ETFM Glossary

A glossary of terms used in ETFM

Assets under management (AUM) – the market value of the assets a company looks after on behalf of investors.

Bank for International Settlements (BIS) – an organisation which serves central banks in pursuing monetary and financial stability.

European fund and asset management association (Efama) – an organisation which represents the investment industry.

European Securities and markets authority (Esma) – an independent EU authority designed to help safeguard the stability of the EU financial system.

Exchange-traded commodity (ETC) – Exchange-traded commodities are an ETN that tracks either individual commodities or broader based commodity indices.

Exchange-traded notes (ETN) – ETNs are senior, unsubordinated debt instruments issued by a single bank and listed on the exchange.

Exchange-traded products (ETP) – includes ETFs, ETCs and ETNs.

Financial Stability Board (FSB) – an international body established to regulate and supervise the financial markets. 

Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) – a directive which was affected under EU law in 2007; it covers almost all tradable financial instruments.

Over-the-counter (OTC) - trades which are conducted off-exchange.

Quantitative easing (QE) – the process by which a central bank buys assets from other banks in order to inject money into the economy.

Undertakings for collective investments in transferable securities (Ucits) – an EU directive originally enacted in 1985. The fourth version of Ucits was implemented in July this year.