If you are an Accumulation 1 member, your benefits in the Fund are kept in an account in your name. All contributions are paid into this account and invested in your chosen investment option or options. Your super balance accumulates over time with investment returns (which may be positive or negative). Your final benefit is the total of your UniSuper account (minus fees and taxes) and is dependent on investment performance. Employer contributions to your account are generally 9%, and you are not required to make any contributions to your account.
See also: Accumulation Super

If you are an Accumulation 2 member, your benefits in the Fund are kept in an account in your name. All contributions are paid into this account and invested in your chosen investment option or options. Your super balance accumulates over time with investment returns (which may be positive or negative). Your final benefit is the total of your UniSuper account (minus fees and taxes) and is dependent on investment performance. Employer contributions to your account are generally higher than the compulsory 9%, and members are also required to make contributions to their account.
See also: Accumulation Super

An Accumulation Super account provides you with a superannuation/retirement benefit based on your account balance. It includes contributions to your account and any investment earnings based on those contributions, less any fees and tax. It is important to note that members carry investment risk. If investments perform badly, your benefits are directly affected. This is because the earnings rate is applied to your account regardless of whether it is positive or negative.
See also: Accumulation 1 Accumulation 2

See also: Average Contribution Factor (ACF)

The measure of income used by the Australian Taxation Office in determining your liability to surcharge tax.

A fee to cover the cost of running the Fund on a day-to-day basis, including, in UniSuper's case, its dedicated in-house administration and Helpline, Benefit Statements, publications and website, one-to-one consultations and other financial support services. It is deducted from your Accumulation Super account or allowed for in the Defined Benefit Division formula. It is a flat fee for all but Flexi Pension and Term Allocated Pension accounts, and is indexed annually in line with the Consumer Price Index.
See also: Consumer Price Index (CPI) Indirect Cost Ratio (ICR)

See also: Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)

See also: Average Service Fraction (ASF)

See also: Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)

A type of investment such as shares, property, fixed interest and cash.

A Commonwealth agency responsible for the prudential regulation of banks, life insurance companies, general insurance companies and superannuation funds.

An independent Australian government body, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission enforces and regulates company and financial services laws to protect consumers, investors and creditors. ASIC regulates financial markets, securities, futures and corporations and is also responsible for consumer protection in superannuation, insurance, deposit taking and credit.

Used to calculate benefits for Defined Benefit Division members. It relates to the level of member contributions you make and the period of time you contribute at various levels. If you always make the full 7% member contributions, your ACF is 100%. Reducing your member contributions will decrease your ACF.

Used to calculate benefits for Defined Benefit Division members and some benefits for Accumulation 2 members. It refers to how much of your work with UniSuper employers has been part-time. For example if you always work full-time with your UniSuper employer(s), your ASF is 100%. Periods of part-time work, half contributions and leave without pay will reduce your ASF.

Superannuation entitlements which are determined by a Federal or State industrial award. In some cases these entitlements may provide entitlements to employees which are additional to the minimum requirement of the Superannuation Guarantee.
See also: Accumulation Super Superannuation Guarantee (SG) legislation

The benchmark describes a yardstick against which an investment fund or portfolio can be judged or measured. It can also represent the minimum performance objective.
See also: Outperformance

A person entitled to or in receipt of a benefit under the fund, which is normally the member and his/her dependants.
See also: Binding Death Nomination Dependant Interdependent

The amount of money a member is entitled to receive from the Fund upon their retirement, death, disablement, or other circumstances specified in the Trust Deed.
See also: Death Benefit Defined benefit Lump Sum Non-preserved benefit Preserved benefit

For members of the Defined Benefit Division or Accumulation 2, the average of your salary (full-time or equivalent) over the last three years of membership, or actual membership if less than three years. For each of these years, your salary is adjusted for inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
See also: Accumulation 2 Consumer Price Index (CPI) Defined benefit

A Binding Death Nomination is a legally enforceable instruction that requires (or "binds") the UniSuper Trustee to pay your death benefit to the persons you have nominated in a Binding Death Nomination Form as your beneficiaries. If you have nominated more than one beneficiary, the Trustee is also required to pay each beneficiary the proportion you have nominated in your Binding Death Nomination Form.
See also: Beneficiary

A method of making payments by phone directly from a bank, building society, credit union, or credit card account.

