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Institute of Investing

Institutional Glossary

Alpha (α)
The excess return of an investment relative to the return of a benchmark index. A measure of active manager skill.
Beta (β)
A measure of the volatility, or systematic risk, of a security or portfolio compared to the market as a whole.
Cost of Capital
The required return necessary to make a capital budgeting project worthwhile. See WACC.
Duration
A measure of the sensitivity of the price of a fixed-income investment to a change in interest rates, expressed as a number of years.
Free Cash Flow (FCF)
The cash a company generates after accounting for cash outflows to support operations and maintain its capital assets. Core input for DCF models.