Acronyms

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Long names call for shorthand.  Here is a list (by no means exhaustive) of acronyms for investment and finance-related entities, which you might come across in this blog or elsewhere:

  • ACLI – American Council of Life Insurers. ACLI is an association of American life insurance carriers which promotes the life insurance industry to the public and deals with legislation on all levels of government as it relates to life insurance.  ACLI is based in Washington, D.C. and is an SRO.
  • AICPA – American Institute of Certified Public Accounts. AICPA is the national professional organization for Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) in the United States.  AICPA is an SRO.
  • CBOT – The Chicago Board of Trade. CBOT is an SRO.  A commodity exchange established in 1848 where both agricultural and financial contracts are traded. The CBOT originally traded only agricultural commodities such as wheat, corn, and soybeans. The CBOT currently offers options and futures contracts on a variety of products including gold, silver, US Treasury bonds, and energy.  The CBOT is part of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group.
  • CFTC – The U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission. Established as an independent agency of the US government in 1974, the CFTC regulates U.S. derivatives markets, which includes futures, swaps, and certain kinds of options.

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Investing has its own language, including beloved acronyms and shorthand.  Here’s a list (by no means exhaustive) of general terms you might hear thrown around in this blog or elsewhere:

  • AUM – assets under management, which is the total market value of the investments that a person or entity manages on behalf of clients.
  • BD – an abbreviation for a broker-dealer. A BD is a buyer and seller of securities, as well as a distributor of other investment products.  A BD must be registered with the SEC.  BDs include large subsidiaries of huge commercial and investment banks, as well as independent boutiques.  A wirehouse is a BD that sells its own products to customers, while an independent BD sells products from outside sources.  As a dealer, the firm acts on its own behalf for transactions in the firm’s own account.  As a broker, the firm handles transactions behalf their clients. 
  • CFP – Certified Financial Planner. The CFP designation issued by the CFP Board of Standards, Inc., to professionals who have completed extensive training and experience requirements and are held to rigorous ethical standards for personal financial planning.
  • CRD – Central Registration Depository. This is a database maintained by FINRA and used by the U.S. securities industry and its regulators. Web CRD consists of the registration records of broker-dealer firms and their associated individuals including their qualification, employment and disclosure histories. The general public can review reports generated from Web CRD using BrokerCheck.  BrokerCheck will generate certain disclosable current and background information regarding your broker or investment advisor.

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