Call risk
The risk of receiving the principal ahead of schedule and having to place the money on worse terms.
How to read the number
The holder has in effect sold the issuer the right to choose the moment. The issuer will use it when it suits the issuer, not when it suits the holder.
When the metric lies
In mortgage-backed paper the same risk arrives from the other side — from borrowers repaying early. There it has neither an appointed date nor an announcement in advance.
Also known as: prepayment risk, redemption risk