Unit 21. Money and the return it earns (деньги и доход, который они приносят)

Fundamental to all financial markets is the idea of earning a return on money. Money has to work for its owner. Here are some of the ways it can do so:

1. You deposit $1,000 with a bank, which pays you, say, 10 per cent a year interest. In other words, your $1,000 of capital earns you $100 a year, which is the return on your money. When you want your $1,000 back you get $1,000, plus any accumulated interest, not more or less. Provided your bank does not go bust, your $1,000 of capital is not at risk, except from inflation, which may reduce its purchasing power each year.

2. You buy gold bullion to a value of $1,000 because you think the price of gold will rise. If the price of gold has risen by 20% after a year, you can sell your gold for $1,200. You have made a profit or a capital gain, of $200 on your capital outlay of $1,000. In other words you have a return of 20% on your money. If the price of gold fails to move, you've earned nothing because commodities like gold do not pay interest.

3. You use your $1,000 to buy securities that are traded on a stockmarket. Usually these will be government bonds (known as gilt-edged securities or gilts in the UK) or ordinary shares in a company. The former always provide an income; the latter nonnally do. Traditional gilt-edged securities pay a fixed rate of interest. Ordinary shares in companies normally pay a dividend from the profits the company earns. If the company's profits rise, the dividend is likely to be increased; but there is no guarantee that there will be a dividend at all. If the company makes losses, it may have to cease paying a dividend.

But when you buy securities that are traded on a stockmarket, the return on your $1,000 is not limited to the interest or dividends you receive. The prices of these securities will also rise and fall, and your original $1,000 investment accordingly becomes worth more or less. So you are taking the risk of capital gains or capital losses.

Suppose you buy $1,000 worth of ordinary shares, which pay you a dividend of $40 a year. You are getting a return or dividend yield of 4% a year on your investment ($40 as a percentage of $1,000). If after a year the market value of your $1,000 of shares lias risen to $1,100, you can sell them for a capital gain of $100 (or a 10% profit on your original outlay). Thus your overall return over a year consists of the $40 income and the $100 capital gain: a total of $140 or a 14% overall return on your original $1,000 investment.

Investors are generally prepared to accept much lower initial yields on shares than on fixed-interest stocks because they expect the income to rise in the future. Most investors in ordinary shares are seeking capital gains at least as much as income. Note that if you are buying a security, you are taking the risk il,4t the price may fall whether it is a government bond or a share. But with the government bond the income is at least guaranteed by the government. With the share there is a second layer of risk, the company may not earn sufficient profits to pay a dividend.

To summarize: money can be deposited to produce an income; it can be used to buy commodities or goods, which are expected to rise in value; or it can be invested in stockmarket securities, which normally produce an income but show capital gains or losses as well. Of course, there are many variations on each of these items.