A practical, plain-English guide to investing terminology. This page explains terms; the About page explains this site's methodology and strategy design.
If you are new to investing, do not try to memorize everything at once. Start with asset allocation, risk profile, gain/loss, and rebalance. Those four ideas explain most of what you see in portfolio dashboards.
Each term below includes what it means, why it matters, and a simple example so you can apply it immediately. For project-specific process details (rebalance workflow, data pipeline, and strategy framework), use the About page.
Current Value: What your portfolio is worth right now based on the latest available pricing.
Initial Value: The starting amount used as the baseline for comparison.
Gain/Loss: Current value minus initial value. Positive means growth; negative means decline.
Return %: Gain/loss divided by initial value, shown as a percentage so different portfolios can be compared fairly.
Snapshot History: A time series of stored portfolio values. This powers charts and trend analysis.
Example: If you started with £25,000 and now have £26,500, your gain is £1,500 and your return is +6.00%.
Asset Allocation: How your money is split across asset types, sectors, and regions.
Holding: A single investment position inside your portfolio (for example, one fund or one ETF).
Weight: The share of your total portfolio represented by one holding.
Concentration: How much of your portfolio sits in a small number of holdings.
Diversification: Spreading capital across different exposures so one weak area does not dominate the total result.
Why this matters: Two portfolios with the same return can have very different risk if one is concentrated and the other is diversified.
Risk Profile: A summary of how volatile or defensive a portfolio is likely to be.
Risk Rating: A holding-level risk score. Higher numbers usually imply larger potential swings.
Volatility: How much returns move around over time. High volatility means wider swings.
Drawdown: The decline from a previous peak to a later low.
Risk-Adjusted Thinking: Judging return alongside risk, not return alone.
Example: A portfolio up 8% with mild swings may be more robust than one up 10% with deep drawdowns.
OCF (Ongoing Charge Figure): The annual fund management cost built into a fund.
Platform Fee: The fee your broker/platform charges to hold investments.
Dealing Fee: The cost paid when buying or selling.
Spread: The difference between buy and sell prices at a given moment.
Slippage: The gap between expected and actual execution price.
Why this matters: Small repeated costs can materially reduce long-term compounding.
Rebalance: Adjusting holdings to restore target allocation and risk alignment.
Thesis: The core reason an investment is held (and what would invalidate it).
Time Horizon: How long capital is intended to stay invested.
Conviction: The confidence level behind a position size decision.
Process Discipline: Following a repeatable decision framework rather than reacting to short-term noise.
Beginner warning: Most costly mistakes come from impulsive decisions, not from a lack of market news.
Mistake: Chasing last month’s winner. Better: Check long-term fit with your strategy and risk profile.
Mistake: Ignoring costs. Better: Track platform, fund, and dealing costs before trading.
Mistake: Over-concentration in one theme. Better: Use diversification across sectors and regions.
Mistake: Measuring success only by return %. Better: Compare return, drawdown, and volatility together.
Mistake: Making decisions without a written reason. Better: Record your thesis and review it during rebalance cycles.
1. Define your time horizon and acceptable drawdown.
2. Choose an asset allocation before picking specific funds.
3. Check all recurring and transaction costs.
4. Avoid over-concentration in one idea.
5. Write a simple rebalance rule and follow it.
6. Review decisions on a schedule, not on market panic days.
Glossary page (this page): Term definitions, beginner explanations, and practical investing vocabulary.
About page: Project purpose, methodology, rebalance process, and how each strategy is structured.
Dashboard: Top-level cross-strategy performance comparison.
Graphs: Trend, momentum, and volatility visual analysis.
Portfolio pages: Strategy-specific holdings, allocation, risk breakdown, and performance context.
Use the Investment Portfolio Dashboard for headline performance, gain/loss, and cross-strategy comparison.
Use Investment Portfolio Graphs & Analysis to study trend, volatility, and momentum from snapshot history.
Use each strategy page in the Portfolios menu for holdings, allocation, risk distribution, and strategy-specific brief context.
Investment Portfolio Dashboard for cross-strategy performance comparison and return tracking.
Investment Portfolio Graphs & Analysis for trend, volatility, and momentum views.
About This Simulated Investment Portfolio Project for methodology and rebalance process.
Investment FAQ For First-Time Investors for portfolio basics, risk, and cost awareness.
Investment Strategy Glossary for key terms like asset allocation, rebalance, and risk profile.