Definition of Beta in finance

Beta is a term used in trading to indicate volatility or systematic risk of an asset compared to that of the overall market. Beta is one of the 5 technical risk ratios, is also sometimes known as the beta coefficient, and is calculated using regression analysis.

Beta is used in the capital asset pricing model and shows the performance of an asset relative to the market, i.e. an asset with a beta of 2 will always perform double that of the market (10% market rise = 20% asset rise, 5% market fall = 10% asset fall).

Higher values of beta indicate higher returns and more risk relative to the overall market.