# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z all
Dated Date (Or Issue Date)
The date of a bond issue from which the bondholder is entitled to receive interest, even though the bonds may actually be sold or delivered at some other date.
Debt
Borrowings by the fund.
Debt Securities
See fixed income securities.
Declaration Date
The date a Board of Directors announces the amount of the dividend and/or capital gains distribution to be paid to shareholders.
Defeasance
Termination of the rights and interests of the trustee and bondholders under a trust agreement or indenture upon final payment or provision for payment of all debt service and premiums, and other costs, as specifically provided for in the trust instrument.
Deferred Sales Charge
See Contingent deferred sales charge.
Defined Benefit Plan
A retirement plan that guarantees a certain benefit, usually based on average salary in the period before retirement and on the number of years of service. Employers bear the investment risk with defined benefit plans. Benefits in most cases are guaranteed up to a certain monthly limit by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, a federal agency.
Defined Contribution Plan
A retirement plan offering a benefit that is dependent on total contributions made by the employer and the employee and on the investment returns earned by those contributions. Employees bear the investment risk with defined contribution plans.
Defined Portfolio
Also called a Unit Investment Trust; a portfolio of securities that remains fixed, except under certain circumstances, for the life of the trust. Shares of this portfolio are offered to individual investors and called "units."
Deflation
A decline in the prices of goods and services. The opposite of inflation.
Derivative
A financial instrument whose value is based on, or "derived" from, that of another security, asset, or market index, including stocks, bonds, commodities and currencies. Common derivatives include swaps, options, and futures. Derivatives can be used to gain indirect exposure to certain securities and to manage risk.
Direct Rollover
A distribution from a qualified plan or IRA account that is sent directly to the custodian of a Nuveen or other IRA account and that is reported to the IRS as a rollover.
Discount
Amount (stated in dollars or a percent) by which the selling or purchase price of a security is less than its face amount. Also the amount by which the market price of a closed-end fund is less than the fund's Net Asset Value.
Discount Bond
A bond that currently is selling below par or face value; e.g., a $1,000 bond selling for $950.
Discount Rate
The interest rate charged by the Federal Reserve on short-term loans to member banks. Effectively, the floor rate for short-term interest rates in the economy.
Disinflation
A slowing of the rate at which prices are increasing. Not the same as deflation, when prices actually drop.
Distribution
The periodic payment made by a fund to common shareholders, which may include net investment income, capital gains and/or a return of capital.
Distribution Rate
For a closed-end fund, the ratio of the most recent distribution paid by the fund divided by the market price of the fund as of the date of the calculation, multiplied by the number of distribution payments made in a year. Also known as Current market distribution rate.
Distribution Schedule
The schedule describing when a fund makes income, principal, dividend, capital gains, and/or other distributions.
Diversification
A strategy of spreading investments among many different securities or sectors to reduce the risk of owning any single investment.
Dividend
Distribution of a portion of a company's earnings, decided by the Board of Directors / Trustees to the shareholder. The amount of a dividend is quoted in the amount each share receives.
Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP)
A plan offered by a corporation or fund allowing investors to reinvest their cash dividends and capital gains distributions by purchasing additional shares or fractional shares on the dividend payment date.
Dividend Yield
For a company's stock, the ratio of the dividends paid out by the company each year per share to the share's current market price.
Dollar-cost Averaging
An investment strategy of making investments of equal amounts at regular intervals in the same fund. Because the shareholder buys more shares at lower prices and fewer shares at higher prices, the average cost of the shares purchased will generally be lower than the average price over the investment period. However, dollar-cost averaging does not ensure a profit or protect against a loss in a declining market.
Dow Jones Conservative U.S. Portfolio Index
The Dow Jones Conservative U.S. Portfolio Index is a member of the Relative Risk Index Series and designed to measure a total portfolio of U.S. stocks, bonds, and cash, allocated to represent an investor's desired risk profile. The Dow Jones Conservative U.S. Portfolio Index risk level is set to 20% of the Dow Jones U.S. Stock CMAC Index's downside risk (past 36 months).
Dow Jones Industrial Average
The best known U.S. index of stocks. A price-weighted average of 30 actively traded blue-chip stocks, primarily industrials including stocks that trade on the New York Stock Exchange. The Dow, as it is called, is a barometer of how shares of the largest US companies are performing. There are hundreds of investment indexes around the world for stocks, bonds, currencies, and commodities.
Dow Jones Moderate U.S. Portfolio Index
The Dow Jones Moderate U.S. Portfolio Index is a member of the Relative Risk Index Series and designed to measure a total portfolio of U.S. stocks, bonds, and cash, allocated to represent an investor's desired risk profile. The Dow Jones Moderate U.S. Portfolio Index risk level is set to 60% of the Dow Jones U.S. Stock CMAC Index's downside risk (past 36 months).
Dow Jones Moderately Aggressive U.S. Portfolio Index
The Dow Jones Moderately Aggressive U.S. Portfolio Index is a member of the Relative Risk Index Series and designed to measure a total portfolio of U.S. stocks, bonds, and cash, allocated to represent an investor's desired risk profile. The Dow Jones Moderately Aggressive U.S. Portfolio Index risk level is set to 80% of the Dow Jones U.S. Stock CMAC Index's downside risk (past 36 months).
Dow Jones U.S. Select REIT Index
The index tracks the performance of publicly traded REITs and REIT-like securities and is designed to serve as a proxy for direct real estate investment, in part by excluding companies whose performance may be driven by factors other than the value of real estate. The index is a subset of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Real Estate Securities Index (RESI), which represents equity real estate investment trusts (REITs) and real estate operating companies (REOCs) traded in the U.S. Index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not include the effects of any applicable sales charges or management fees.
Downside Capture Ratio
Downside Capture Ratio represents the degree to which a strategy outperformed (less than 100%) or underperformed (greater than 100%) the benchmark in periods when the benchmark return was negative. The lower the downside capture ratio, the better.
Duration
A measure of the price sensitivity of a fixed income security or portfolio to changes in interest rates. Duration is stated in years. For example, if a bond has a duration of four years, the price of the bond is expected to change by approximately 4% for every one percentage point change in interest rates. The shorter the duration, the less price variability expected in the security's price due to changes in interest rates.
Duration (Effective Duration/Option-Adjusted Duration)
Duration is for a bond with an embedded option when the value is calculated to include the expected change in cash flow caused by the option as interest rates change. This measures the responsiveness of a bond’s price to interest rate changes, and illustrates the fact that the embedded option will also affect the bond’s price.
Duration for Senior Loans
Duration for Senior Loans is based on the maximum reset period for loan interest payments, which is quarterly – or the equivalent of 0.25 years effective duration. As interest rates rise, bond prices fall.
