May 7, 2026

A-Z terms for new investors

Written by

Phoebe Rountree

Published on

May 7, 2026

We know that some folks who come across SIX might not have engaged in ethical investment or shareholder activism before - meaning some of the terms the SIX team uses might be unfamiliar!

Check out this A-Z list of terms for:

Some of the more common jargon you might see
Examples of where you will see these terms used by SIX and
Links to where you can find further information.

Think there is an important term we missed? Email us to let us know!

‍

A

‍

Agency agreement

An ‘agency agreement’ is an agreed arrangement or contract between two parties, where one party gives the other permission to perform certain actions.

At SIX, the agency agreement is used for shareholders (you) to give SIX permission to lodge shareholder resolutions and member statements on your behalf - which is one way of joining SIX’s shareholder campaigns. You can view SIX’s full agency agreement and sign it online on our website. While it allows SIX to act as your agent in proposing resolutions, you still retain all the rights as a shareholder, including all the financial benefits.

‍

Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC)

ASIC is the national regulator for companies, financial markets and many financial services in Australia.

SIX is regulated by ASIC as both a company and as the holder of a financial services licence. So are all other companies.

‍

Australian Financial Services License (AFSL)

A license given by ASIC to allow people or companies to legally carry on a financial services business, including selling, advising or dealing in financial products.¹

You will see SIX include our AFSL number in some of our communications. SIX is licensed for general advice only - you will see us clarify that any information we provide is general in nature only, and doesn’t account for your personal financial situation, goals or needs.

‍

Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)

ASX Limited (the company) operates the Australian Securities Exchange, also known as ASX. This is a market where shares and financial products can be bought and sold.²

The SIX app allows shareholders to buy and sell company shares and ETFs that are listed on the ASX.

‍

B

‍

Broker

A broker is an individual or firm that acts as an intermediary between an investor and a securities exchange, like the ASX. ³

SIX is an online broker, which means you put in your trade orders (buy or sell) online through our trading app rather than telling us what to buy or sell in person or over the phone. Other online brokers you may have heard of include CommSec or Stake, all acting as an intermediary between you (the investor) and the securities exchange (ASX).

‍

C

‍

Clearing House Electronic Subregister System (CHESS)

The computer system that the ASX uses to record shareholdings and manage the settlement of share transactions. ⁴

Shares that are registered with a broker (like SIX) get CHESS sponsorship. This means the shares and the transaction to buy those shares are recorded on the ASX's registry system. CHESS allocates each investor a Holder Identification Number (HIN) which all your future share purchases with SIX will be connected to. One benefit of this is that it is easier to keep track of your share portfolio, or to change from one broker to a different broker (like if you wanted to ditch your big bank broker and move your shares to SIX instead).

Alternatively, you can also hold shares that are issuer sponsored.

‍

D

‍

Dividends

Payments that are a portion of company profits paid out to shareholders. Companies aren’t required to pay dividends, but many big companies do it and see it as a way of returning earnings to their shareholders. ⁵

When you receive dividends, the cash will appear in your SIX Wallet and you can see which company it is from in the Transactions section of the SIX app.

‍

E

‍

Exchange Traded Funds (ETF)

An ETF is a fund with multiple companies or assets in it - as opposed to buying shares in an individual company. Through buying an ETF you own a piece of lots of companies, rather than just one.

For further reading check out SIX’s blogs including Ethical ETFs on the ASX and Are there baddies hiding in my ETF? ETFs are a popular and convenient way for people to invest. However, it’s worth noting that company shares you invest in via an ETF cannot be used to join SIX’s shareholder activism campaigns.

‍

ESG

ESG stands for Environmental, Social and Governance. It’s an abbreviation that’s usually used by large investors, like super funds, to describe the process or framework they use in taking environmental, social and governance issues into account in their investment decision making. ⁶

While there’s an overlap with ethical investing, it is not the same thing. The use of ESG data or frameworks is often about quantifying the financial impacts of environmental, social and governance risks, rather than a consideration of the ethics of ESG activities.

‍

Ethical Investing

Ethical investing is selecting what you will, or won’t, invest in based on a set of ethical values.

For a personal investor this is about deciding what types of companies or activities match your values and that you proactively want to invest in (often called positive screening), and which ones you want to avoid (often called negative screening).

When it comes to ethical ETFs, they are required to list the ethical or ESG criteria they use in deciding what companies are included in their ETF portfolio. This is helpful for deciding whether an ethical ETF actually matches your own ethical values.

‍

F

‍

Financially material

This refers to factors that have an impact on the company’s financial performance. If something has the potential to affect investor decision-making or the company’s financial health, it is considered financially material information. ⁷

In SIX’s engagement with super funds and companies, we demonstrate how environmental, social or governance factors could influence the company’s financial performance and therefore need to be:

Disclosed to investors - so investors have the opportunity to consider this information in their decision-making and/or
Acted upon - so the risk posed by the issue is reduced, and the risk is lessened or not passed on to investors.

