Jargon unplugged.

A

Active manager
This type of investment manager will try to achieve a better return than the market by actively researching investments.  They use sophisticated research processes and tools to achieve this.

Additional employer contributions
Your employer must contribute 9% of your pre-tax earnings to your super fund.  If they’re really nice, they might contribute even more, usually fixed as a percentage.

Additional investment
You can choose to make investments over and above the ones your employer makes on your behalf.

Allocated pension
An investment that delivers regular payments, within legal limits.  The payments continue until the all the money is gone or the person receiving the money dies.

Annual income
Not just your salary, but all your income each year.  It includes pretty much anything capable of bringing you an income, such as: annual salary, bonuses, commissions, interest and dividends, rent money, divorce money and lottery winnings (but not your two-up winnings on Anzac Day).

APRA
What the Irish watch at the Opera House.  It also stands for Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.  These good people regulate the financial services industry.

ASFA
The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia is a national, not for profit, non party political organisation that represents the interests of Australia's superannuation funds, their trustees and their members.

ASIC
Fully ASIC mate, these people are the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.  Their reason for existing is to protect you, the consumer, from dodgy practices by financial service companies.

Asset
Maybe Mum said your smile was your best asset, but in the world of money an asset is anything you can own that might turn into a future economic benefit.

Asset class
Where all the lazy assets go to learn how to be more productive.  It’s also a way of grouping assets into classes based mostly on their level of risk and potential return.  The main ones are shares, property, cash and fixed interest.

Asset allocation
Allocation, allocation, allocation, it’s all about allocation and choosing a mix of assets from the main asset classes.  You’ll probably want to do this with your super.

ATO
The Australian Taxation Office.  A very helpful bunch who strangely know an awful lot about tax.

Australian Stock Exchange (ASX)
Originally known as the Australian Sock Exchange when footwear products were traded as a key commodity.  As more and more commodities began to be traded they simply added a ‘T’.  Now the Australian Stock Exchange is the marketplace for shares, bonds, and other securities in Australia.

ASX also sets the exchange, regulates the brokers and provides fair rules for trade.  They monitor irregularities in trading prices and volumes, and have the power to suspend companies from being traded.

B

Basis point
Another way of measuring a performance return or a fee.  For example, fifteen basis points equals 0.15%

Bear market
People talk about a bear market when there’s a fall in prices with no expectation of recovery any time soon.  It's the opposite of a bull market.

Trivia -  the phrase comes from an old European proverb used by bearskin sellers:

'Don't sell the bear-skin before you have killed the bear’

Blue chip share
Share of a large company that consistently performs well over time. Great phrase to throw around in a loud voice at barbeques – "I'm looking mostly at blue chips" , most people will nod wisely and others will think "someone’s got to eat them".

Bond
A debt asset.  You (the lender) lend a borrower some money in exchange for a bond (proof of the loan).  The borrower uses your money and (subject to terms) pays you back the original amount and interest.

Borrower
An individual, company or government that borrows money from lenders.

Bottom up manager
Easy tiger!  Despite all sorts of possibilities this simply refers to a manager who researches individual companies in comparative isolation to the global picture.

Bull market
Not a place for buying and selling big daddy cows.  It’s a phrase used to describe a consistent upward trend over an extended period of time.  If you’re a farmer who's googled your way to this page looking for livestock sales, we're sorry.

Bullish
The belief that the market will go up, many speculative punters will talk bullish, quite a lot of bullish, often the sort of bullish you should probably ignore.

Business day
If it's not a national public holiday or a weekend, it's a business day.

C

Centrelink
Run under the very broad umbrella of the Department of Social Security, these guys set rules for means tests and pension thresholds.  
They regulate all pensions apart from Department of Veteran Affairs pensions.

Co-contribution
If you are eligible, the Federal Government will make a contribution known as a co-contribution to your super.  
This only happens under certain conditions to personal after-tax contributions.

Complying super fund
A regulated super fund qualifying for concession tax rates by meeting legal requirements.

Concessional contribution.
This is a super investment taken out of your salary before it's taxed.

Conservative fund
Sometimes known as a defensive fund, conservative investing is mostly in cash and fixed interest.  There may be a minor dabble in more aggressive options but it will be very minor.

Constitution
A document that states how a managed investment should be run.  It defines procedures for investing, applying and withdrawing investments.  It can be known as a trust deed.

Consumer price index (CPI)
The Australian Bureau of Statistics monitors the price of various defined consumer goods such as food, healthcare and fuel.  It's coyly referred to as a 'basket of goods". The "basket" is used to track inflation, so if lots of these go up, so does the inflation figure.

Contribution
A contribution is money paid into your super.

Contributions surcharge tax
Not applicable to contributions made after 30 June 2005.  An additional tax for higher income earners on all employer and salary sacrifice contributions.

