Zero Risk


Zero Risk

Describing an investment or security in which the return is known with certainty. The certainty generally comes from a supreme amount of confidence in the issuer of the investment; for example, Treasury securities are considered zero risk investments because the United States government is considered the best possible issuer. Critics contend that there is no such thing as a zero risk investment because, in theory, even the US government could default. However, zero risk investments have such a low level of risk that it may be ignored. Zero risk investments usually have a low rate of return and, as a result, are exposed to inflation risk.