Glossary

ICE BofA BB-B U.S. Cash Pay High Yield Constrained Index
An index that contains all securities in the ICE BofA U.S. Cash Pay High Yield Constrained Index that are rated BB1 through B3, based on an average of Moody’s, S&P and Fitch, but caps issuer exposure at 2%. Index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not reflect any applicable sales charges or management fees.

ICE BofA – Credit Suisse Index Blend
An index comprised 60% of the ICE BofA U.S. High Yield Master II Index and 40% Credit Suisse Leveraged Loan Index.

ICE BofA 3-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index 
The ICE BofA 3-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index is an unmanaged index that is comprised of a single U.S. Treasury issue with approximately three months to final maturity, purchased at the beginning of each month and held for one full month. 

ICE BofA Current 10-Year U.S. Treasury Index 
A one-security index comprised of the most recently issued 10-year U.S. Treasury note.

ICE BofA Current 30-Year U.S. Treasury Index 
A one-security index comprised of the most recently issued 30-year U.S. Treasury bond.

ICE BofA Fixed Rate ABS AA-BBB Index
A subset of the ICE BofA US Corporate Index tracking the performance of US dollar denominated investment grade rated corporate debt publicly issued in the US domestic market. This subset includes asset-backed securities with a given investment grade rating between AA and BBB.

ICE BofA Fixed Rate CMBS AA-BBB Index
A subset of the ICE BofA US Corporate Index tracking the performance of US dollar denominated investment grade rated corporate debt publicly issued in the US domestic market. This subset includes commercial mortgage-backed securities with a given investment grade rating between AA and BBB.

ICE BofA Preferred Stock Fixed Rate Index
The ICE BofA Preferred Stock Fixed Rate Index is designed to replicate the total return of a diversified group of investment-grade preferred securities.

ICE BofA REIT Preferred Securities Index
The ICE BofA REIT Preferred Securities Index is a subset of The BofA Merrill Lynch Fixed Rate Preferred Securities Index including all real estate investment trust securities

ICE BofA U.S. ABS & CMBS Index 
ICE BofA U.S. ABS & CMBS Index tracks the performance of U.S. dollar denominated investment grade fixed and floating rate asset backed securities and fixed rate commercial mortgage backed securities publicly issued in the U.S. domestic market.

ICE BofA U.S. All Capital Securities Index
An index that tracks the performance of fixed rate, US dollar-denominated hybrid corporate and preferred securities publicly issued in the US domestic market.

ICE BofA U.S. 50% Corporate and 50% High Yield Index
An index that tracks the performance of U.S. dollar denominated investment grade and sub-investment grade corporate debt publicly issued in the U.S. domestic market

ICE BofA U.S. Corporate Index 
Tracks the performance of U.S. dollar denominated investment grade corporate debt publicly issued in the US domestic market.

ICE BofA U.S. High Yield Index 
Tracks the performance of U.S. dollar denominated below investment grade corporate debt publicly issued in the U.S. domestic market.

ICE BofA U.S. High Yield Institutional Capital Securities Index (HIPS)
An index designed to measure the performance of USD-denominated below investment grade hybrid capital corporate and preferred securities publicly issued in the U.S. domestic market. Index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not reflect any applicable sales charges or management fees.

ICE BofA U.S. High Yield Master II Index
The ICE BofA High Yield Master II Index tracks the performance of U.S. Dollar-denominated below investment- grade corporate debt publicly issued in the U.S. domestic market.

ICE BofA U.S. Investment Grade Institutional Capital Securities Index (CIPS)
An index designed to measure the performance of USD-denominated investment grade hybrid capital corporate and preferred securities publicly issued in the U.S. domestic market. Index returns assume reinvestment of distributions, but do not reflect any applicable sales charges or management fees.

ICE BofA U.S. Preferred, Bank Capital & Capital Trust Securities Index
Tracks the performance of U.S. dollar denominated fixed rate preferred securities, fixed-to-floating rate, perpetual callable and capital securities, perpetual callable and variable coupon private placements issued in the U.S. domestic market.

