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Securities Services
A custodian bank, or simply custodian, is a specialized financial institution responsible for providing securities services. It provides post-trade services and solutions for asset owners (e.g. sovereign wealth funds, central banks, insurance companies), asset managers, banks and broker-dealers. It is not engaged in "traditional" commercial or consumer/retail banking like lending. In the past, the custodian bank purely focused on custody, safekeeping, settlement, and administration of securities as well as asset servicing such as income collection and corporate actions. Yet, in the modern financial world, custodian banks have started providing a wider range of value-adding or cost-saving financial services, ranging from fund administration to transfer agency, from securities lending to trustee services. Definition Custodian banks are often referred to as global custodians if they safe keep assets for their clients in multiple jurisdictions around the world, using their own l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Financial Institution
A financial institution, sometimes called a banking institution, is a business entity that provides service as an intermediary for different types of financial monetary transactions. Broadly speaking, there are three major types of financial institution: # Depository institution – deposit (finance), deposit-taking institution that accepts and manages deposits and makes loans, including bank, building society, credit union, trust company, and mortgage broker; # Contractual institution – insurance company and pension fund # Investment institution – investment banking, investment bank, underwriter, and other different types of financial entities managing investments. Financial institutions can be distinguished broadly into two categories according to ownership structure: * commercial bank * cooperative banking, cooperative bank Some experts see a trend toward homogenisation of financial institutions, meaning a tendency to invest in similar areas and have similar business str ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Employee Retirement Income Security Act
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) (, codified in part at ) is a U.S. federal tax and labor law that establishes minimum standards for pension plans in private industry. It contains rules on the federal income tax effects of transactions associated with employee benefit plans. ERISA was enacted to protect the interests of employee benefit plan participants and their beneficiaries by: * Requiring the disclosure of financial and other information concerning the plan to beneficiaries; * Establishing standards of conduct for plan fiduciaries; * Providing for appropriate remedies and access to the federal courts. ERISA is sometimes used to refer to the full body of laws that regulate employee benefit plans, which are mainly in the Internal Revenue Code and ERISA itself. Responsibility for interpretation and enforcement of ERISA is divided among the Department of Labor, the Department of the Treasury (particularly the Internal Revenue Service), and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Securities Lending
In finance, securities lending or stock lending refers to the lending of securities by one party to another. The terms of the loan will be governed by a "Securities Lending Agreement", which requires that the borrower provides the lender with collateral, in the form of cash or non-cash securities, of value equal to or greater than the loaned securities plus an agreed-upon margin. ''Non-cash'' refers to the subset of collateral that is not pure cash, including equities, government bonds, convertible bonds, corporate bonds, and other financial products. The agreement is a contract enforceable under relevant law, which is often specified in the agreement. As payment for the loan, the parties negotiate a fee, quoted as an annualized percentage of the value of the loaned securities. If the agreed form of collateral is cash, then the fee may be quoted as a " short rebate", meaning that the lender will earn all the interest that accrues on the cash collateral and will "rebate" an ag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Net Asset Value
Net asset value (NAV) is the value of an entity's assets minus the value of its Liability (financial accounting), liabilities, often in relation to open-end fund, open-end, mutual fund, mutual funds, Hedge fund, hedge funds, and Venture capital, venture capital funds. Shares of such funds registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are usually bought and redeemed at their net asset value. It is also a key figure with regard to hedge funds and venture capital funds when calculating the value of the underlying investments in these funds by investors. This may also be the same as the book value or the shareholders' equity, equity value of a business. Net asset value may represent the value of the total equity, or it may be divided by the number of shares outstanding held by investors, thereby representing the net asset value ''per share''. Overview Net asset value and other accounting and recordkeeping activities are the result of the process of fund accounting (also k ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fund Administration
Fund administration is the name given to the execution of back office activities including fund accounting, financial reporting, net asset value calculation, capital calls, distributions, investor communications and other functions carried out in support of an investment fund, which may take the form of a traditional mutual fund, a hedge fund, a private equity fund, a venture capital fund, a pension fund, a unit trust, or other pooled investment vehicle. Managers of funds often choose to outsource some or all of these activities to external specialist companies, such as the fund's custodian bank or transfer agent. These companies are known as fund administrators. Administration services United States These administrative activities may include the following administrative functions, which in turn may include "fund accounting" services. Some of these items may be specific to fund operations in the US, and some pertain only whether the fund is an SEC-registered fund: *Calcula ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prime Brokerage
