rate risk

Funds From Operations (FFO)

Used by real estate and other investment trusts to define the cash flow from
trust operations. It is earnings with depreciation and amortization added back. A similar term increasingly
used is funds Available for Distribution (FAD), which is FFO less capital investments in trust property and
the amortization of mortgages.

Global fund

A mutual fund that can invest anywhere in the world, including the U.S.

Hedge fund

A fund that may employ a variety of techniques to enhance returns, such as both buying and
shorting stocks based on a valuation model.

High-coupon bond refunding

Refunding of a high-coupon bond with a new, lower coupon bond.

Income fund

A mutual fund providing for liberal current income from investments.

Index fund

Investment fund designed to match the returns on a stockmarket index.

International fund

A mutual fund that can invest only outside the United States.

International Monetary Fund

An organization founded in 1944 to oversee exchange arrangements of
member countries and to lend foreign currency reserves to members with short-term balance of payment
problems.

Liability funding strategies

Investment strategies that select assets so that cash flows will equal or exceed
the client's obligations.

Load fund

A mutual fund with shares sold at a price including a large sales charge -- typically 4% to 8% of
the net amount indicated. Some "no-load" funds have distribution fees permitted by article 12b-1 of the
Investment Company Act; these are typically 0. 25%. A "true no-load" fund has neither a sales charge nor
Freddie Mac program, the aggregation that the fund purchaser receives some investment advice or other
service worthy of the charge.

Low-coupon bond refunding

Refunding of a low coupon bond with a new, higher coupon bond.

Match fund

A bank is said to match fund a loan or other asset when it does so by buying (taking) a deposit of
the same maturity. The term is commonly used in the Euromarket.

Money market fund

A mutual fund that invests only in short term securities, such as bankers' acceptances,
commercial paper, repurchase agreements and government bills. The net asset value per share is maintained at
$1. 00. Such funds are not federally insured, although the portfolio may consist of guaranteed securities
and/or the fund may have private insurance protection.

Mutual fund

Mutual funds are pools of money that are managed by an investment company. They offer
investors a variety of goals, depending on the fund and its investment charter. Some funds, for example, seek
to generate income on a regular basis. Others seek to preserve an investor's money. Still others seek to invest
in companies that are growing at a rapid pace. funds can impose a sales charge, or load, on investors when
they buy or sell shares. Many funds these days are no load and impose no sales charge. Mutual funds are
investment companies regulated by the Investment Company Act of 1940.
Related: open-end fund, closed-end fund.

Mutual fund theorem

A result associated with the CAPM, asserting that investors will choose to invest their
entire risky portfolio in a market-index or mutual fund.

Net advantage of refunding

The net present value of the savings from a refunding.

No load mutual fund

An open-end investment company, shares of which are sold without a sales charge.
There can be other distribution charges, however, such as Article 12B-1 fees. A true "no load" fund will have
neither a sales charge nor a distribution fee.

No-load fund

A mutual fund that does not impose a sales commission. Related: load fund

Nonrefundable

Not permitted, under the terms of indenture, to be refundable.

Objective (mutual fund)

The fund's investment strategy category as stated in the prospectus. There are
more than 20 standardized categories.

Open-end fund

Also called a mutual fund, an investment company that stands ready to sell new shares to the
public and to redeem its outstanding shares on demand at a price equal to an appropriate share of the value of
its portfolio, which is computed daily at the close of the market.

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)

A federal agency that insures the vested benefits of
pension plan participants (established in 1974 by the ERISA legislation).

Pension plan

A fund that is established for the payment of retirement benefits.

Pension sponsors

Organizations that have established a pension plan.

Prerefunded bond

Refunded bond.

Private Export Funding Corporation (PEFCO)

Company that mobilizes private capital for financing the
export of big-ticket items by U.S. firms by purchasing at fixed interest rates the medium- to long-term debt
obligations of importers of U.S. products.

Purchase fund

Resembles a sinking fund except that money is used only to purchase bonds if they are selling
below their par value.

Pure index fund

A portfolio that is managed so as to perfectly replicate the performance of the market portfolio.

Refundable

Eligible for refunding under the terms of indenture.

Refunded bond

Also called a prerefunded bond, one that originally may have been issued as a general
obligation or revenue bond but that is now secured by an "escrow fund" consisting entirely of direct U.S.
government obligations that are sufficient for paying the bondholders.

