Shares in companies whose business conditions are not particularly linked to the business cycle. They provide goods for which demand does not tend to be affected by recession – utilities and basic food producers or retailers, for example.

A company pension scheme where what an employee receives is linked to their length of service and size of salary as defined in the scheme rules. They are often referred to as final salary schemes.

A company pension scheme where the contributions made by the employer and employee are set. The final pension an employee receives depends on several factors, including the size of their fund on retirement. This final fund is then used to buy an annuity or income drawdown. These are also referred to as money purchase schemes.

These include products such as futures and options, generally an arrangement to buy or sell a quantity of a specified asset on a fixed future date at a price agreed today.

Spreading your investments to help reduce risk within your portfolio.

Normally the country where you have your permanent or main and to where, whenever you are absent, you intend to return. You can only have one domicile at a time. For inheritance tax purposes for instance, you are deemed domiciled in the UK if you spend 17 out of 20 tax years in the UK.

Domicile is a legal concept and is distinct from residence, which is a HMRC categorisation of how many days per tax year you spend in a country. You are considered resident in the UK for tax purposes if you spend more than 183 days per tax year in the country.
Please note – this is only a summary. More information is available from HMRC.
If in doubt, consult a professional.

Duty is a levy charged by the Government, usually when things are bought, such as shares or buildings.

Glossary of Personal Financial Terms

AAA Rating

In short, AAA ratings (‘triple-A‘ ratings) are the highest credit rating available for an investment, such as a bond or company.

AAA ratings are issued to investment-grade debt that has a high level of creditworthiness with the strongest capacity to repay investors.

Similarly, the AA+ rating is issued by S&P (Standard and Poor) and is similar to the Aa1 rating issued by Moody’s. It comes with very low credit risk and indicates the issuer has a strong capacity to repay.