Valuation
Process of determining the value of a portfolio of assets, including any accrued income. (See also actuarial valuation.)

Value at risk (VaR)
Technique to analyse variations in performance and to estimate the amount by which a portfolio could underperform.

Value date
Date agreed between parties for the settlement of a transaction.

Value investment
Approach to investment which places emphasis on identifying shares which are believed to be underpriced (on the basis of indicators such as P/E ratio and dividend yield) by the market.

Variance
Degree to which a given set of number/ data points vary about the mean. It is the square of the standard deviation.

VC
See venture capital.

Venture capital (VC)
Investment in a company that is at a relatively early stage of development and is not listed on a stock exchange. A venture capitalist raises money from investors to invest in such opportunities. These investments are typically risky but potentially very profitable. Generally considered a sub-sector of the private equity market.

Vesting
Acquisition by a pension plan member of an absolute right to an immediate or deferred benefit by fulfilling prescribed conditions, especially service requirements.

Vintage year (private equity/ infrastructure)
Year in which a fund is closed and makes its first investment.

VIX
Widely used index maintained by the Chicago Board of Exchange, reflecting the expectation of volatility in the market over the next 30-day period.

Void rate (real estate)
Percentage of a property that is vacant at a point in time.

Volatility
Variability of the price of a security. Typically quantified as standard deviation. (See also standard deviation of return.)

Volatility swap
Forward contract for which the underlying is the volatility of a given product. This is a pure volatility instrument allowing investors to speculate solely upon the movement of a stock’s volatility without the influence of its price.

Volume
Number of shares or contracts traded in a security or an entire market during a given period, often used in the context of average daily or weekly volume.

Volume weighted average price (VWAP)
Benchmark for trading efficiency. It measures the average price at which a share is traded in the market over a period, and can be compared against the price actually achieved by a fund manager. VWAP is calculated by adding up the monetary value traded for every transaction (price times number of shares traded) and then dividing by the total number of shares traded in the period.

Voting rights
Entitlement of an ordinary shareholder to participate in the running of a company by voting on resolutions.

Voting shares
Shares that give the stockholder the right to vote at company meetings — for example, on the election of directors.

Vulture fund
Fund which buys securities in distressed investments, such as high-yield bonds in or near default, or equities that are in or near bankruptcy.

Variable Limit
According to the exchange rules, an expanded allowable price range set during volatile markets.

Variation Margin
During periods of great market volatility or in the case of high-risk accounts, additional margin deposited by a clearing member firm to an exchange clearinghouse.

Versus Cash
See Exchange For Physicals.

Vertical Spread
Buying and selling puts or calls of the same expiration month but different strike prices.

Volatility
A measurement of the change in price over a given time period. It is often expressed as a percentage and computed as the annualized standard deviation of percentage change in daily price.

Volume
The number of purchases or sales of a contract made during a specified period of time, often the total transactions for one trading day.