Refunding

The redemption of a bond with proceeds received from issuing lower-cost debt obligations
ranking equal to or superior to the debt to be redeemed.

Regional fund

A mutual fund that invests in a specific geographical area overseas, such as Asia or Europe.

Revenue fund

A fund accounting for all revenues from an enterprise financed by a municipal revenue bond.

Single country fund

A mutual fund that invests in individual countries outside the United States.

Sinking fund requirement

A condition included in some corporate bond indentures that requires the issuer to
retire a specified portion of debt each year. Any principal due at maturity is called the balloon maturity.

Stopping curve refunding rate

A refunding rate that falls on the stopping curve.

Surplus funds

Cash flow available after payment of taxes in the project.

Term Fed Funds

Fed funds sold for a period of time longer than overnight.

12b-1 funds

Mutual funds that do not charge an upfront or back-end commission, but instead take out up to
1.25% of average daily fund assets each year to cover the costs of selling and marketing shares, an
arrangement allowed by the SEC's Rule 12b-I (passed in 1980).

Two-fund separation theorem

The theoretical result that all investors will hold a combination of the riskfree
asset and the market portfolio.

Unfunded debt

Debt maturing within one year (short-term debt). See: funded debt.

Shareholders’ funds

The capital invested in a business by the shareholders, including retained profits.

Pension plan

A formal agreement between an entity and its employees, whereby the
entity agrees to provide some benefits to the employees upon their retirement.

fundamental analysts

Analysts who attempt to find under- or overvalued securities by analyzing fundamental information, such as earnings, asset values, and business prospects.

funded debt

Debt with more than 1 year remaining to maturity.

internally generated funds

Cash reinvested in the firm; depreciation plus earnings not paid out as dividends.

sinking fund

fund established to retire debt before maturity.

Federal Funds Rate

The interest rate at which banks lend deposits at the Federal Reserve to one another overnight.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Organization originally established to manage the postwar fixed exchange rate system.

Life Income Fund

Commonly known as a LIF, this is one of the options available to locked in Registered pension Plan (RPP) holders for income payout as opposed to Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) holders choice of payout through Registered Retirement Income funds (RRIF). A LIF must be converted to a unisex annuity by the time the holder reaches age 80.

Registered Pension Plan

Commonly referred to as an RPP this is a tax sheltered employee group plan approved by Federal and Provincial governments allowing employees to have deductions made directly from their wages by their employer with a resulting reduction of income taxes at source. These plans are easy to implement but difficult to dissolve should the group have a change of heart. Employer contributions are usually a percentage of the employee's salary, typically from 3% to 5%, with a maximum of the lessor of 20% or $3,500 per annum. The employee has the same right of contribution. Vesting is generally set at 2 years, which means that the employee has right of ownership of both his/her and his/her employers contributions to the plan after 2 years. It also means that all contributions are locked in after 2 years and cannot be cashed in for use by the employee in a low income year. Should the employee change jobs, these funds can only be transferred to the RPP of a new employer or the funds can be transferred to an individual RRSP (or any number of RRSPs) but in either scenario, the funds are locked in and cannot be accessed until at least age 60. The only choices available to access locked in RPP funds after age 60 are the conversion to a Life Income fund or a Unisex Annuity.
To further define an RPP, Registered pension Plans take two forms; Defined Benefit or Defined Contribution (also known as money purchase plans). The Defined Benefit plan establishes the amount of money in advance that is to be paid out at retirement based usually on number of years of employee service and various formulae involving percentages of average employee earnings. The Defined Benefit plan is subject to constant government scrutiny to make certain that sufficient contributions are being made to provide for the predetermined pension payout. On the other hand, the Defined Contribution plan is considerably easier to manage. The employer simply determines the percentage to be contributed within the prescribed limits. Whatever amount has grown in the employee's reserve by retirement determines how much the pension payout will be by virtue of the amount of LIF or Annuity payout it will purchase.
The most simple group RRSP plan is a group billed RRSP. This means that each employee has his own RRSP plan and the employer deducts the contributions directly from the employee's wages and sends them directly to the RRSP plan administrator. Regular RRSP rules apply in that maximum contribution in the current year is the lessor of 18% or $13,500. Generally, to encourage this kind of plan, the employer also agrees to make a regular contribution to the employee's plans, knowing full well that any contributions made immediately belong to the employee. Should the employee change jobs, he/she can take their plan with them and continue making contributions or cash it in and pay tax in the year in which the money is taken into income.

