Day count fraction: Difference between revisions

From The Jolly Contrarian
Jump to navigation Jump to search
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 1: Line 1:
A {{tag|day count fraction}}, actually<ref>{{swidt}}</ref> is  a [[deterministic]] means of calculating accrued [[interest]] for [[calculation period]]s shorter than a year. Different currencies and different interest rates have different conventions.  The Numerator designates the number of days in the interest period in question; the denominator the number of days in the year. The {{tag|day count fraction}} can then be multiplied by the notional amount and the interest rate to get the dollar amount of interest due.
{{g}}A {{tag|day count fraction}}, actually<ref>{{swidt}}</ref> is  a [[deterministic]] means of calculating accrued [[interest]] for [[calculation period]]s shorter than a year. Different currencies and different interest rates have different conventions.  The Numerator designates the number of days in the interest period in question; the denominator the number of days in the year. The {{tag|day count fraction}} can then be multiplied by the notional amount and the interest rate to get the dollar amount of interest due.


Not to be confused with a [[Business day convention]], a travelling salesman's conference which usually takes place in Florida during the Hurricane Season.<br />
Not to be confused with a [[Business day convention]], a travelling salesman's conference which usually takes place in Florida during the Hurricane Season.<br />

Revision as of 18:00, 24 September 2019

The Jolly Contrarian’s Glossary
The snippy guide to financial services lingo.™
Index — Click the ᐅ to expand:
Tell me more
Sign up for our newsletter — or just get in touch: for ½ a weekly 🍺 you get to consult JC. Ask about it here.

A day count fraction, actually[1] is a deterministic means of calculating accrued interest for calculation periods shorter than a year. Different currencies and different interest rates have different conventions. The Numerator designates the number of days in the interest period in question; the denominator the number of days in the year. The day count fraction can then be multiplied by the notional amount and the interest rate to get the dollar amount of interest due.

Not to be confused with a Business day convention, a travelling salesman's conference which usually takes place in Florida during the Hurricane Season.

The main day count fractions are:

  • actual/actual: the actual number of days in the period divided by the actual number of days in the year (which will usually be 365, but may not be in a leap year)
  • actual/365: the actual number of days in the period divided by the 365 (ie taking no account of leap years and other ad hoc modifications to the duration of a given year)
  • 30/360: Keen observers will note this fraction simplifies down to 1/12 - that is, a round month's worth of interest. Used mainly for fixed rates, where it doesn't really matter in which period a given day's worth of interest is paid, since it will be calculated exactly the same way anyway.

See also

I’m sorry I asked

References

  1. See what I did there?