Risk Capital

Similar financial terms

Interest-rate risk on bonds
The price of a typical bond will change in the opposite direction from a change in interest rates. As interest rates rise, the price of a bond will fall; as interest rates fall, the price of a bond will rise. The actual degree of sensitivity of a bond’s price to changes in market interest rates depends on various characteristics of the issue maturity, coupon and special provisions.

Reinvestment risk on bonds
Usually, when the yield of a bond is calculated, you assume that the coupons received before maturity are reinvested. The additional income from such reinvestment is sometimes referred to as interest-on-interest which depends on the prevailing interest-rate levels at the time of reinvestment. Volatility in the reinvestment rate of a given strategy because of changes in market interest rates is called reinvestment risk. This risk is that the interest rate at which interim cash flows can be reinve ...

Call risk on bonds
Many bonds include a call feature that allows the issuer to redeem or “call” all or part of the issue before the maturity date. The issuer usually retains this right in order to have flexibility to refinance the bond in the future if the market interest rate drops below the coupon rate. This implies three risks from the investor: (a) The cash flow pattern becomes uncertain, (b) The investor becomes exposed to reinvestment risk because the issuer will call the bond when interest rates drop, and ( ...

Default risk on bonds
Issuers that potentially run into cash flow problems, simultaneously attaches default risk to their bonds if there is uncertainty whether they can afford to pay coupons and principals. Bonds with default risk trade in the market at a price that is lower than comparable U.S. Treasury securities, which are considered free of default risk. Default risk is gauged by quality ratings assigned by recognised rating companies such as Moody’s Investor Service, Standard & Poor’s Corporation, Morningstar an ...

Inflation risk on bonds
If investors purchase a bond on which they can realize a coupon rate of 5% but the rate of inflation is 6%, the purchasing power of the cash flow actually has declined. Inflation risk arises because of the variation in the value of cash flows from a security due to inflation, as measured in terms of purchasing power.

Exchange-rate risk on bonds
A non-domestic-currency nominated bond has unknown domestic currency cash flows. The domestic currency cash flows are dependent on the exchange rate at the time the payments are received. For example, suppose that a German investor purchases a bond whose payments are in British pounds (GBP). If pounds depreciate relative to euros (EUR), fewer euros will be received and vice versa. This risk is also referred to currency risk.

Liquidity risk on bonds
The primary measure of liquidity is the size of the bid-ask spread. Liquidity risk depends on the ease with which an issue can be sold at or near its value. It follows that the wider the dealer spread, the more liquidity risk.

Risk arbitrage
The practice of buying the stock of takeover targets after a merger is publicly announced and hold the stock until the deal is officially accomplished.

Systematic risk
The systematic risk of an asset or portfolio is the risk that cannot be diversified away.

Volatility risk
The risk in the value of options portfolios due to the unpredictable changes in the volatility of the underlying asset.

Value-at-Risk
A value-at-risk (VAR) model is a procedure for estimating the probability of portfolio losses exceeding some specified proportion based on a statistical analysis of historical market price trends, correlations, and volatilities.

Unsystematic risk
Also called the diversifiable risk or residual risk. The risk that is unique to a company such as a strike, the outcome of unfavorable litigation, or a natural catastrophe that can be eliminated through diversification.

Unique risk
Also called unsystematic risk or idiosyncratic risk. Specific company risk that can be eliminated through diversification.

Systematic risk principle
Only the systematic portion of risk matters in large, well-diversified portfolios. The expected returns must be related only to systematic risks.

Sovereign risk
The risk that a central bank will impose foreign exchange regulations that will reduce or negate the value of FX contracts. Also refers to the risk of government default on a loan made to it or guaranteed by it.

Shortfall risk
The risk of falling short of any investment target.

Risk-free rate
The rate earned on a riskless asset.

Risk-free asset
An asset whose future return is known today with certainty.

Risk-adjusted return
Return earned on an asset normalized for the amount of risk associated with that asset.

Risky asset
An asset whose future return is uncertain.

Riskless arbitrage
The simultaneous purchase and sale of the same asset to yield a profit.

Riskless rate of return
The rate earned on a riskless asset.

Risk premium approach
The most common approach for tactical asset allocation to determine the relative valuation of asset classes based on expected returns.

Risk premium
The reward for holding the risky market portfolio rather than the risk-free asset. The spread between Treasury and non-Treasury bonds of comparable maturity.