Registered Retirement Income Fund (Canada)

Commonly referred to as a RRIF, this is one of the options available to RRSP holders to convert their tax sheltered savings into taxable income.

Segregated Fund

Sometimes called seg funds, segregated funds are the life insurance industry equivalent to a mutual fund with some differences.The term "Mutual fund" is often used generically, to cover a wide variety of funds where the investment capital from a large number of investors is "pooled" together and invested into specific stocks, bonds, mortgages, etc.
Since Segregated funds are actually deferred annuity contracts issued by life insurance companies, they offer probate and creditor protection if a preferred beneficiary such as a spouse is named. Mutual funds don't have this protection.
Unlike mutual funds, segregated funds offer guarantees at maturity (usually 10 years from date of issue) or death on the limit of potential losses - at times up to 100% of original deposits are guaranteed which makes them an attractive alternative for the cautious and/or long term investor. On the other hand, with regular mutual funds, it is possible to have little or nothing left at death or plan maturity.

Funding Costs

The price of obtaining capital, either borrowed or equity, with intent to carry on business operations.

Labour-Sponsored Venture Funds

Venture capital corporations established by labour unions. They function as other venture capital corporations but are subject to government regulation.

EFT (electronic funds transfer)

funds which are electronically credited to your account (e.g. direct deposit), or electronically debited from your account on an ongoing basis (e.g. a pre-authorized monthly bill payment, or a monthly loan or mortgage payment). A wire transfer is a form of EFT.

growth funds

Mutual funds that seek long-term capital growth. This type of fund invests primarily in equity securities.

income funds

Mutual funds that seek regular income. This type of fund invests primarily in government, corporate and other types of bonds, debt securities, and other income producing securities and in certain circumstances can also hold common and preferred shares.

index funds

Mutual funds that aim to track the performance of a specific stock or bond index. This process is also referred to as indexing and passive management.

international fund

A mutual fund that can invest in securities issued anywhere outside of Canada.

money market fund

A type of mutual fund that invests primarily in short-term debt securities maturing in one year or less. These include treasury bills, bankers’ acceptances, commercial paper, discount notes and guaranteed investment certficates.

mutual fund

When you buy a mutual fund, you are pooling your money with that of other investors. An investment professional called a portfolio advisor takes that money and invests it for all the investors in a variety of different securities as determined by the investment objectives of the mutual fund. This gives you the benefit of diversification that is, being invested in many different investments at once.

NSF (non-sufficient funds)

This appears on your statement if there are insufficient funds in your account to cover a cheque that you have written or a pre-authorized payment that you have already arranged. You will be charged a service fee for non-sufficient funds.

savings funds

Mutual funds that seek to preserve capital. This type of fund invests primarily in short-term securities with an average term to maturity of one year or less, or in the case of money market funds, 90 days or less.

Canada Pension Plan (CPP)

A plan that provides retirement and long term disability income benefits to residents of Canadian provinces (excluding Quebec).

Quebec Pension Plan

A plan that primarily provides retirement and long-term disability income benefits for residents of Quebec.

Segregated Fund

A pool of assets held by the insurer, to back a specific liability to a policyholder. Segregated funds flucuate in value depending on the market value of a specific group of assets the company must maintain separately.

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income

Cumulative gains or losses reported in shareholders'
equity that arise from changes in the fair value of available-for-sale securities, from the
effects of changes in foreign-currency exchange rates on consolidated foreign-currency financial
statements, certain gains and losses on financial derivatives, and from adjustments for underfunded
pension plans.

spousal RRSP (Canada)

The RRSP rules allow you to contribute to an RRSP for your spouse and claim the deduction yourself. Your total contribution (to your own and your spouse's plan) is still subject to your normal contribution limits, minus any personal pension adjustment and any past service pension adjustment, plus any unused contribution room from prior years and any pension adjustment reversal. Generally, the advantage is that your spouse will ultimately be the one who reports the income for tax purposes when the funds are withdrawn on retirement or otherwise (certain restrictions apply). If your spouse will have a lower income than you when the funds are withdrawn, significantly lower taxes may be payable on the withdrawn amount.

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