Investment strategies

This section outlines the general characteristics of the investment strategies available. You may choose investments from these strategies. The details of a particular investment may vary from the information below.

To gain a better understanding of a specific investment you should also read the PDS for that investment. Risks and returns provided in the table below are indicative of the relative risks and returns for these investment strategies. For further information you should refer to the section on investment risk and the relevant PDS for each investment.

Approved ASX listed securities do not have a PDS. You should discuss the risks associated with these investments with your adviser.

Investment strategy	Cash	Fixed interest	Hybrid securities
Objective	Stable returns over the short term with a high level of capital security.	Higher returns than cash over the short to medium term predominantly via income.	Higher returns than traditional fixed interest investments over the medium term predominantly via income.
Strategy	Short term money market securities and fixed interest securities with maturities of less than 12 months. Enhanced cash investments may hold securities with maturities greater than 12 months.	Government, semi-government, corporate, inflation-linked bonds and money market securities. Exposure to emerging markets, high yield debt and mortgages is also permissible. Diversified investments may hold a range of Australian and international securities. Mortgage investments primarily hold mortgage backed securities.	Subordinated corporate debt, high yield corporate bonds, convertible notes, convertible preference shares, mezzanine and emerging markets debt.
Potential return	Low	Moderate	Moderate/high
Potential risk	Low	Moderate	Moderate/high
Suggested minimum timeframe	No minimum	3 years	5 years
Key risks	Returns may fluctuate, but capital security is high. The value of cash investments may be eroded by inflation over the long term. Securities with longer dated maturities increase the chance of negative returns in the short term.	Returns may be volatile in the short term. Over the long term inflation may erode the value of fixed interest investments. Emerging markets, high yield debt and mortgage securities increase the chance of negative returns in the short term.	Returns may be volatile in the medium term. Hybrid securities are generally of lesser credit quality and are more likely to default. There is a high risk of negative returns over the short term, resulting from a revaluation of securities.
Sub category*	Cash Enhanced	Australian International Diversified Mortgages Term deposits	Not applicable

* These refer to the sub-categories into which the trustee has divided the investment menu, designed to assist you and your adviser select the appropriate investment option.

Investment strategy	Property	Australian shares	International shares
Objective	Returns consistently higher than inflation via income and capital growth.	High returns over the long term, via income and capital growth.	High returns over the long term, predominantly via capital growth.
Strategy	Property trusts and property related securities listed on the ASX. Investments may also include unlisted property securities and direct property investments.	Shares and other securities primarily listed on the ASX. Investments may focus on specific sectors such as small companies or infrastructure assets. Leveraged investments use gearing to enhance returns. Specialist investments adopt differentiated strategies.	Shares and other securities primarily listed on stock exchanges across the globe including USA, Japan, Europe, Asia and emerging markets. Investments may focus on specific sectors, themes or geographical regions. Leveraged investments use gearing to enhance returns. Specialist investments adopt differentiated strategies. Exposure to foreign currency may be hedged or unhedged.
Potential return	Moderate/high	High	High
Potential risk	High	High	High
Suggested minimum timeframe	5 years	6 years	8 years
Key risks	Returns may be volatile in the medium term. Unlisted and direct property investments are more volatile because reduced liquidity, investment gearing and limited diversification increase risk.	Returns may be volatile in the medium term. Sector specific, leveraged and specialist investments are more volatile because limited diversification. Gearing and specialist investment strategies increase risk.	Returns may be volatile in the long term. Currency fluctuations further increase volatility for unhedged investments. Regional, sector specific, leveraged and specialist investments are more volatile because of limited diversification. Gearing and specialist strategies increase risk.
Sub category	Australian International Diversified	Industrial and resources Small companies Leveraged Specialist	Global Regional Sector specific Leveraged Specialist

Investment strategy	Conservative	Balanced	Growth
Objective	Stable returns over the short to medium term via income and capital growth.	Moderate returns over the medium to long term via income and capital growth.	High returns over the long term via income and capital growth.
Strategy	A diversified mix of income assets such as money market, fixed interest securities, and growth assets such as property and shares. The weighting to growth assets will generally not exceed 33%. May include absolute return, private equity and other alternative investments.	A diversified mix of income assets such as money market, fixed interest securities, and growth assets such as property and shares. The weighting to growth assets will generally fall between 33% and 67%. May include absolute return, private equity and other alternative investments.	A diversified mix of income assets such as money market, fixed interest securities, and growth assets such as property and shares. The weighting to growth assets will generally exceed 67%. May include absolute return, private equity and other alternative investments.
Potential return	Moderate	Moderate/high	High
Potential risk	Moderate	Moderate/high	High
Suggested minimum timeframe	3 years	5 years	7 years
Key risks	Returns may be volatile in the short term. Over the long term inflation may erode the value of conservative investments. The higher the exposure to growth assets the higher the risk.	Returns may be volatile in the medium term. The higher the exposure to growth assets the higher the risk.	Returns may be volatile in the long term. The higher the exposure to growth assets the higher the risk.
Sub category	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable

Investment strategy	Absolute return	Approved ASX listed securities
Objective	Returns not correlated with traditional investment benchmarks.	High returns over the long term via income and capital growth.
Strategy	Different absolute return investments adopt different strategies. Common strategies include the use of financial derivatives, gearing, security arbitrage, event driven investments and macroeconomic themes. Security selection will depend on the strategy, or combination of strategies, adopted by each investment manager.	Securities listed on the ASX, including shares, trusts, listed investment companies, exchange traded funds and instalment warrants.
Potential return	High	Very high
Potential risk	High	Very high
Suggested minimum timeframe	8 years	9 years
Key risks	Returns may be volatile in the long term. Even though absolute return investments target consistent returns they are generally less regulated than other managed investments and more dependent upon the skill of individuals.	Returns may be volatile in the long term. Even though ASX listed securities may produce high long term returns, the returns of individual securities can vary significantly from the performance of the market as a whole. Limited diversification and investments in small companies and derivative securities can further increase risk.
Sub category	Not applicable	Not applicable