Jargon Buster
The Sun has compiled a jargon buster to help explain some of the words and phrases used by financial services companies.
Use the alphabetical navigation bar to easily skip to the section in which the word or phrase of interest resides.
Additional Borrowing
Similar to a traditional current account overdraft. It is the extra money you can borrow on top of what you've already borrowed. Your Additional Borrowing = Your Agreed/Total Facility - Total Borrowing.
Advance
The mortgage loan.
AER
Stands for Annual Equivalent Rate and usually specifies the interest paid from current, deposit or savings accounts. This new term replaces CAR (Compound Annual Rate) which denoted much the same thing.
AFPC
Advanced Financial Planning Certificate - a professional qualification for financial advisers obtained by examination through the Chartered Insurance Institute. Holders are eligible for membership of the Society of Financial Advisers.
Age Allowance
Increased personal allowance for Income Tax for persons aged over 65. A further increase is available to persons over 75.
AIFA
Association of Independent Financial Advisers, industry trade body for financial advisers who are not tied agents.
Allocation rate
This is the percentage of your payment that is actually invested (e.g. 75%) after initial charges have been taken into account.
Annuity
A series of payments, possibly subject to increases, made at specified intervals until a particular event occurs. Most commonly an annuity will cease after a specified period or upon the death of the annuitant. An annuity is most commonly purchased by the accrued value of a pension fund, in order to secure pension benefits in retirement.
APR
Annual Percentage Rate. This is the compounded rate used to give a standard comparison of the amount of interest you are likely to pay on loans or outstanding credit card balances. A statutory method of calculating the Annual Percentage Rate of charge to repay the total charge for credit over the period of the loan. The APR is always higher than the headline rate, and is a realistic representation of the cost of the mortgage over time.
Arrangement fee
A fee you pay to the lender in return for a mortgage deal. This deal could be fixed, discounted or cashback.
Assets
Another word for the investments which a unit trusts holds within its portfolio.
Average Annual Return
Average Annual Return is used to compare returns over different periods on a consistent basis with the unit being years, hence per annum. Normally only returns over periods greater than one year are annualised. The average annual return is the rate that an investor would have earned in each year to achieve the total cumulative return over the period.