Investments in short-term money markets eg bank bills, treasury notes.

Choice of Fund laws, which came into effect on 1 July 2005, allow many Australians to choose which super fund will receive the 9% Super Guarantee (SG) contributions that their employers make on their behalf. However, this legislation does not apply to many people in the higher education and research sector as they are already covered by an Australian Workplace Agreement (AWA) or Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) stipulating the payment of employee superannuation.
See also: Award superannuation Portability Superannuation Guarantee (SG) legislation

A co-contribution is a payment made by the Commonwealth government to the superannuation account of eligible members who have made a personal after-tax contribution (including compulsory member contributions) to their superannuation fund in the previous financial year. If you are eligible for a super co-contribution the Australian Taxation Office will pay it directly into your super account, after you have submitted your tax return for the financial year.

A superannuation fund that meets the requirements of the Superannuation Industry Supervision (SIS) Act, thus qualifying for concessional tax rates.
See also: Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SIS Act)

Compounding means earning interest on your interest. The investment returns that are applied to your account are reinvested so they too earn investment returns.

These are employer and any (before-tax) salary sacrifice contributions you make. They are taxed at 15% when going into the Fund. Additional taxes apply if you exceed certain caps or if you do not provide your Tax File Number.
See also: Non-concessional contributions Non-concessional contributions cap

The maximum amount of concessional contributions from all sources which can be made for the benefit of a member in one financial year without incurring excess taxation. They are limited to $50,000 per year across all funds you may have. Amounts over this cap will be taxed an additional 31.5% including the Medicare levy (a tax of 46.5% in total). Transitional arrangements allow members aged 50 or over to receive concessional contributions of up to $100,000 p.a. These arrangements end on 30 June 2012.
See also: Non-concessional contributions Non-concessional contributions cap Transitional concessional contributions cap

A measure of inflation that compares the relative cost of living over time. CPI is calculated and reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. It measures, at various times, the price of a group of selected goods and services typically bought by ordinary Australian households.

The transfer of contributions from your superannuation account into your spouse's account.

A tax (currently 15%) deducted from employer contributions. For this purpose, any salary sacrifice contributions you make are treated as employer contributions.

The investment return credited (or debited) to your account, based on the performance of the investment option your account is invested in - usually expressed as a percentage per annum. Accounts are credited on a quarterly basis.
See also: Earning rate Investment Return Return

See also: Departing Australia Superannuation Payment (DASP)

The amount payable to a member's beneficiaries and/or dependants in the event of the member's death.
See also: Beneficiary Binding Death Nomination Dependant

Insurance arrangement whereby the member's beneficiaries and/or dependants receive an insured amount in the event of the member's death. UniSuper offers both an insured benefit expressed as a multiple of salary as well as an insurance premium providing a lump sum amount on a per unit basis.
See also: Death Benefit

A benefit that is based or defined on your salary, age and years of membership.

A superannuation lump sum benefit paid to a departing temporary resident who does not meet any condition of release other than the departing Australia condition of release.

Your spouse (including de facto), children under the age of 18 or any other person who is in any way financially dependent on you.

Your spouse (including de facto), children under the age of 18 or any other person who is in any way financially dependent on you.

Spreading investments across a number of different assets, asset classes, countries or investment managers to reduce risk and/or volatility.
See also: Asset Class Investment risk

An earning rate is the actual investment performance achieved by an investment option or portfolio. It is usually expressed as a percentage and can be calculated either before tax or in UniSuper's case after tax has been deducted.
See also: Crediting Rate Investment Return Return

An earning rate is the actual investment performance achieved by an investment option or portfolio. It is usually expressed as a percentage and can be calculated either before tax or in UniSuper's case after tax has been deducted.
See also: Crediting Rate Investment Return Return

An earning rate is the actual investment performance achieved by an investment option or portfolio. It is usually expressed as a percentage and can be calculated either before tax or in UniSuper's case after tax has been deducted.
See also: Complying superannuation fund

A payment made to an employee upon their retirement, resignation, retrenchment or disablement. This payment cannot be rolled over into a complying superannuation fund or approved deposit fund.
See also: Complying superannuation fund

See also: Eligible rollover fund

See also: Employment Termination Payment

A fiduciary is an authorised manager of assets for the benefit of the owner of the assets (or members) rather than its own benefit.

