Financial Jargon Buster - M
- Managed Fund
- A pooled investment fund which is
actively managed. Often, investment is only possible through a linked life
insurance policy issued by the insurance company which is managing the
fund.
- Market Capitalisation
- the value of a company as measured by
the total stockmarket price of its issued and outstanding shares. This is
calculated by multiplying the number of shares by the current market price of a
share. It is also widely used as a definition of company size - hence, big
corporations are usually referred to as large cap stocks (See also Small Caps)
- Matching Gifts Programme
- A corporate contributions program that
will match contributions made by employees, retirees, and their spouses to
qualifying nonprofit organizations. Specific guidelines regarding the type of
organizations included, donor eligibility, and the dollar amount which will be
matched are established by each corporation.
- Matching Grant
- A grant or gift made with the
specification that the amount donated must be matched from other sources on a
one-for-one or some other prescribed basis.
- Maturity Date
- The date on which a payment becomes due
at the end of the term of an endowment policy or a fixed term security or
loan.
- Maturity Value
- The amount payable to the insured at
the maturity date of an endowment policy.
- MER
- Medical Examiners Report. A report by a
doctor who is required to examine the individual concerned especially for the
purpose. Used for underwriting purposes.
- MIB
- Motor Insurers Bureau.
- Micropal Star Ratings
- Independent investment funds analysts
Micropal continually monitor all of the UK's unit trusts, measuring the
balance between each fund's performance over three years against the up
or down movements in its unit price (i.e. the volatility). They then award
stars on a scale from 0 to 5, with the highest number going to
those funds with the lowest volatility - and therefore risk - in relation to
their overall performance. Five stars is the top award.
- MIRAS
- Mortgage Interest Relief at Source. The
mortgage lender will reduce the monthly payment required from a borrower by the
amount of tax relief applicable to the interest on the loan. The lender can
claim the balance from the Inland Revenue.
- Monetary Policy
- influencing the direction of an economy
through control of the money supply (See also Fiscal Policy)
- Money Purchase Scheme
- A pension scheme providing benefits
determined by the contributions made in respect of a member and the investment
return on those contributions. At retirement the accumulated fund is used to
purchase an annuity. All personal pensions (and some occupational schemes) are
'money purchase schemes'.
- Morbidity
- Relative incidence of disease and
accidents in a well-defined class or classes of persons.
- Morbidity Table
- Actuarial statistics showing the
frequency and duration of a sickness.
- Mortality Table
- A statistical table showing the
probability of death (death rate) at each age.
- Mortgage
-
A loan used to buy your house, where your house is used as security until you've paid off the loan (usually after a fixed period). There are three main types of mortgage:
- A repayment mortgage - you pay off the loan by instalments of capital and interest so that after the agreed period you have paid off all the loan
- An interest only mortgage - you pay only interest on your mortgage and make other arrangements to repay the capital, like an endowment policy.
- A flexible mortgage allows you to make overpayments and take payment holidays.
- Mortgage deed
- This is the legal document that you
sign to say that the lender has a legal charge over your property.
- Mortgage Indemnity Premium (MIP)
- Insurance that covers the lender in
case your property is repossessed and the lender cannot get the money.
- Motor Insurers' Bureau
- The Motor Insurers' Bureau is a body
funded by motor insurance companies, which deals with claims for injury
compensation when the driver at fault is not insured, or cannot be
traced.
- Mutual
- A commercial organisation owned by its members (as opposed to being owned by shareholders). Examples are Building Societies and some life insurance companies.
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