Risk prone
Willing to pay money to transfer risk from others.

Risk neutral
Insensitive to risk.

Risk management
The process of identifying and evaluating risks and selecting and managing techniques to adapt to risk exposures.

Risk lover
A person willing to accept lower expected returns on prospects with higher amounts of risk.

Risk indexes
Categories of risk used to calculate fundamental beta, including (a) market variability, (b) earnings variability, (c) low valuation, (d) immaturity and smallness, (e) growth orientation, and (f) financial risk.

Risk controlled arbitrage
A self-funding, self-hedged series of transactions that generally utilize mortgage securities as the primary assets.

Risk classes
Groups of projects that have approximately the same amount of risk.

Risk averse
A risk-averse investor is one who, when faced with two investments with the same expected return but two different risks, prefers the one with the lower risk.

Risk-adjusted profitability
A probability used to determine a "sure" expected value (sometimes called a certainty equivalent) that would be equivalent to the actual risky expected value.

Risk
Typically defined as the standard deviation of the return on total investment. Degree of uncertainty of return on an asset.

Reverse price risk
A type of mortgage-pipeline risk that occurs when a lender commits to sell loans to an investor at rates prevailing at application but sets the note rates when the borrowers close. The lender is thus exposed to the risk of falling rates.

Reinvestment risk
The risk that proceeds received in the future will have to be reinvested at a lower potential interest rate.

Regulatory pricing risk
Risk that arises when regulators restrict the premium rates that insurance companies can charge.

Rate risk
In banking, the risk that profits may decline or losses occur because a rise in interest rates forces up the cost of funding fixed-rate loans or other fixed-rate assets.

Product risk
A type of mortgage-pipeline risk that occurs when a lender has an unusual loan in production or inventory but does not have a sale commitment at a prearranged price.

Price risk
The risk that the value of a security (or a portfolio) will decline in the future. Or, a type of mortgage-pipeline risk created in the production segment when loan terms are set for the borrower in advance of terms being set for secondary market sale. If the general level of rates rises during the production cycle, the lender may have to sell his originated loans at a discount.

Political risk
Possibility of the expropriation of assets, changes in tax policy, restrictions on the exchange of foreign currency, or other changes in the business climate of a country.

Overnight delivery risk
A risk brought about because differences in time zones between settlement centers require that payment or delivery on one side of a transaction be made without knowing until the next day whether the funds have been received in an account on the other side. Particularly apparent where delivery takes place in Europe for payment in dollars in New York.

Operating risk
The inherent or fundamental risk of a firm, without regard to financial risk. The risk that is created by operating leverage. Also called business risk.

Nonsystematic risk
Nonmarket or firm-specific risk factors that can be eliminated by diversification. Also called unique risk or diversifiable risk. Systematic risk refers to risk factors common to the entire economy.

Nondiversifiable risk
Risk that cannot be eliminated by diversification.

Mortgage-pipeline risk
The risk associated with taking applications from prospective mortgage borrowers who may opt to decline to accept a quoted mortgage rate within a certain grace period.

Market risk
Risk that cannot be diversified away.

Market price of risk
A measure of the extra return, or risk premium, that investors demand to bear risk. The reward-to-risk ratio of the market portfolio.

Liquidity risk
The risk that arises from the difficulty of selling an asset. It can be thought of as the difference between the "true value" of the asset and the likely price, less commissions.

Bankruptcy risk
The risk that a firm will be unable to meet its debt obligations. Also referred to as default or insolvency risk.

Basis risk
The uncertainty about the basis at the time a hedge may be lifted. Hedging substitutes basis risk for price risk.

Business risk
The risk that the cash flow of an issuer will be impaired because of adverse economic conditions, making it difficult for the issuer to meet its operating expenses.

Call risk
The combination of cash flow uncertainty and reinvestment risk introduced by a call provision.

Commercial risk
The risk that a foreign debtor will be unable to pay its debts because of business events, such as bankruptcy.

Completion risk
The risk that a project will not be brought into operation successfully.

Counterparty risk
The risk that the other party to an agreement will default. In an options contract, the risk to the option buyer that the option writer will not buy or sell the underlying as agreed.

Country economic risk
Developments in a national economy that can affect the outcome of an international financial transaction.

Country financial risk
The ability of the national economy to generate enough foreign exchange to meet payments of interest and principal on its foreign debt.

