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Investing & the Stock Market vocabulary · Portfolio & Risk

Return

Meaning in investing & the stock market, with examples

/rɪˈtɜːrn/nounCore term

In investing & the stock market, return means: The gain or loss on an investment over a period, including price changes and any income such as dividends or interest, usually shown as a percentage.

In Turkish: getiri, kazanç

How it is used

One of the most important words in investing. Investors earn, generate or expect a return; reports compare annual returns, total returns and returns after fees and inflation. 'Returns' in the plural is common when talking about results over time.

Example sentences

  1. The fund delivered a return of 18 percent last year, slightly above its benchmark.

  2. Higher expected returns usually come with higher risk.

Common collocations

  • annual return
  • total return
  • real return
  • expected return
  • rate of return
  • capital gainThe profit you make when you sell an investment for more than you paid for it. If you sell for less, the result is a capital loss.
  • dividend yieldA company's yearly dividend per share divided by its current share price, shown as a percentage. It shows how much income the share pays compared with its price.
  • volatilityHow much and how quickly the price of an investment or a market moves up and down. High volatility means large, frequent price swings.
  • benchmarkA standard, usually a market index, against which the performance of a fund, portfolio or investment manager is measured.
  • portfolioAll the investments that one person or organisation owns, such as shares, bonds, funds and cash, seen together as a whole.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Portfolio & Risk

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not financial advice.