What is a Modified Endowment Contract (MEC)? A Modified Endowment Contract (MEC) is a cash-value life insurance policy whose cumulative premiums have exceeded the amount allowed under U.S. federal tax law limits. In the 1970s, life insurance companies utilized the tax-advantage status of cash-value life insurance contracts to create products that allowed the…
What is Money Illusion? Money illusion, also known as price illusion, is an economic theory that states that individuals usually tend to view their income and wealth in nominal terms, as opposed to real terms. Another way to think about the money illusion concept is to assume that individuals do not take into account the…
What are Distressed Securities? Distressed securities are securities of a company experiencing financial distress or bankruptcy, specifically, a company that sees its bond rating downgraded by rating agencies to a CCC bond rating or below. Distressed securities sell at a large discount to their intrinsic value due to the significant risk involved in holding them….
What is a Make-Whole Call Provision? A make-whole call provision is a clause in a bond’s contract that allows the issuer to retire the bond early by paying off the remaining debt on the bond. Furthermore, a make-whole call provision can be thought of as a call provision in which the debtor can make a…
What is a Delayed Draw Term Loan (DDTL)? A delayed draw term loan (DDTL) is a negotiated term loan option where borrowers are able to request additional funds after the draw period of the loan’s already closed. Draw term loans are structured with a maximum loan amount that can be accessed throughout a certain time…
What is Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A)? Management discussion and analysis, or MD&A, is a section that can be found in the annual report of a company. The MD&A section provides key information regarding how a company is performing financially. The information can also be found in the SEC Form 10-K. As per required by…
What are A-Shares? A-shares are a share classification for common or preferred stock. Share classification refers to the different types of shares that investors can own in a company’s stock. The different types of shares provide different levels of benefits and rights. For example, a company may issue Class A, Class B, and Class C…
What is an Amortized Bond? An amortized bond is a bond with the principal amount – otherwise known as face value –regularly paid down over the life of the bond. The bond’s principal is divided up according to the security’s amortization schedule and paid off incrementally (often in one-month increments). How an Amortized Bond Works…
What is Greenmail? Committing Greenmail involves buying a significant number of shares in a target company, threatening a hostile takeover, and then using the threat to force the target company to buy back the shares at a higher price. Similar to blackmail, greenmail is money that is paid to another company to prevent aggressive behavior…
What is Add-On Interest? Add-on interest refers to the calculation method of determining the total interest to be paid on a loan. Once the interest’s been added to the principal, the amount is divided by the number of months in the duration of the loan to determine the amount of the monthly loan payment. How…