Country risk
General level of political and economic uncertainty in a country affecting the value of loans or investments in that country.

Credit risk
The risk that an issuer of debt securities or a borrower may default on his obligations, or that the payment may not be made on a negotiable instrument.

Cross-border risk
Refers to the volatility of returns on international investments caused by events associated with a particular country as opposed to events associated solely with a particular economic or financial agent.

Currency risk sharing
An agreement by the parties to a transaction to share the currency risk associated with the transaction. The arrangement involves a customized hedge contract embedded in the underlying transaction.

Risk-adjusted return on capital (RAROC)
Measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis. Calculated as the economic return divided by economic capital. RAROC helps determine if a company has the right balance between capital, returns and risk. The central concept in RAROC is economic capital: the amount of capital a company should put aside needed based on the risk it runs.

Equilibrium market price of risk
The slope of the capital market line (CML). Since the CML represents the expected return offered to compensate for a perceived level of risk, each point on the line is a balanced market condition, or equilibrium. The slope of the line determines the additional expected return needed to compensate for a unit change in risk. The equation of the CML is defined by the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM).

Pin Risk
The uncertainty that an option position may be exercised into the underlying instrument. It is risky because it often refers to markets flirting with the prevailing at-the-money level. At such times, the gamma on a position is very erratic and difficult to hedge. Also, there are doubts about the exercise or assignment process. A trader can experience significant changes in net positions due to option exercises.

Capital stock
The value of an outstanding share of stock at the time it was issued

Capitalization
The combined sources of capital, consisting of dept capital (liabilities) and equity capital (capital stock and retained earnings).

Working capital ratio
Working capital expressed as a percentage of sales.

Working capital management
The management of current assets and current liabilities to maximize short-term liquidity.

Working capital
Defined as the difference in current assets and current liabilities (excluding short-term debt). Current assets may or may not include cash and cash equivalents, depending on the company.

Weighted average cost of capital
The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the expected return on a portfolio of all the firm's securities when debt, equity and tax shields are taken into account. Used as a hurdle rate for capital investment.

Venture capital
An investment in a start-up business that is perceived to have excellent growth prospects but does not have access to capital markets. Type of financing sought by early-stage companies seeking to grow rapidly.

Static theory of capital structure
Theory that the firm's capital structure is determined by a trade-off of the value of tax shields against the costs of bankruptcy.

Soft Capital Rationing
Capital rationing that under certain circumstances can be violated or even viewed as made up of targets rather than absolute constraints.

Real capital
Wealth that can be represented in financial terms, such as savings account balances, financial securities, and real estate.

Pro forma capital structure analysis
A method of analyzing the impact of alternative capital structure choices on a firm's credit statistics and reported financial results, especially to determine whether the firm will be able to use projected tax shield benefits fully.

Planned capital expenditure program
Capital expenditure program as outlined in the corporate financial plan.

Pie model of capital structure
A model of the debt/equity ratio of the firms, graphically depicted in slices of a pie that represent the value of the firm in the capital markets.

Personal tax view (of capital structure)
The argument that the difference in personal tax rates between income from debt and income from equity eliminates the disadvantage from the double taxation (corporate and personal) of income from equity.

Perfect market view (of capital structure)
Analysis of a firm's capital structure decision, which shows the irrelevance of capital structure in a perfect capital market.

Perfect capital market
A market in which there are never any arbitrage opportunities.

Pecking-order view (of capital structure)
The argument that external financing transaction costs, especially those associated with the problem of adverse selection, create a dynamic environment in which firms have a preference, or pecking-order of preferred sources of financing, when all else is equal. Internally generated funds are the most preferred, new debt is next, debt-equity hybrids are next, and new equity is the least preferred source.

Outstanding share capital
Issued share capital less the par value of shares that are held in the company's treasury.

Other capital
In the balance of payments, other capital is a residual category that groups all the capital transactions that have not been included in direct investment, portfolio investment, and reserves categories. It is divided into long-term capital and short-term capital and, because of its residual status, can differ from country to country. Generally speaking, other long-term capital includes most non-negotiable instruments of a year or more like bank loans and mortgages. Other short-term capital i ...

Opportunity cost of capital
Expected return that is foregone by investing in a project rather than in comparable financial securities.

Nondiversifiability of human capital
The difficulty of diversifying one's human capital (the unique capabilities and expertise of individuals) and employment effort.

