Investing

Absolute Return

The total percentage gain or loss on an investment, ignoring how long it took.

Asset Allocation

How your money is split between equity, debt, gold, cash and other asset classes.

Benchmark

The index a portfolio is compared against to judge whether it performed well.

CAGR

Compound Annual Growth Rate

The steady yearly rate that would take an investment from its start value to its end value.

Compound Interest

Interest earned on your original money and on the interest it has already earned.

Diversification

Spreading money across different assets so no single failure can sink the portfolio.

Index Fund

A fund that simply copies an index such as the NIFTY 50 instead of picking stocks.

ETF

Exchange-Traded Fund

A basket of securities that trades on the stock exchange like a single share.

Alpha

The return a portfolio earned beyond what its risk level and benchmark explain.

Beta

How much a stock or fund tends to move when the market moves.