Contributions tax
A Federal Government tax on employer and salary sacrifice contributions.

D

Defensive asset
Generally, defensive assets have lower returns - but the returns are more stable due to lower risk.  Cash is a good example of a defensive asset.

Dependant
Your spouse (legal or de-facto, but in legal terms not including a same sex partner), your children, your spouse's children or adopted and ex-nuptial children.  In insurance claims for Death a dependant is also a person whom the Trustee considers was financially dependent on you when you died or someone you have an interdependent relationship with.

Diversification
Diversification is a great word for using at barbeques.  If someone compliments your array of meat products look at them wisely and say
"A successful barbeque is a bit like investing, it benefits from diversification."  By dividing your investments among different types of asset class you may reduce your overall investment risk.  Otherwise known as not putting all your eggs in one basket.

Diversified fund
A fund made up of a mix of asset classes.

Dollar-cost averaging
A strategy where you pay no attention to market prices and instead buy a set dollar value of an investment at regular intervals (e.g. with a direct debit).

It’s a strategy designed to eliminate losses from attempting to second guess the market, and results in the purchase of more share units when prices are down and less share units when prices are up.

It has been shown to reduce the average price of investments over a long period.

Dow Jones Industrial Average (also known as the Dow)
The Dow is a share price index measuring the market prices of 30 major companies on the New York Stock Exchange.

E

Eligible Rollover Fund (ERF)
A super fund which can receive automatically transferred benefits from other super funds.  They’re usually used when a member can’t be located, has a very low account balance, or has been inactive for a long time (inactive with their super).

Entry price
The price of a unit given to an investor when they want to buy into a super fund.

Entry fee option
It’s a fee deducted from each contribution made into an investment.

Exit fee
When you leave your investment (exit), you sometimes have to pay some money (fee).  Thus exit fee.

Exit price
The price of a unit given to an investor when they want to take their money out of an investment.

Equity
It’s how much of an asset you own.  

F

Financial advisor
Financial advisors are people who are licensed to give you advice on financial matters.  They are usually people who know a bit about money and what to do with it.  
A licence means a financial advisor is obliged to act solely in your interests.  If you think a financial advisor is being a bit shifty, that's where ASIC comes in.

Fixed interest security
An investment that pays the same rate of interest every year for a set timeframe.  Examples of fixed interest securities are bonds, annuities, bank bills and notes.

Fund manager
A species often referred to as investment managers, usually operating as an organisation.  These investing specialists like nothing better than investing in a portfolio of assets for someone else.

Forgotten Super
It’s simply super in an account somewhere, but you can’t remember where. It’s different to lost super, which has a very specific meaning.

G

Gearing
The ratio of your own loan amount to the value of your security.

Gross domestic product (GDP)
It’s like when you know like the economy produces something like really gross.  It can also be a measurement, in dollar terms, of the aggregate goods produced and services provided within an economy over a year.  It doesn't include income earned outside the country.  GDP is published in Australia by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and is seen as a very important economic measure.

Growth returns
The part of an investor's return that results from capital gains or losses.  

H

Happy people
Our Customer Care Team are especially chosen for their happiness skills.  Nothing makes them happier than hearing from you.

I

Income Protection Cover
If you can't work because of certain defined events, this type of insurance will pay you a percentage of your income for a certain period of time.

Index
An index measures the performance or change in value of a group of assets such as shares.  There are indexes for pretty much any major group of assets.  The ASX 100 is an index of the top 100 companies in Australia.

Index manager
An investment manager who aims to perform as well as the investment markets.  If  the Australian share market returns 10 per cent so should your index manager.

Index finger
The second digit of the human hand, once used for dialling telephones but now mostly just pointing.

Initial investment
The first wad of cash you whack into an investment.

Insurance
Buying financial protection against a possible future event.  If the specific event happens, the company you’ve purchased your policy from will help you out.

Interest
Interest is the price paid by a borrower for the use of a lender's money.  So, when you put your money into cash or a fixed interest the borrower (person/company) who has your money has to pay you for the privilege of borrowing your money.

Investment
An asset you buy with the hope it’s going to give you an income or increase in value over time.

Investment bond
An investment requiring you to invest money for a minimum term.

Initial public offering (IPO)
When a company floats on the stock market it means you can buy shares in the company.  The first time a company sells it's shares is known as the IPO.

Investment option
Your choice of investment options determines how your Super is invested.  Have a look in more detail at what we can offer you by way of choice. Virgin Super investment options.

J

Joy
Is what our Customer Care Team feel when they get to answer your questions about super.

K

Knowledge
Of super is what our super Customer Care Team has.

L

Life insurance
When you talk about life insurance in the context of super it means insurance against premature death.

Listed property
Listed property is an asset class made up of property investments listed through a listed company.  

