D
Deductible: expenses that can be offset against assessable income, or some contributions to superannuation funds are tax deductible to individuals.
Defined Benefit Fund: a superannuation fund that defines the member's retirement benefit as a multiple of their salary. The multiple is usually based on the member's period of service and level of contributions made over the period of employment. The opposite of a defined benefit fund is a defined contribution or accumulation fund.
Derivatives: securities that derive their value from another physical asset, also known as synthetics. Examples of derivatives include futures and options.
Distributions: income payments from managed investments. Such payments comprise a share of any net income and realised capital gains earned by an investment over a financial year. The components which generally make up a distribution are profits from the sale of assets, income and currency gains.
Diversification: spreading an investment over a range of asset classes, sectors and regions with the aim of reducing risk. As the old saying goes "don’t put all your eggs in one basket".
Dividend: payment to shareholders from a company’s earnings.
Dividend Imputation: tax already paid by a company is credited to individual shareholders when a dividend is paid. See also Franked Dividends and Imputation Credits.
Dollar Cost Averaging: Investing a set amount of money, at regular intervals, over a long period of time. This means an investor could gain an advantage from rises and falls in the investment price, Over a period of time by buying more when the price is low and less when the price is high.