Asset type is the market family a screener or strategy works in — Stocks, ETPs, or Crypto. It is the widest cut of the universe and the first choice you make in it: exactly one asset type is active at a time, and the type you pick decides which other universe filters exist. Because only one is active, a screener set to Stocks can never return an ETP, and a screener set to ETPs can never return an individual company's shares.
Also seen as: Asset class — the label the screener's universe selector and the instruments table still show today.
What are the three asset types?
Each asset type covers a different family of instruments and brings its own set of universe filters:
| Asset type | What it covers | Universe filters it exposes |
|---|---|---|
| Stocks | Shares in individual companies | Country · Exchange · Asset subtype · Index · Sector |
| ETPs | Exchange-traded products — funds and notes that trade like shares | Country · Currency · Exchange · Asset subtype |
| Crypto | Cryptocurrencies | none |
Crypto has no further universe filters, so choosing it narrows the universe to crypto and nothing else. Stocks is the type a new screener starts on.
How is asset type different from asset subtype?
Asset type is the family; asset subtype is the specific instrument kind inside it. Choosing the ETPs asset type gets you every exchange-traded product; the asset subtype filter then narrows that to ETFs, ETNs, ETCs, and so on — see Asset subtypes for what each abbreviation means.
Three labels that look like they belong in this taxonomy do not:
- ETP is an asset type, not a subtype — it is the parent of ETF, ETN, ETC, and the rest.
- ADR is a value of the Country filter, not a type or a subtype.
- OTC is a value of the Exchange filter, not a type or a subtype.
Defaults in Fincanva
- Exactly one asset type is active at a time — picking a new one replaces the current one rather than adding to it.
- Switching asset type hides the current type's universe filters but does not discard them: the app confirms with "Switching to
{target}hides these universe filters:{filters}. You can restore them by switching back", and switching back restores what you had selected. - Each asset type carries its own default selections, so Stocks and ETPs remember their filters independently.
- Asset type is also a column in a screener's results, labelled Asset type and explained in-app as "Stock, ETF, crypto, and so on."
Worked example
You want exposure to semiconductors, and there are two ways to get it. A chipmaker's ordinary shares are an instrument of asset type Stocks: with Stocks active you can narrow by Sector, so a screener can look for the companies themselves. A semiconductor ETF that holds those same companies is an instrument of asset type ETPs: switch to ETPs and the Sector filter disappears (ETPs have no Sector filter) while a Currency filter appears instead.
The two never mix in one screener. A screener set to Stocks returns the chipmaker and never the ETF; set it to ETPs and it returns the ETF and never the chipmaker — even though both give you exposure to the same companies.
Where this term is used
Generated · 1 pagesThe pages that reference this term — so a term page is somewhere you pass through, not somewhere you land and stop.
Fincanva provides no financial advice. Backtests show what would have happened — not what will.
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