Prime brokerage is the generic term for a bundled package of services offered by investment banks, wealth management firms, and securities dealers to hedge funds which need the ability to borrow securities and cash in order to be able to invest on a netted basis and achieve an absolute return. The prime broker provides a centralized securities clearing facility for the hedge fund so the hedge fund's collateral requirements are netted across all deals handled by the prime broker. These two features are advantageous to their clients. The prime broker benefits by earning fees ("spreads") on financing the client's margined long and short cash and security positions, and by charging, in some cases, fees for clearing and other services. It also sets off its funding costs by rehypothecating the margined portfolios of the hedge funds currently serviced and charging interest on those borrowing securities and other investments. Services Each client in the market of a prime broker will ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Family Office
A family office is a privately held company that handles investment management and wealth management for a wealthy family, generally one with at least $50–100 million in investable assets, with the goal being to effectively grow and transfer wealth across generations. The company's financial capital is the family's own wealth. Family offices also may handle tasks such as managing household staff, making travel arrangements, property management, day-to-day accounting and payroll activities, management of legal affairs, family management services, family governance, financial and investor education, coordination of philanthropy and private foundations, and succession planning. A family office can cost over $1 million a year to operate, so the family's net worth usually exceeds $50–100 million in investable assets. Some family offices accept investments from people who are not members of the owning family. Some firms that cater to multiple clients offer personality psycholog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sovereign Wealth Funds
A sovereign wealth fund (SWF), or sovereign investment fund, is a state-owned investment fund that invests in real and financial assets such as stocks, bonds, real estate, precious metals, or in alternative investments such as private equity funds or hedge funds. Sovereign wealth funds invest globally. Most SWFs are funded by revenues from commodity exports or from foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank. Some sovereign wealth funds may be held by a central bank, which accumulates the funds in the course of its management of a nation's banking system; this type of fund is usually of major economic and fiscal importance. Other sovereign wealth funds are simply the state savings that are invested by various entities for investment return, and that may not have a significant role in fiscal management. The accumulated funds may have their origin in, or may represent, foreign currency deposits, gold, special drawing rights (SDRs) and International Monetary Fund ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insurance
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect against the risk of a contingent or uncertain loss. An entity which provides insurance is known as an insurer, insurance company, insurance carrier, or underwriter. A person or entity who buys insurance is known as a policyholder, while a person or entity covered under the policy is called an insured. The insurance transaction involves the policyholder assuming a guaranteed, known, and relatively small loss in the form of a payment to the insurer (a premium) in exchange for the insurer's promise to compensate the insured in the event of a covered loss. The loss may or may not be financial, but it must be reducible to financial terms. Furthermore, it usually involves something in which the insured has an insurable interest established by o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alternative Investment
An alternative investment, also known as an alternative asset or alternative investment fund (AIF), is an investment in any Asset classes, asset class excluding capital stocks, Bond (finance), bonds, and cash. The term is a relatively loose one and includes tangible investment, tangible assets such as Gold as an investment, precious metals, collectibles (art, Investment wine, wine, antiques, vintage cars, Coin collecting, coins, watches, musical instruments, or Stamp collecting, stamps) and some financial assets such as real estate, commodities, private equity, distressed securities, hedge funds, exchange funds, carbon credits, venture capital, film production, Derivative (finance), financial derivatives, Cryptocurrency, cryptocurrencies, Non-fungible token, non-fungible tokens, and Tax Receivable Agreements. Investments in real estate, forestry and Shipping investments, shipping are also often termed "alternative" despite the ancient use of such real assets to enhance and pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asset Management Company
An asset management company is an asset management / investment management company/firm that invests the pooled funds of retail investors in securities in line with the stated investment objectives. For a fee, the company/firm provides more diversification, liquidity, and professional management consulting service than is normally available to individual investors. The diversification of portfolio is done by investing in such securities which are inversely correlated to each other. Money is collected from investors by way of floating various collective investment schemes, e.g. mutual fund schemes. In general, an asset management company is a company that is engaged primarily in the business of investing in, and managing, portfolios of securities. A study by consulting firm Casey Quirk, which is owned by Deloitte, found that asset management firms ended 2020 with record highs in both revenue and assets under management. Largest companies The following is a list of the top 20 asse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
