Читать книгу Fundamentals of Financial Instruments - Sunil K. Parameswaran - Страница 22

“A financial asset is a claim against the income or wealth of a business firm, a household, or a government agency, which is represented usually by a certificate, a receipt, a computer record file, or another legal document, and is usually created by or is related to the lending of money.”¹

A financial claim is born in the following fashion. Whenever funds are transferred from a surplus budget unit (SBU) to a deficit budget unit (DBU), the DBU will issue a financial claim. It signifies that the party transferring the funds has a claim against the party accepting the funds. The transfer of funds from the lender may either be in the form of a loan to the borrower, or may constitute the assumption of an ownership stake in the venture of the borrower. In the case of loans, the claim constitutes a promise to pay the interest either at maturity or at periodic intervals and to repay the principal at maturity. Such claims are referred to as debt securities, or as fixed income securities. In the case of fund transfers characterized by the assumption of ownership stakes, the claims are known as equity shares. Unlike debt securities, which represent an obligation on the part of the borrower, equity shares represent a right to the profits of the issuing firm during its operation, if there is a profit, and to such assets that may remain after fully paying all creditors in the event of liquidation of the venture. It should be remembered that claims are always issued by the party that is raising funds and held by parties providing the funds.

To the issuer of the claim, the claim is a liability, for it signifies that it owes money to another party. To the lender, or the holder of the claim, it is an asset, for it signifies that the holder owns an item of value. The total of financial claims issued must be equal to the total financial assets held by investors, and every liability incurred by a party must be an asset for another investor.

Why do investors acquire financial assets? Financial assets are essentially sought after for three reasons.

 They serve as a store of value or purchasing power.

 They promise future returns to their owners.

 They are fungible, in the sense that they can be easily converted into other assets and vice versa.

In addition to debt securities and equity shares, we will also focus on the following assets:

 Money

 Preferred shares

 Foreign exchange

 Derivatives

 Mortgages