Umbrella Personal Liability Insurance Policy - An insurance policy that extends the coverage limits of standard personal insurance policies, such as homeowners, boat owners, auto, tenants (renters) insurance, etc. Specifically, an umbrella policy provides an extra level of protection against a large jury award that is not covered in a standard policy.

Underlying fund fees - Within variable annuities, these are the ongoing mutual fund fees associated with the individual investments within your account.

Underwriter - A company or other entity that administers the public issuance and distribution of securities from a corporation or other issuing body. An underwriter works closely with the issuing body to determine the offering price of the securities, buys them from the issuer and sells them to investors via the underwriter's distribution network.  

Underwriters generally receive underwriting fees from their issuing clients, but they also usually earn profits when selling the underwritten shares to investors. However, underwriters assume the responsibility of distributing a securities issue to the public. If they can't sell all of the securities at the specified offering price, they may be forced to sell the securities for less than they paid for them, or retain the securities themselves.

Underwriting - The process of examining, accepting, or rejecting insurance applications, and classifying those people who are accepted, in order to charge the proper premium for each person.

Unlisted stock - A security not listed on a stock exchange.

Universal Life Insurance - A flexible type of policy that lets you periodically adjust your premium payments and the amount of your coverage.

Uptick - A term used to designate a transaction made at a price higher than the preceding transaction. Also called a "plus" tick. A "zero-plus" tick is a term used for a transaction at the same price as the preceding trade but higher than the preceding different price. Conversely, a down tick, or "minus" tick, is a term used to designate a transaction made at a price lower than the preceding trade. A plus sign, or a minus sign, is displayed throughout the day next to the last price of each stock at the trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Uptick Rule - A former rule established by the SEC that requires that every short sale transaction be entered at a price that is higher than the price of the previous trade. This rule was introduced in the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as Rule 10a-1 and was implemented in 1938. The uptick rule prevents short sellers from adding to the downward momentum when the price of an asset is already experiencing sharp declines.

The uptick rule is also known as the "plus tick rule".