When I was an actuary interacting with the investment department inside a life insurance company, one of the things that I learned early was that there was an inpenetrable jargon on the part of the bond investors that neophytes had to learn.? My boss, the best actuarial businessman that I have ever known, insisted that we have a weekly meeting with the investment department, and in their offices.? Being on their own turf made them freer to talk their own lingo, and that helped us learn it.

When I went to work in an investment department years later, the shoe was on the other foot.? I was still learning investment lingo, but when the actuaries showed up, I was there to translate.? Not surprisingly, there is jargon on both sides, often with the same term having two different names, because it is used two different ways.

It was true until the day I left the firm, where I heard a bond term I had never heard before.? We have a lot of jargon in investing, whether it is fixed income or equities.? There is additional jargon in insurance.

Here’s my offer: I try to define what I write about, but if I fail to define something adequately, let me know in the comments, and I will add an entry to the new Jargon page.? Let me know; I live to serve.