Immediate Annuity
This annuity has no accumulation phase. Instead, you start receiving annuity payments right after you purchase the annuity.
Immediate-Or-Cancel Order
An Immediate-Or-Cancel (IOC) order is an order to buy or sell a stock that must be executed immediately. Any portion of an IOC order that cannot be filled immediately will be cancelled. …
Impersonators
Impersonators may falsely claim to be affiliated with the SEC (or another federal government agency) in an attempt to steal your personal information or your money. Federal government agencies,…
Index Fund
An "index fund" describes a type of mutual fund or unit investment trust (UIT) whose investment…
Indexed Annuities
An indexed annuity is a type of annuity contract between you and an insurance company. It…
Individual Retirement Account (IRA)
Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) provide tax advantages for retirement savings. You can contribute each year up to the maximum amount allowed by the Internal Revenue Service. There…
Information About Some Companies Not Available From the SEC
Investors are sometimes surprised to learn the SEC does not have information about all companies that offer and sell securities. When a company conducts a registered offering or an exempt offering…
Information Available to Investment Company Shareholders
Before you invest in any registered investment company you should read its prospectus and any…
Informe anual (10K)
Éste es un informe presentado a la SEC por parte de empresas públicas, que incluye el historial de la empresa, sus estados financieros auditados, una descripción de productos y servicios, un repaso…
Initial Public Offering (IPO)
An initial public offering, or IPO, generally refers to when a company first sells its shares to the public. For more information about IPOs generally, see our …
Initial Public Offerings, Why Individuals Have Difficulty Getting Shares
The underwriters and the company that issues the shares control the IPO process. They have wide latitude in allocating IPO shares. The SEC does not regulate the business decision of how IPO shares…
Initial Public Offerings: Eligibility to Get Shares at Broker-Dealers
No brokerage firm can guarantee you will be able to purchase shares in an initial public offering (IPO).
While it can be difficult for individual investors to buy IPO shares, more firms, including…
Initial Public Offerings: Lockup Agreements
Lockup agreements prohibit company insiders—including employees, their friends and family, and large shareholders—from selling their shares for a set period of time after an IPO. In other words…
Insider Trading
Illegal insider trading refers generally to buying or selling a security, in breach of a fiduciary duty or other relationship of trust and confidence, on the basis of material, nonpublic information…
Interest
The price paid for borrowing money. It is expressed as a percentage rate over a period of time.
Interest rates may be fixed, meaning the rate is set and will not change, or may be variable or "…
Internet Fraud
The Internet allows individuals or companies to communicate with a large audience without spending a lot of time, effort, or money. Anyone can reach tens of thousands of people by building an…
Interval Fund
An interval fund is a type of investment company that periodically offers to repurchase its shares from shareholders. That is, the fund…
Invest
To engage in any activity in which money is put at risk for the purpose of making a profit.
Investigations
The SEC’s Division of Enforcement conducts investigations into potential violations of the federal securities laws. Common violations include misrepresenting important information about potential…
Investment Adviser
An investment adviser is a
firm or person
that, for compensation, engages
in the business of providing investment advice to others about the value of or about investing in securities –…
Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD)
The Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) database contains registration documents filed by…
Investment Adviser Registration Depository (IARD)
The Investment Adviser Registration Depository (IARD) functions as a one-stop electronic filing system for investment advisers…
Investment Company
A company that issues and invests in securities. The three types of investment companies are mutual funds, closed-end funds, and unit investment trusts.
Investment-grade Bond (or High-grade Bond)
Bonds that are believed to have a lower risk of default and receive higher ratings by the credit rating agencies, namely bonds rated Baa (by Moody's) or BBB (by S&P and Fitch) or above. These…
Investor Complaints
The SEC receives many types of complaints from individual investors, including complaints against brokers, brokerage firms, investment advisers, transfer agents, mutual funds, and other market…
Issuer
The entity obligated to pay principal and interest on a bond.