BNET Business Dictionary
Business Definition for: Asset
- any tangible or intangible item to which a value can be assigned. Assets can be physical, such as machinery and consumer durables, or financial, such as cash and accounts receivable.
Assets are typically broken down into five different categories. Current assets include cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities, inventories, and prepaid expenses that are expected to be used within one year or a normal operating cycle. All cash items and inventories are reported at historical value. Securities are reported at market value. Noncurrent assets, or long-term investments, are resources that are expected to be held for more than one year. They are reported at the lower of cost and current market value, which means that their values will vary. Fixed assets include property, plant and facilities, and equipment used to conduct business. These items are reported at their original value, even though current values might well be much higher. Intangible assets include legal claims, patents, franchise rights, and accounts receivable. These values can be more difficult to determine. Accounts receivable, for example, reflect the amount a business expects to collect, such as, say, $9,000 of the $10,000 owed by customers. Deferred charges include prepaid costs and other expenditures that will produce future revenue or benefits.
Wiktionary Definition for: Asset
- Something or someone of any value; any portion of one's property or effects so considered.
- Ex: ''These shares are a valuable '''asset'''.''
- software Any component, model, process or framework of value that can be leveraged or reused.
Additional Resources
- Asset Allocation and Mutual Funds
- Asset allocation is the current rage of the mutual fund industry. In its simplest terms, asset allocation refers to the process of adjusting the relative proportion of different asset classes in an investment portfolio. Precisely because it is so popular, the merits of asset allocation tend to be accepted uncritically....
- White papers
- Issues In Asset Allocation: Introduction
- The article talks about the asset allocation, there is a division of asset allocation into three categories: policy or strategic asset allocation, tactical asset allocation and dynamic strategies for asset allocation, which are designed to change the distribution of return. The strategic asset allocation can be characterized as a long-term...
- White papers 2001-06-19
- Digital Asset Management Guide for Marketers 3: The Next "New Thing"
- This paper provides a look at the evolution of digital asset management and what may lie beyond it. Digital asset management continues to evolve under the forces of two influences: greater integration of digital asset management into other applications and greater integration of digital asset management into the server and...
- White papers 2003-04-29
- Brand Asset Management: Your Brand Is Your Most Valuable Strategic Asset
- Brand Asset Management is considered by many as a classic work on how to strategically manage brands. It effectively communicates how to estimate the value of a brand, manage it as a strategic asset and leverage the asset to drive business strategy. This paper provides useful information based on an...
- White papers 2002-06-07
- Six Myths About Asset-Based Loans
- Since its inception, the asset-based lending industry has been plagued by a pervasive image that asset-based loans are inherently bad. Asset-based loans are flexible, versatile, and competitively priced. Today, asset-based loans are a fundamental financing solution offered by many lenders, including the major money-center banks. The article discusses six myths...
- White papers 2003-06-09
- The Importance of Asset Allocation in an Investment Program
- This article defines asset allocation in more detail, explains why asset allocation decisions are so critical, and recommends an action plan for determining a prudent asset allocation structure. To support the discussion, it also presents a case study that illustrates asset allocation decision making. Asset allocation defines the percentage of...
- White papers 2000-06-01
- Risk-Based Asset Allocation: Worth the Effort
- Ioulia Tretiakova submits: Everybody knows the importance of asset allocation. But what exactly does it mean to get asset allocation right? The best asset allocation is the one that provides the highest return, but hindsight is 20/20. We know how difficult successful tactical asset allocation is for an individual investor....
- External links 2008-06-15
- Currency As Part Of Asset Allocation
- Asset Allocation is the single most important determinant of portfolio performance. In well-diversified portfolios, studies have shown that asset allocation decisions explain over 90% of the difference in plan returns. Despite the importance of asset allocation, many investment plans do not have professional and regular monitoring of the overall asset...
- White papers 2001-09-30
- Asset Prices in a Flexible Inflation Targeting Framework
- This paper summarizes the arguments for our basic proposition. It then discusses some of the counter-arguments. Specifically, it counters those who argue that reacting to asset prices does not improve macroeconomic performance by claiming that they are attacking the 'straw man' under which central bankers react in the same way...
- White papers 2002-06-01
- Investing: Asset Allocation System
- This asset allocation system is designed to help you see how different asset mixes may be appropriate for investors in different circumstances. Use the sliders to enter the required information, and the One Asset Allocation system will provide a target allocation. As an investor approaches retirement or becomes more bearish...
- Tools & templates 2008-01-01
- Pension Asset Pooling for Multinational Companies
- There have been new developments surrounding asset pooling issues due to demand from leading multinationals and the creation of a suitable product offer from custodians. While only a few multinationals have implemented asset pooling solutions so far, a number of others have expressed interest in implementing these solutions. This paper...
- White papers 2006-02-01
- Advanced Asset Management: Tools and Techniques
- This presentation describes the six "Whats" of asset management. These six levels of implementation can be used as a methodology for the implementation of an asset management plan in most organizations. An asset management plan provides a framework for collecting the data and information required to make decisions about the...
- White papers 2000-11-01
- Strategies For Investment In IT Systems For Asset Management
- The benefits of proper Asset Management have always been well known in the power industry. Lately, with the aging infrastructure and workforce, coupled with economic pressures enforced by re-regulation, Asset Management has risen in priority. This paper summarizes the findings of a survey on current use of IT, and future...
- White papers 2004-09-04
- Six Myths About Asset-Based Loans
- Since its inception, the asset-based lending industry has been plagued by a pervasive image that asset-based loans are inherently bad. This view was born during a time when “prestigious” companies simply didn’t do securing a loan with collateral and asset-based loans were offered only by a handful of lesser-known lenders....
- White papers 2003-01-05
- Increasing Capital Productivity Through Asset Management
- "Asset management" is a term used since the 1980's that describes a critical function within leasing companies. It basically means the ability to plan, acquire, manage, and recycle assets in a systematic manner. Each stage of asset management has a significant impact on portfolio return and profitability. The asset management...
- White papers 2004-11-09
- Asset Allocation
- The decision of asset allocation is one of, if not the, most important one an institutional investor can make. There are a number of considerations to take into account when trying to make this decision, and there is no right answer for all investors. The appropriate asset allocation is contingent...
- White papers 2000-08-15
- Asset Allocation: Management Style and Performance Measurement
- This white paper reveals about Asset allocation which is generally defined as the allocation of an investor's portfolio among a number of "major" asset classes. Clearly such a generalization cannot be made operational without defining such classes. An effective way to accomplish all these tasks is to use an asset...
- White papers 2002-07-09
- Asymptotic Methods for Asset Market Equilibrium Analysis
- General equilibrium analysis is difficult when asset markets are incomplete. This paper makes the simplifying assumption that uncertainty is small and uses bifurcation methods to compute Taylor series approximations for asset demand and asset market equilibrium. To illustrate this method, the paper applies it to analyzing the allocative, price, and...
- White papers 2001-02-01
- Pension-Plan Real Estate Investment in an Asset-Liability Framework
- This study explores the role of pension-plan real estate investment in an asset-liability framework. By assuming that the pension plan manager wishes to have asset, an asset selection process have been derived which depends on both the asset covariance with other asset and its covariance with the liability stream. This...
- White papers 2003-04-15
- Limited Asset Market Participation and the Elasticity of Intertemporal Substitution
- The paper presents empirical evidence based on the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey that accounting for limited asset market participation is important for estimating the elasticity of inter-temporal substitution. Differences in estimates of the EIS between asset holders and non-asset holders are large and statistically significant. This is the case whether...
- White papers 2002-08-16
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