What’s a collective investment scheme?

Learn what's a collective investment scheme

A collective investment scheme is a fancy legal name for any investment fund that involves multiple people pooling their money together and investing in assets.

In the UK, this could include mutual funds, investment trusts or an open-ended investment company.

Collective investment schemes benefit from economies of scale. A larger pool of money invested has the potential to provide greater returns. It can also mean that transactions and other pieces of bureaucracy incur lower costs.

More terms

Nominal amount

The face value of a gilt. It represents the amount that will be repaid to the holder at maturity and is also used to calculate the dividend or coupon payment.
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Quick ratio

Learn what quick ratio stands for in financial terms and how to calculate it.
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Alpha

The percentage by which an investor outperforms a relevant benchmark.
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Wall Street

A street in New York that became a figure of speech for the financial markets of the US.
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DMO

The United Kingdom Debt Management Office. It’s an executive agency responsible for managing the government’s debt and cash needs, primarily through issuing gilts and Treasury bills.
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Professional Client

An investor that is able to meet several regulatory criteria.
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Conventional gilts

Gilts where the dividends and principal repayments are fixed in nominal terms. This is as opposed to an index-linked gilt where the dividends and principal repayments are related to movements in the Retail Prices Index (RPI).
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W-8BEN Form

Non-US individuals and businesses may have to file this form for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the US tax authority.
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index-linked gilts

Gilts where the dividends and principal repayments are related to movements in the Retail Prices Index (RPI). This is as opposed to a conventional gilt, where the dividends and principal repayments are fixed in nominal terms.
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