Generally invested in sectors or assets that are considered to have potential to achieve capital growth over the medium to long term. Typically growth assets are shares and property, compared with defensive assets (e.g. cash or fixed interest).

The practice of undertaking one investment activity in order to protect against loss in another. While hedges reduce potential losses, they also tend to reduce potential profits.

The indirect cost ratio (ICR) is the ratio of management costs not deducted directly from members' account balances against the average net assets of the investment option over the period. The ICR includes all internal and external fees incurred in managing these funds, a member protection levy that protects small account balances, and those fees charged by external investment managers, as well as custodial and valuation fees.

A multi-employer superannuation fund, usually covering a particular industry or group of industries and accepting contributions from any employers in these industries. Most industry superannuation funds were established in the mid to late 1980's, to accept award contributions.
See also: Award superannuation

Infrastructure is essential facilities, such as roads, power stations, water supply and other utilities. Infrastructure is generally a moderate risk investment.

Two people are considered to have an interdependent relationship if they have a close personal relationship, live together, one or each of them provides the other with financial support, and one or each of them provides the other with domestic support and personal care. A person in an interdependent relationship is considered to be a dependant for superannuation purposes and may be paid a concessionally taxed superannuation benefit on the death of the other person in the relationship.
See also: Dependant

Arrangement whereby members of a fund are offered a choice of investment options within the fund. The choices generally give members a range of options in terms of risk and expected return.

The return on money invested, usually expressed as a percentage per annum.
See also: Crediting Rate Earning rate Return

The degree by which returns are likely to vary over a given period. Can include the likelihood of a negative return over short periods.

A benefit payable in a single cash payment rather than as pension or annuity.

Tax payable on superannuation benefits taken in cash.

A percentage used in the calculation of lump sum benefits in the Defined Benefit Division.

A legal requirement for funds complying with the Superannuation Industry Supervision (SIS) Act, whereby administration fees cannot be deducted from accounts wi th a balance below $1,000 if these fees are in excess of the investment returns credited to the account. Member protection does not apply to tax on employer contributions or any insurance premiums deducted from the member's account.
See also: Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SIS Act)

How long you have been a member of UniSuper, counted in years and days. For the death benefit in the Defined Benefit Division and Accumulation 2, membership includes membership projected to age 60.
See also: Accumulation 1 Accumulation 2 Defined benefit

These are contributions you make after income tax has been paid or on which you do not claim a tax deduction. They include after-tax member and voluntary contributions and lump sums you put into your account.
See also: Concessional contributions Concessional contributions cap

The maximum amount of non-concessional contributions from all sources which can be made for the benefit of a member in one financial year without incurring excess taxation. They are limited to $150,000 per year across all funds you may have. If you are under age 65 this amount can be averaged over a three-year period. For example, you could contribute $450,000 in one year but then you could not make further non-concessional contributions for the next two financial years.

Contributions above the cap will be taxed at 46.5% including the Medicare levy (in addition to income tax you have already paid).
See also: Non-concessional contributions

The part of a benefit that you can take in cash when you leave tertiary sector employment.

Achievement of a higher investment return than a benchmark or other measure against which an investment return is being compared.
See also: Benchmark Investment Return

A regular periodic payment paid to an individual who qualifies under certain conditions.

Insurance arrangement whereby the member may be paid a benefit in the event of becoming permanently disabled. UniSuper offers both an insured benefit expressed as a percentage of salary as well as an insurance premium providing a lump sum amount on a per unit basis.

Portability rules, mean members can transfer part or all of the account balance of their Accumulation benefit to another superannuation fund once every 12 months. Any defined benefit component of your account is exempt from portability, although the accumulation component of the benefit can be transferred once a year (subject to a minimum balance of $5,000 remaining in the Fund).
See also: Complying superannuation fund

Government rules that require certain superannuation benefits to be maintained in the superannuation system for retirement until preservation age.

