The words in the letter, and what we call them
Fund papers use formal words. This is the same list in ours, so you can read the letter and this site side by side.
Each line: the papers' word - our words.
Offers and votes
"tender offer" - an offer to buy back shares; you decide whether to take part, by a date. "rights offering" - an offer to existing holders to buy more shares, usually below the current price. "at-the-market offering" - the fund selling new shares over time, only at or above the value of its holdings. "proxy statement" - the voting papers for a shareholder meeting. "proxy contest" - a fight over the vote: two sides ask for your vote.
Changes to the fund
"liquidation" - closing down: the fund sells everything and pays the cash to holders. "merger" or "reorganization" - folding into another fund: your shares become shares of the other fund at the same value. "open-ending" - becoming a regular mutual fund you can sell at full value on any day. "deregistration" - the fund stops being a registered fund; "delisting" - its shares stop trading on the exchange. "term fund" - a fund with a planned end date.
Money
"net asset value" - the value of the holdings, per share, after what the fund owes. "discount" and "premium" - the share price below or above that value. "managed distribution" - a fixed payout each month or quarter, whether or not the fund earned it. "return of capital" - the part of a payout that was not income: your own money back. "expense ratio" - the yearly cost in total; "management fee" - the part the managers charge. "leverage" - borrowing; "preferred share redemption" - the fund repaying money it borrowed by selling a special class of shares.
Investors
"activist" - a large investor pushing for changes; "passive" - one that has said it is not. "5% holder" or "beneficial owner" - an investor who owns 5% or more and must report it. "standstill" - a deal in which an investor agrees to stop pushing for a while, usually after the fund did something it asked for.