A security that combines two or more different financial instruments. Hybrid securities generally combine both debt and equity characteristics. The most common example is a convertible bond that has features of an ordinary bond, but is heavily influenced by the price movements of the stock into which it is convertible. 

Often referred to as "hybrids". 



|||New types of hybrid securities are being introduced all the time to meet the needs of sophisticated investors. Some of these securities get so complicated that it's tough to define them as either debt or equity.