Net working capital
Current assets minus current liabilities. Often simply referred to as working capital.

Market capitalization rate
Expected return on a security. The market-consensus estimate of the appropriate discount rate for a firm's cash flows.

Market capitalization
The total dollar value of all outstanding shares. Computed as shares times current market price. It is a measure of corporate size.

Long-term debt/capitalization
Indicator of financial leverage. Shows long-term debt as a proportion of the capital available. Determined by dividing long-term debt by the sum of long-term debt, preferred stock and common stockholder equity.

Legal capital
Value at which a company's shares are recorded in its books.

Capital
Money invested in a firm.

Capital account
Net result of public and private international investment and lending activities.

Capital allocation decision
Allocation of invested funds between risk-free assets versus the risky portfolio.

Capital budget
A firm's set of planned capital expenditures.

Capital budgeting
The process of choosing the firm's long-term capital assets.

Capital Builder Account (CBA)
A Merrill Lynch brokerage account that allows investors to access the loan value of his or her eligible securities to buy or sell securities. Excess cash in a CBA can be invested in a money market fund or an insured money market deposit account without losing access to the money.

Capital expenditures
Amount used during a particular period to acquire or improve long-term assets such as property, plant or equipment.

Capital flight
The transfer of capital abroad in response to fears of political risk.

Capital gain
When a stock is sold for a profit, it's the difference between the net sales price of securities and their net cost, or original basis. If a stock is sold below cost, the difference is a capital loss.

Capital gains yield
The price change portion of a stock's return.

Capital lease
A lease obligation that has to be capitalized on the balance sheet.

Capital loss
The difference between the net cost of a security and the net sale price, if that security is sold at a loss.

Capital market
The market for trading long-term debt instruments (those that mature in more than one year).

Capital market efficiency
Reflects the relative amount of wealth wasted in making transactions. An efficient capital market allows the transfer of assets with little wealth loss.

Capital market imperfections view
The view that issuing debt is generally valuable but that the firm's optimal choice of capital structure is a dynamic process that involves the other views of capital structure (net corporate/personal tax, agency cost, bankruptcy cost, and pecking order), which result from considerations of asymmetric information, asymmetric taxes, and transaction costs.

Capital market line (CML)
The line defined by every combination of the risk-free asset and the market portfolio.

Capital rationing
Placing one or more limits on the amount of new investment undertaken by a firm, either by using a higher cost of capital, or by setting a maximum on parts of, and/or the entirety of, the capital budget.

Capital structure
The makeup of the liabilities and stockholders' equity side of the balance sheet, especially the ratio of debt to equity and the mixture of short and long maturities.

Capital surplus
Amounts of directly contributed equity capital in excess of the par value.

Capitalization method
A method of constructing a replicating portfolio in which the manager purchases a number of the largest-capitalized names in the index stock in proportion to their capitalization.

Capitalization ratios
Also called financial leverage ratios, these ratios compare debt to total capitalization and thus reflect the extent to which a corporation is trading on its equity. Capitalization ratios can be interpreted only in the context of the stability of industry and company earnings and cash flow.

Capitalization table
A table showing the capitalization of a firm, which typically includes the amount of capital obtained from each source - long-term debt and common equity - and the respective capitalization ratios.

Capitalized
Recorded in asset accounts and then depreciated or amortized, as is appropriate for expenditures for items with useful lives greater than one year.

Capitalized interest
Interest that is not immediately expensed, but rather is considered as an asset and is then amortized through the income statement over time.

Complete capital market
A market in which there is a distinct marketable security for each and every possible outcome.

Cost of capital
The required return for a capital budgeting project.

Cost of limited partner capital
The discount rate that equates the after-tax inflows with outflows for capital raised from limited partners.

Authorised capital
The maximum amount of share capital that a public limited company or a private limited company can issue according to its articles of association. Part of the authorised capital can remain unissued.

Basel II (Basel Capital Accord)
Basel II - short for the new Basel Capital Accord - lays down new guidelines for determining the minimum solvency requirements for banks. The main change in these guidelines is a new system for weighting the risks run by banks in their loans to retail and corporate customers. The objective of Basel II is to improve the soundness of the financial system.

Capital coverage ratio
Available capital divided by required capital.

Flight Capital
Money that flows offshore and likely never returns. Flight is exacerbated by a lack of confidence as government grows without bounds.