Investing glossary (plain-English guide)

New to investing? Here’s a quick, no-jargon glossary of terms you’ll see in the app and in documents. 

• Bid-ask spread 
  • The gap between the highest buyer price (bid) and lowest seller price (ask). A wider spread can mean higher trading cost.
• Bond
  • A loan to a government or company. You usually get interest payments and your money back at maturity.
• Contract note
  • Your official trade confirmation: what you bought or sold, price, fees, and settlement date.
• Corporate action
  • An event that changes your holding (for example, dividend, split, rights issue, merger).
• Custody
  • How your investments are held and safeguarded by a regulated provider.
• Dividend
  • Cash a company or fund pays to investors from profits, or extra shares in a stock dividend.
• ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund)
  • A fund that holds a basket of assets and trades on the exchange like a share.
• Exchange
  • The marketplace where instruments trade (a stock exchange).
• Ex-date (ex-dividend date)
  • Buy before this date to receive the next dividend; buy on or after it and you won’t.
• Factsheet
  • A one-page snapshot from the provider: aims, holdings, recent performance, costs, and benchmark.
• Fund (mutual or unit trust)
  • A pooled investment, usually priced once per day rather than traded all day.
• FX / Currency conversion
  • Switching one currency to another (for example, EUR to USD) at an exchange rate, possibly with a fee.
• Instrument
  • A general word for any tradable asset (share, ETF, bond, etc.).
• ISIN
  • International Securities Identification Number: the 12-character global ID for a security.
• KID / KIID
  • A short, standardised info sheet for retail investors covering aims, risks, and costs.
• Limit order
  • Buy or sell at this price or better. More price control; may not fill if the market doesn’t reach your level.
• Liquidity
  • How easily you can trade without moving the price much. More liquidity means easier fills.
• Market cap
  • Company size: share price times number of shares.
• Market order
  • Buy or sell now at the best available price. Prioritises speed over exact price.
• NAV (Net Asset Value)
  • A fund’s per-share value based on its holdings, usually set once per day.
• Pay date
  • The day a dividend is actually paid out to eligible holders.
• Prospectus
  • The full legal document for a fund or offering; all terms, fees, and risks.
• Remittance advice
  • A confirmation that money was sent to a bank account (amount, value date, reference).
• Rights issue
  • An offer to existing shareholders to buy more shares, usually at a discount, for a limited time.
• SEDOL / CUSIP
  • Local ID codes used in some markets (UK uses SEDOL, US uses CUSIP).
• Security
  • Another general word for a financial instrument that can be bought or sold.
• Settlement
  • When cash and shares officially exchange hands after a trade.
• Share / Stock
  • A small piece of ownership in a company.
• Slippage
  • When your fill price ends up different from the quote you saw, often in fast markets.
• Split / Reverse split
  • Changes the number of shares and the price per share, not the total value at that moment.
• T+1 / T+2
  • Settlement happens on Trade day plus 1 (or 2) business days, depending on the market.
• Tax statement
  • A year summary of dividends, interest, and realised gains or losses for your records.
• Ticker (symbol)
  • The short code a share or ETF trades under on an exchange (for example, AAPL).