specific risk

English

Noun

specific risk (countable and uncountable, plural specific risks)

1. (finance) A risk inherent in a small group of assets that can be mitigated by diversifying, investing in a broad portfolio of assets.
   • 2000, Financial Risk Management: A Practical Approach for Emerging Markets, Inter-American Development Bank, page 64:

     Therefore, the value is actually exposed to changes in two different risk factors, i.e., systemic risk and specific risk.

   • 2004, Andrew Springett, The Pension Strategy: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Investing, Insomniac Press, page 43:

     The fourth type of risk is called specific risk. As the name implies, specific risk is associated with the risk of a specific investment or a specific investment manager. Specific risk is one of the most dangerous types of risk, but fortunately it's also one of the easiest to eliminate.

   • 2010, Matt Krantz, chapter 18, in Fundamental Analysis for Dummies, Wiley Publishing:

     By investing in individual companies, you're exposing yourself to specific risk, or unique business challenges faced by companies. Specific risk is very different than systematic risk, or risk faced by all stocks.

Synonyms

• diversifiable risk
• unsystematic risk

Antonyms

• systematic risk
• non-diversifiable risk

See also

• residual risk