The age at which you can access (in cash) preserved superannuation benefits, provided you have retired permanently from the workforce.

The portion of a benefit that, under government rules, must be kept in the superannuation system for retirement after your preservation age unless you satisfy a condition for early release.

Investments in commercial, industrial and residential real estate.

Opting to create a self-select portfolio in which you split your investments across more than one UniSuper investment option, your portfolio’s overall mix of assets may change over time if left unchecked. This is because each option will perform differently over time – some options may achieve high returns, while others may achieve low or even negative returns. As a result, the overall percentage of your super invested in each of your options may be quite different from the breakdown you had originally intended. By checking your portfolio for such changes, and rebalancing your portfolio (e.g. through investment switching), you can ensure that your super remains invested according to your financial needs.

The amount of money received from an investment, including movement in capital values. Usually expressed as an annual percentage.
See also: Crediting Rate Investment Return

A pension that, on the death of the pensioner, provides continuing payments to a surviving spouse.

Investment risk is the potential for your investment return to fluctuate in value from year to year. All investments carry some risk, but some carry more than others. If you want higher returns, you need to be comfortable with accepting a higher level of risk. The return on your investment simply means the amount of money your investment earns or loses.

The transfer of a superannuation benefit or eligible termination payment into a superannuation fund, an approved deposit fund or deferred annuity.

Your annual remuneration excluding overtime and generally excluding temporary allowances.

Contributions made from before-tax pay. They are counted as concessional contributions.

See also: Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT)

Seeding Date refers to the date that the investment option received its first member contribution.

For members of the Defined Benefit Division or Accumulation 2, a percentage based on the number of hours you are employed to work as a proportion of full time hours.
See also: Accumulation 2 Average Service Fraction (ASF) Defined benefit

See also: Award superannuation Superannuation Guarantee (SG) legislation

Investments in Australian companies, usually listed on the Australian stock exchange, or companies outside Australia that are listed on foreign exchanges.

See also: Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SIS Act)

Socially responsible investment integrates social and environmental considerations into investment decisions, rather than focusing just on expected financial outcomes.

See also: Superannuation Product Identification Number

Non-concessional contributions your spouse makes to your Spouse Account.
See also: Non-concessional contributions Non-concessional contributions cap

An independent body set up by the Federal Government to help members and their beneficiaries resolve certain superannuation complaints with their super fund.

The legislation setting out the minimum level of superannuation support an employer must provide for its employees.

The legislation which governs the operation of all complying superannuation funds.
See also: Complying superannuation fund

A Superannuation Product Identification Number (SPIN) is a unique number that is used, among other things, for tracking surcharge assessments when members rollover or transfer their superannuation. UniSuper's SPIN is UNI0001AU.

A number issued to by the Australian Tax Office that is unique to each taxpayer. If you do not provide your TFN to UniSuper we will not be able to accept any non-concessional (after-tax) contributions from you and any concessional (employer and salary sacrifice) contributions will be taxed at 46.5% including the Medicare levy.
See also: Concessional contributions Non-concessional contributions

Insurance arrangement whereby members of the Defined Benefit Division and Accumulation 2 may be paid a benefit in the event of becoming temporarily incapacitated. UniSuper offers an insured benefit expressed as a percentage of salary.

See also: Tax File Number (TFN)

A period in which a member, who is over their preservation age but under age 65 can receive some or all of their superannuation as an income stream (not a lump sum) while they are still working. Taking transition to retirement may affect your UniSuper membership conditions and some features of your pension. Members age 65 and over can take transition to retirement but without the restrictions on their pension imposed by legislation.
See also: Lump Sum Preservation age

The maximum amount of concessional contributions that a person aged 50 or over can receive in a financial year without incurring excess concessional contributions tax. This cap will remain at $100,000 until 30 June 2012, at which time it will no longer exist and the concessional contributions cap (currently $50,000, will apply).
See also: Concessional contributions

The legal document governing a superannuation fund.

The company appointed to hold fund assets in trust for members and their beneficiaries. The Trustee of UniSuper is UniSuper Limited.

See also: Transition to retirement