Chapter 1 Flashcards
(197 cards)
4 main functions of financial services industry
Financial intermediary
Pooling and managing risk
Payments and settlement services
Portfolio management
What do financial intermediary provide channels for
To move funds from savers to borrowers
How do financial intermediaries reduce info and transaction costs
Providing services that allow savers to become investors
Ensuring adequate provision of info
Allowing borrowers to access range of savers that can meet variety of terms
How can savers supply funds
Directly - holding debt or equity
Indirectly - through banks
Who performs financial intermediary roles
Banks
Building societies
Insurance
Pensions
Open ended investment companies
Benefits of pooled investments
Allow investment into wider variety of investments than they would be individually which reduces overall individual risk
How can people manage risk
Insurance allows transfer of risk in return for premium
Derivatives market management risk exposures
Who are settlement services provided by
Clearing houses
What is central bank 3
Sets monetary framework for which financial organisations operate
Set short term i rates
Lender of last resort in illiquidity crisis
Surplus agents
Typically households
Deficit agents
Those who need to borrow - firms and governments
Deposit institutions and what happen sand examples
Accept deposits from economic agents and deposits become liabilities for these institutions
Commercial Banks and building socs
What types of assets do general and life insurnace firms hold
Life - Tend to cover longer periods to hold long term assets
General - shorter term assets due to greater need for cash
Four gov functions?
Providing services that private firms cannot
Regulating firms and markets to protect consumer
Interveni`no in the wealth distribution of private transactions
Stabilising the economy
Two types of financial asset
Debt and equity
Characteristic of bank deposits and normal loans
Not trade able
Most other loans are tradeable
Benfit of indirect investment
Greater diversification
Less transaction costs
Access to specialist expertise
Ability to invest in assets otherwise not investbale
Three parties in unit trust
Manager
Trustee - unconnected from manager
Unit holders
Main role of trustee in unit trust
Ensure fund manager runs funds to its objectives and goals
Characteristic of unit trust
Open ended - new units created when investors want to invest