Lost Super
It’s if there’s a super account in your name that hasn’t had any deposits made in five consecutive years, or if your super fund gets a couple of return-to-sender notices after they’ve tried to reach you. When this happens, the ATO is informed, and your ‘lost’ record is added to their register.

M

Managed fund
A professionally managed investment where you pool your money with other people's money. Your get units for your money and a cut of the returns, be they positive or negative.

Management fee
The fee you pay your fund manager for managing your super account.

Marginal tax rate
The marginal tax rate is the tax scale in relation to your income.  To find out what yours is, check out the Australian Tax Office website.

N

Nice
The people we employ in our Customer Care Team.  They really are very nice, we test them for niceness and they're just soooo nice!

Non-concessional contribution.
This is a contribution made with money that you have already paid tax on such as from your after tax salary.

O

Old
Not what you want to be when you start planning your retirement.  The younger the better - even though it might seem like a very, very long way off.

P

Product Disclosure Statement (PDS)
A very, very, very important, (usually very long), document for you to read when you're looking at a particular investment.  It's where you'll find all the detailed information about the investment. Have a look at the Virgin Super PDS if you like!

Performance benchmark
To give an effective measure of how a fund manager has performed there needs to be a benchmark.  This determines whether they’ve done well or not.  Your fund might return 10%, but if every other investment of the same style returns 45% it doesn’t look so good. The selection of the appropriate benchmark will depend on the manager's investment style of and what they are investing in.

Permanent incapacity
Permanent incapacity is important for various claims and is a specifically defined state.  It's best to have a look at the detail in our Virgin Super PDS for the nitty gritty on this one.

Post 30 June 1983 component
The part of your super benefit relating to employment, service or fund membership since 30 June 1983.

Pre 1 July 1983 component
The part of your super benefit relating to employment, service or fund membership before 1 July 1983.

Premium
The money you pay for your insurance policy.

Preservation rules
The rules that stop you getting your hands on all that sweet, sweet super money until certain events occur such as reaching the legal retirement age.

Property
Not the lost property office of your local train station but real estate, including land and buildings, which can be bought, sold, or rented out.

Q

Questions
Questions, we all have them.  Why is the earth flat?  What rhymes with orange?  Is there life on Mars?  Our Customer Care Team may not be able to help with those sorts of questions but they sure know their super.  Give them a call if you feel the need - 1300 652 770.

R

Restricted non-preserved benefits
Undeducted contributions, made after 1 July 1994 and before 1 July 1999.  These may be released when you leave your employer.

Risk
Some assets carry a higher form of investment risk than others.  These are known as growth assets (e.g. shares).  Those that are more stable are called defensive assets (e.g. cash and fixed interest).  If your super investment option carries a higher level of risk, it means you have the potential to nab juicy returns over the long term.  In the short term, it’s important to note that high risk investors may experience negative returns - generally between one and five years.

S

Salary sacrifice contributions
If your employer offers salary sacrifice it means you can ask to pay more of your pre-tax salary into your super.

Securities
A type of transferable interest representing financial value.  Common examples include notes, bonds, stocks, futures, contracts or options.

Share
When you buy a share or shares, you become a partial owner of a company.  If you bought shares in a company and they gave you poor customer service you can start shouting "do you know who I am, I own you, I own you".  It might not get you what you want but how often do you get the chance to do that?

Super guarantee contributions
By law, your employer must invest money for you into a complying super fund unless you're earning less than $450 a week.  There are also some exceptions around casual work.

Standard Super Choice Form
A form you give to your employer telling them which super fund you have chosen so they can put those contributions where you want them to go.

T

Time horizon
The length of time it takes to reach your investment goals.  It's very important for working out your investment goals and what you need to invest in to meet those goals.
In super, it’s the length of time before you plan to use your super.

The Trustees
People responsible for ensuring the Fund is run properly and honestly.  We use Trust Company Superannuation Services Ltd – one of Australia's largest specialist super trustees.

U

Undeducted contributions
Contributions to your super made from your after tax earnings.

Unit
When you invest in a managed fund, you are buying units of that fund.

Unit price
This is how much a unit in a super fund will set you back.

Unit trust
Where a group of investors put their money together into a managed fund.  They all have units and share the returns of the fund be they positive or negative.

Unrestricted non-preserved benefits
These are benefits you are allowed to get your hands on.  How you get your hands on them is determined by the rules of the fund.

V

Virgin Money
Go on, give us a call, 1300 652 770, 8am - 8pm (EST), Monday-Friday.

W

Wobbegong
Bottom-dwelling sharks which spend much of their time resting on the sea floor, often among rocks or under ledges.  They have nothing to do with super.

X

XXXXXXX
A racey word used to describe just how nice the Virgin Customer Care Team is - but way too rude to put on our website.

Y

Y, indeed.

Z

Zzzzzzzzzzz….