Types of super funds

CSC has three types of super funds—accumulation funds, defined benefit funds, and hybrid funds (i.e. a mix of accumulation and defined benefit). Generally speaking, the date you join CSC will determine which product(s) you can access. Find out about the eligibility criteria for each of our funds and products.

Here’s an overview of the difference between accumulation and defined benefits super funds — we’ve saved you some of the technical details. If you want the nitty gritty, you can get all the information in our Product Disclosure Statements.

Contributions

It's important that you continue to build your retirement savings while you are working, this is why employers are required by law to contribute a percentage of your income to your super. This money is then pooled and invested with the contributions of other members.

How super is invested

Superannuation funds generally operate as trusts, with trustees being responsible for the operation of their funds and in formulating and implementing an investment strategy. CSC spends a lot of time selecting the right type and amount of different investments we believe will deliver a return for an acceptable level of risk—that is, the expected target return compensates for the likelihood of losing money.

When money (contribution) goes into your super account, what you're actually doing is buying units in the fund, which is somewhat similar to buying and owning shares in companies listed on the stock market. You buy shares in a company and over time, the value of those shares may go up or down, but you still have the same number of shares in that company.

With superannuation, your superannuation amounts purchase units in a particular investment option or options—such as the Aggressive or Balanced options.

Like shares, a unit represents the value of an interest in that investment option at any point in time. Also, like shares, the value of an interest in that investment option can go up and down over time.

Depending on your investment option, investments may include cash, shares in companies, government or corporate bonds, property, and infrastructure.

The net asset value of those investments are then divided by the number of units issued to members like you to derive the unit price.

Over time, as contributions are made to your account, you purchase more and more units in your investment option or options.

The value of those units generally change on a daily basis as the value of investments change. When you hear about changes in the market, this just means that the value of the units may have changed. You still hold the same number of units.

Like any other investment, super is subject to the risk of investment loss. However, as super is usually invested until your retirement date, and beyond, we focus on high quality assets that are expected to grow in the longer-term, even though there may be short-term drops in value due to market fluctuations.