Glossary of terms

UCITS stands for Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities. UCITS provides a regulatory framework for an investment vehicle (ie- funds).

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a "blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all" (from a resolution adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 6 July 2017). The SDGs were set in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and are intended to be achieved by the year 2030. They are often referenced in regard to 'sustainable' or 'impact' investing. Further information about the goals can be found on Wikipedia. See also 'impact investing' and 'sustainability'.

The underlying yield indicates the annualised income from a fund, net of expenses. It is shown as a percentage of the market price of the fund’s units or shares on a particular day. The distribution yield will be higher than the underlying yield if the fund's annual management charge is charged to capital. This has the effect of increasing the distributions for the year and constraining the fund's capital performance to an equivalent extent. Also see 'historic yield' and ‘distribution yield’.

Being 'underweight' is when a fund has a lower percentage weighting in an asset class, stock, sector or geographical region than the index or benchmark against which it is measured. For example, if a fund has a 4% weighting in the technology sector, but its benchmark has a 6.5% weighting, the fund is 2.5% underweight.

A unit trust is a collective investment scheme (an investment fund), governed by trust law, in which investors' monies are pooled together and invested according to set investment guidelines. Investors purchase 'units' which represent their interest in the underlying assets of the fund. The changing price of the units reflects the rise and fall in value of the underlying assets of the fund.

Unit class is a designation applied to a share in a fund. Different unit classes within the same fund will confer different rights on their owners. Also see 'class R / class I'.

A unit trust is a collective investment scheme (an investment fund), governed by trust law, in which investors' monies are pooled together and invested according to set investment guidelines.

Units in a unit trust fund can be either an 'accumulation' unit, where income is not distributed to investors but instead retained within a fund (so increasing the value of each unit but leaving the number of units held unchanged), or a 'distribution unit', where income will be paid to investors on set dates relating to the financial year of the unit trust.