‍

G

‍

General advice

General information about a product or investment which doesn’t take into account someone’s financial circumstances i.e. their objectives, financial situation or needs. Individuals or firms need to be licensed to give general advice.

SIX has a license to give general advice. We give general advice in our trading app and in our communications. The information and profiles of companies in the app are intended to be factual and to give you a better understanding of the company and the ethics of their activities. The profiles and other information that SIX provides can be helpful information, but it is not a recommendation to buy, hold or sell any particular shares. If you would like personal financial advice, then we encourage you to speak with a financial adviser that specialises in ethical investment advice.

‍

H

‍

Holder Identification Number (HIN)

A unique number issued to you when you become the client of a broker. It starts with an X and is followed by 10 numbers.

When creating a trading account with SIX, all shares you purchase through SIX will be attached to the same HIN. You can find your HIN in the app by clicking on your profile and then account settings. If you become a client of a different broker, they will issue you with another HIN.

‍

I

‍

Institutational Investor

An organisation or entity that handles and invests funds on behalf of an individual or entity. A superannuation fund is an example of an institutional investor.

In SIX's shareholder campaigns, institutional investors can get involved through helping unlock the right to a shareholder resolution (as one of the 100 shareholders) needed). They can also aid campaigns by speaking to the target company about the issue raised in the resolution, voting in support of the resolution and making public their support of the issue.

‍

Investor

An individual or institution that puts money into an asset to help meet their financial goals. ⁸

You can use the SIX app to invest in both shares and ETFs.

‍

Institutional investor

An organisation or entity that handles and invests funds on behalf of an individual or entity. A superannuation fund is an example of an institutional investor.

‍

Issuer sponsored holdings

In addition to CHESS sponsored shares, you can also hold shares that are issuer sponsored, meaning they are held through the company’s share registry directly. If you have this type of shares you will have an SRN (Shareholder Reference Number) instead of a HIN. While SIX doesn’t offer issuer sponsored shares through our platform, you can transfer your holdings and convert them to CHESS sponsored holdings.

‍

L

‍

Limit order

A Limit order is when you enter a specific share price when you place an order to buy or sell shares. This is different to a Market order, where you buy or sell shares at whatever price the shares are being bought or sold for at that particular time.

As well as entering a specific share price, a Limit order also requires you to put in a time period for your buy or sell order to be filled. While a Limit order can be helpful for ensuring you get the exact share price that you want, it comes with the risk that no-one wants to buy or sell shares at the price you entered, and therefore your trade goes unfilled.

Aside from wanting a specific share price, the other time that you are likely to do a Limit order is when you place a trade outside of regular trading hours (usually weekdays between 10am-4pm AEST). Then hopefully your trade will be completed when the market opens on the following business day.

‍

M

‍

Market order

Market orders are when you agree to buy or sell shares at the most up-to-date price. This can be useful if you want certainty that your order will be completed as soon as possible. You can only do a market order when the sharemarket is open, which is usually on weekdays between 10am-4pm AEST.

In the SIX app, if you choose “market order” the screen will show you the estimated total price for your order based on the most recently updated share price - but if the unit price changes by the time the order is processed, you’ll pay the most up-to-date price (whether higher or lower).

‍

Minimum marketable parcel

The minimum marketable parcel is a rule defined by the ASX where investors must purchase a minimum shareholding of $500 when buying shares in a particular company or ETF for the first time.

‍

P

‍

Personal advice

Financial advice given by a licensed professional that is tailored to someone’s personal circumstances. ⁹

SIX is not licensed to give personal financial advice, so you will notice our acknowledgements that our information is general in nature only.

‍

Portfolio

A collection of assets owned by an investor - this can include cash, shares, ETFs, property and other assets. ¹⁰

When you consider your ‘portfolio’, that’s the collection of shares and/or ETFs that you own through the SIX app together with any other assets you may own such as property.

‍

Proxy or Proxyholder

Someone that is eligible to attend and cast a vote at a shareholder meeting on another shareholder’s behalf.

As a shareholder of a company, you have the right to assign a proxy/proxyholder - meaning someone else can attend the Annual General Meeting, ask a question of the board, and vote on your behalf. When you are part of a SIX shareholder campaign, we do not generally require you to attend the AGM or assign a proxy - as the most valuable action you can take is contribute your shares to get the company listening and potentially unlock the right to a resolution. However, you are of course welcome to attend if you would like to.

‍

R

‍

Resolution

A formal decision or expression of opinion made by the board or shareholders in the context of a meeting.

SIX uses shareholder resolutions to advocate for change on climate, nature and social justice issues - by lodging a shareholder resolution at a company, this sparks important conversations between the company and investors, can get media attention, and puts the issue to a vote by all shareholders.

‍

‍‍