An investment term for contracts concerned with transactions of financial instruments, as distinct from commodities. The essential value of financial futures is that they allow investors to hedge (protect) against adverse movements in interest rates or share prices. They can also be used by speculators who, while having no involvement as buyers or sellers in the underlying securities, can trade in futures as a means of profiting from expected price movements. Financial futures available in Australia include bank bill futures, Share Price Index (SPI) futures and Commonwealth bond futures.

An investment term for income, from interest, which remains constant, such as income derived from bonds, annuities and preference shares. Any debt security which has a known and legally set flow of income is known as a fixed interest security.

An investment term for contract for borrowing or lending at a stated interest rate over a stated time period that begins at some time in the future. FRAs are used by parties to protect themselves against future interest rate or currency movements.

An investment term for an agreement to buy or sell a specified quantity and quality of an underlying asset, such as bank bills or gold, at a set time in the future and at a price agreed when the contract was executed.