In the money
In the money means that a call option’s strike price is below the market price of the underlying asset or that the strike price of a put options is above the market price of the underlying asset.

Income Dividend
Payments to fund shareholders of dividends and interest earned by securities held by a fund. Income dividends are paid after deducting operating expenses.

Indenture
The formal contract governing a corporate bond that explains the bond's maturity, coupon rate, call privileges, and other rights and obligations.

Individual Retirement Account (IRA)
A retirement plan that allows individuals to contribute money on a tax-deferred basis to a retirement account each year.

Industrial Revenue Bond
A security issued by a state, political subdivision or certain agencies or authorities, for certain specific purposes, but backed by the credit of a private enterprise.

Inflation
A rise in the prices of goods and services, often equated with loss of purchasing power.

Inflation Linked Swap
A contractual agreement between two counterparties under which one party agrees to make periodic interest payments to the other for an agreed period of time based on a fixed rate (alternatively, a floating rate based on an interest rate index), while the other party agrees to make periodic payments based on a floating rate of interest based on the Consumer Price Index.

Initial Public Offering (IPO)
A company or closed-end fund's first public offering of common stock.

Initial Sales Charge
The sales charge paid by the investor at the time of purchase of a fund. Also known as a front-end load.

Institutional MuniFund Term Preferred (IMTP)
Preferred shares issued by a closed-end fund featuring floating rate dividends based on a predetermined formula or spread to an index rate, with a fixed-term and mandatory redemption. Issued via private placement to multiple institutional buyers.

Insurance
A contract (policy) in which an individual or entity receives financial protection or reimbursement against losses from an insurance company. The company pools clients' risks to make payments more affordable for the insured.

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
The Internal Revenue Service, created in 1913 to administer the collection of federal income taxes.

Intrinsic Value
Analysts calculate intrinsic value by forecasting a company’s future net cash flows and discounting those cash flows back to today’s value. The present value of those future cash flows is that company’s intrinsic value.

Inverse Floater
Inverse Floating Rate Securities are derivative securities designed to produce high levels of tax-exempt income representing the difference between interest paid on an underlying municipal bond and short-term interest rates, less certain expenses, times a leverage ratio. This income varies inversely with the short-term rates based on the leverage ratio. Inverse floating rate securities also result in the fund experiencing leveraged exposure to both upward and downward changes in the value of the underlying bonds.

Inverted, Or Negative, Yield Curve
The interest rate structure which exists when short-term interest rates exceed long-term interest rates.

Investment Adviser
An individual or organization that manages a portfolio and makes day-to-day investment decisions regarding the purchase or sales of securities.

Investment Company
A company that is primarily engaged in the business of investing, reinvesting, or trading in securities such as mutual funds, closed-end funds, and unit investment trusts. Investment companies are governed by rules established in the Investment Company Act of 1940.

Investment Company Act of 1940
The Investment Company Act of 1940 was established by Congress to set standards for regulating investment companies, which include mutual funds, closed-end funds, and unit investment trusts.

Investment-Grade
Securities whose issuers are judged by an independent rating service such as Fitch, Standard & Poor's or Moody's Investors Service to have adequate to exceptional ability to pay interest and repay principal. Fitch, Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service designate bonds in their top four categories (AAA/Aaa, AA/Aa, A/A, and BBB/Baa) as investment grade. Bonds rated in the lower categories are considered to be non-investment-grade.

Investment Horizon
The length of expected time to keep a sum of money invested.

Investment Objective
The financial goal that an investor or a fund pursues. A growth fund, for example, typically seeks to provide long-term growth (as opposed to current income).

Investment Style
A broad indicator of a fund's investment emphasis. For stock funds, the investment style often indicates whether a fund emphasizes stocks of large-, medium, or small-capitalization companies or whether it emphasizes stocks with growth or value characteristics or a blend of these characteristics. For fixed income funds, style may indicate whether it emphasizes investment-grade or junk bonds, domestic or international securities, or how much interest rate risk it takes.

IRS (Internal Revenue Service)
The IRS (Internal Revenue Service), created in 1913, is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury which administers and enforces U.S. federal tax laws.