Home  |  Equity
 
 

Equity Capital

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In accounting and finance, equity is the residual claim or interest of the most junior class of investors in an assets, after all liabilities are paid. If valuations placed on assets do not exceed liabilities, negative equity exists. In an accounting context, Shareholders' equity (or stockholders' equity, shareholders' funds, shareholders' capital or similar terms) represents the remaining interest in assets of a company, spread among individual shareholders of common or preferred stock.

 
At the start of a business, owners put some funding into the business to finance assets. This creates liability on the business in the shape of capital as business is a separate entity from its owners. Businesses can be considered to be, for accounting purposes, sums of liabilities and assets; this is the accounting equation. After liabilities have been accounted for, the positive remainder is deemed the owner's interest in the business.

This definition is helpful to understand the liquidation process in case of bankruptcy.At first, all the secured creditors are paid against proceeds from assets. Afterwards, a series of creditors, ranked in priority sequence, have the next claim/right on the residual proceeds. Ownership equity is the last or residual claim against assets, paid only after all other creditors are paid[1]. In such cases where even creditors could not get enough money to pay their bills, and nothing is left over to reimburse owners' equity. Thus owners' equity is reduced to zero. Ownership equity is also known as risk capital, liable capital and equity.

Equity investments

Equity investments generally refers to the buying and holding of shares of stock on a stock market by individuals and firms in anticipation of income from dividends and capital gain as the value of the stock rises. It also sometimes refers to the acquisition of equity (ownership) participation in a private (unlisted) company or a startup (a company being created or newly created). When the investment is in infant companies, it is referred to as venture capital investing and is generally understood to be higher risk than investment in listed going-concern situations.

The equities held by private individuals are often held via mutual funds or other forms of pooled investment vehicle, many of which have quoted prices that are listed in financial newspapers or magazines; the mutual funds are typically managed by prominent fund management firms (e.g. Schroders, Fidelity Investments or the Vanguard Group). Such holdings allow individual investors to obtain the diversification of the fund(s) and to obtain the skill of the professional fund managers in charge of the fund(s). An alternative, usually employed by large private investors and pension funds, is to hold shares directly; in the institutional environment many clients who own portfolios have what are called segregated funds as opposed to, or in addition to, the pooled e.g. mutual fund alternative.

 

More related links about Equity Capital

 
 
  1. equity capital Definition

    equity capital - definition of equity capital - Capital raised from owners.
    www.investorwords.com/1727/equity_capital.html -
  2. equity capital definition

    equity capital - definition of equity capital from BusinessDictionary.com: Invested money that, in contrast to debt capital, is not repaid to the investors ...
    www.businessdictionary.com/definition/equity-capital.html -
  3. Equity (finance) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    In an accounting context, Shareholders' equity (or stockholders' equity, shareholders' funds, shareholders' capital or similar terms) represents the ...
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equity_(finance) -
  4. Small Business Administration - Venture Capital

    Venture capital is a type of equity financing that addresses the funding needs of ... Focuses on young, high-growth companies;; Invests equity capital, ...
    www.sba.gov › ... › For Borrowers Venture Capital -
  5. Equity Capital

    Equity Capital - What is equity capital? Equity capital is typically capital raised from owners in the company.
    www.businessfinance.com/equity-capital.htm -
  6. Equity Capital Market (ECM)

    Equity Capital Market (ECM) - Definition of Equity Capital Market (ECM) on Investopedia - A market that exists between companies and financial institutions ...
    www.investopedia.com › Dictionary -
 
 
   
 
 
                              @Copyright 2009-2020 www.about-world.com