Equities

In the context of investing, an equity is a stock or any other security representing an ownership interest.

Classifications

Canadian investors generally classify equities by type and/or geographically, depending on the context of their use, typically for asset allocation reasons. The following classifications are not mutually exclusive.

• Canadian equities
  • Common shares
  • Preferred shares
  • Hybrid Securities
  • Real estate investment trust
  • Split share corporation
  • Debenture
• US equities
• International equities
• Emerging markets
• Hedge funds
• Private equity
• Flow-through shares
• Warrants and Rights offerings
• Limited Partnerships

How to invest

There are a number of ways to invest in equities. Products such as exchange-traded funds and mutual funds can be used to invest in broad based coverage of these classifications. Another way to invest is to build a portfolio holding individual stocks purchased on a stock exchange, such as the Toronto Stock Exchange for Canadian equities.

Security regulators

Main article: List of Canadian security regulators

Security regulation in Canada is under provincial and territorial jurisdiction.

See also

• Asset allocation
• Portfolio design and construction

External links

• Fund Category List, from the from Canadian Investment Funds Standards Committee. Defines the standard classifications of Canadian-domiciled mutual funds.