Share
A small piece of ownership in a company.
Plain-English glossary
Beginner investing terms without the jargon.
A simple reference for the investing words beginners meet first. Use this page when a term stops you mid-sentence.
Fund
A basket of investments managed together, which can reduce reliance on one company.
ETF
An exchange-traded fund, which is a fund that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange.
Stocks and Shares ISA
A UK account that can hold investments with certain tax advantages, subject to rules and limits.
Diversification
Spreading money across different investments so one poor result does not carry everything.
Compound growth
Growth on top of previous growth. Over long periods, this can become powerful.
Risk
The chance that results are different from what you hoped for, including losing money.
Volatility
How much an investment moves up and down in price over time.
Platform
An online service where you can open accounts and buy investments.
Recommended first reads