When an index goes in for a bit of dental work. Also, a way to structure an equity index.
An index is a way of tracking the performance of a group of stocks. Think: the S&P 500, the Dow Industrial Average, etc.
Most indices are weighted in some way. Which means that some securities get more emphasis than others. The index doesn't just consist of one share of every stock. Some stocks have more influence...they're more heavily weighted in an index. Typically, this weighting is done by either price or market capitalization.
In a capped index, there's a limit to how much weighting any one stock can have. Even if it gets way ahead of the others in either price or market cap, the stock can't rise above a set weight within the index.
The goal here is to make sure that the index doesn't become overly dependant on any one stock. At that point, it ceases to be a useful tracker of the group and essentially becomes a proxy for the one stock. You might as well skip the middleman and just watch the price of the one stock.
It's like a band where the lead singer gets too famous and eventually the band has to break up. A capped index ensures that the Rolling Stones stay the Rolling Stones, and don't become...Mick Jagger and the Jaggerettes.
Related or Semi-related Video
Finance: What is a Closed-End Fund?1 Views
Finance a la shmoop what is a closed-end fund? well it's a type of mutual fund [Man approaches mutual fund desk]
only like a bank at any convenient time it's closed
like its assets are enclosed in its price closed means that the fund itself
doesn't actively trade assets back and forth inside of it on a daily basis like
the most famous closed-end mutual fund in the world is Berkshire Hathaway [Man pushing pram of a baby with Berkshire Hathaway briefcase for a head]
Warren Buffett's you know other child the successful one it owns 40 or 50 key
assets from Geico to train companies to metal machinery firms in Israel to
boatloads of shares of stocks like coca-cola and Gillette and Wells Fargo
all of those assets are wrapped up in a tidy BRK bow and the stock market values [Stock market values appear]
ticker BRK daily by trading it back and forth among investors so yes the assets
inside of the fund do change but in an analogous mutual fund that is open the
value placed on the shares is at what is called net asset value, that value is
calculated by just adding up the 843 stocks at the mutual fund owns or however
many the number is and then just calculating a value based on the number [Calculation appears]
of share units comprising that open end mutual fund the closed-end fund has no
changes that way it's just investors valuing the whole bucket of investments
in one closed number now if you'll excuse us we have to get back to [Baby crying in a crib with Berkshire Hathaway briefcase for head]
babysitting for Warren Buffett isn't she just an angel
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