Jargon Buster

It may be true that ‘money talks’, but sometimes that conversation can be quite confusing? What is the difference between Disability and Dread Disease cover? How does Inflation Risk affect my investment? What should a sound Investment Strategy include?

At NFB, we believe that understanding and managing our personal finances is an essential foundation to living a successful life. Our ‘Jargon Buster’ is one way we are helping you grow your financial literacy, so you are equipped to make sound financial decisions and build your wealth in partnership with us … after all, Knowledge into wealth is our ethos, and we live this by helping South Africans create a prosperous life.

These are usually disclosed as one amount but can sometimes be split into annual asset management fees and annual administration fees. AMF’s exclude VAT whereas all the other fee types include VAT.

A bond is a debt investment in which an investor loans money to an entity (typically corporate or governmental) that borrows the funds for a defined period of time at a variable or fixed interest rate.

A tax levied on profit from the sale of a property or investment.

Cash equivalents are one of the three main asset classes, along with stocks and bonds. These securities are characterised by a low-risk, low-return profile. Cash equivalents include U.S. Government Treasury Bills, bank certificates of deposit, bankers' acceptances, corporate commercial paper and other money market instruments.

A fund that is operated by a trust company or a bank that handles a pooled group of trust accounts. Collective investment funds combine the assets of various individuals and organisations to create a larger portfolio that is well diversified

This refers to the risk of not complying with the legislation, regulations, prescribed investment limits and internal policies and procedures by the Manager or the Portfolio Manager.

This Portfolio pools the assets of many investors and uses the proceeds to buy a portfolio of assets. There are regulations in place that limit the amount that may be invested in securities, asset classes and/or companies, thereby spreading the risk. 

An index of the variation in prices paid for retail goods and other items by typical consumers. 

Credit risk is where an issuer of a non-equity security may not be able to make interest payments and/or capital repayments. This may impact the value of the Portfolio.

This risk is associated with investments that are denominated in currencies different from the Portfolio's currency. When these currencies fluctuate against each other the investments face currency gains or losses. 

Disability insurance offers income protection to individuals who become disabled for a period of time, which results in their inability to work during that time period.

Income tax withheld from employees' wages and paid directly to the government by the employer.

A special addition to a life insurance policy that gives a percentage of the death benefit to the policy holder if he or she is diagnosed with a serious disease, such as cancer or heart disease.

These include the effect of initial costs. EACs have been developed in order to operate within the Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) framework, allowing customers to accurately compare investment charges in a meaningful way irrespective of whether the product is a unit trust, a living annuity, a retirement annuity or and an endowment policy.  

A stock or any other security that represents the holder’s ownership interest.



An investment strategy of holding a portfolio of other investment funds rather than investing directly in stocks, bonds or other securities. This type of investing is often referred to as multi-manager investment.

A fund of funds offering is an investment strategy whereby a different selection of funds are held within a singular fund. This type of investment structure is also often referred to as a multi-manager fund and is a style of investing that provides a host of benefits to investors.

The broadest quantitative measure of a nation's total economic activity. More specifically, GDP represents the monetary value of all goods and services produced within a nation's geographical borders over a specific period.

The smoothness or equality with which income is dealt out among members of a society. If everyone earns exactly the same amount of money, then the income distribution is perfectly equal.


The risk of potential loss in the purchasing power of your investment due to a general increase of consumer prices. 

An investment philosophy is a set of beliefs and principles that guide an investor's decision-making process. 

An investment strategy is what guides an investor's decisions based on goals, risk tolerance and future needs for capital.


An institution that packages multiple Collective Investment Schemes (Unit Trusts) together to give an investor a single entry into a selection of funds.

This relates to the ability of the Portfolio to trade out of an investment held in the Portfolio at or near to its face value. This may impact on liquidity and, in the case of foreign investments, on the repatriation of funds.

A company that is set up with the purpose of managing a group of properties, a mutual fund, an investment fund, etc.

Equity markets are volatile and the price of equities fluctuate based on a number of factors such as changes in the economic climate, general movements in interest rates and the political and social environment. 

Multi-manager investment is an investment product that consists of multiple specialised funds. Each specialised fund may invest across different sectors and markets, or may have managers investing in the same asset class but with different investment styles.

The value of a mutual fund that is reached by deducting the fund's liabilities from the market value of all of its shares and then dividing by the number of issued shares.

The risk that investment returns could suffer as a result of a country's political changes or instability in the country. Instability could come from changes in the country's government, policy makers or military.

A person who makes investment decisions using money other people have placed under his or her control or a person who manages a financial institution's asset and liability (loan and deposit) portfolios

Any tangible or intangible thing that is or may be owned by someone.

The rate at which the central bank of a country (like the South African Reserve Bank) lends money to commercial banks in the event of any shortfall of funds.

This risk relates to any change to tax laws or to the interpretation of existing tax laws which has an impact on the manner in which this Portfolio is taxed. 

The measure of the total cost of a fund to the investor. Total costs may include various fees (purchase, redemption, auditing) and other expenses. The TER is calculated by dividing the total annual cost by the fund's total assets averaged over that year, and is denoted as a percentage.

The primary source of transaction costs is the cost of brokerage incurred when we buy/sell exchange traded funds and swaps.


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