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What is investing?

Published August 2025

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Hostplus
Content Team
2 min read
Updated 21 Aug 2025
  • Super 101
  • Know your investments

Investing might seem complicated, but it’s really just about making your money work harder, especially when it comes to your super.

We’ve put together this simple guide to investing: what it is, how it works, and why it matters for your retirement savings.

Investing 101: the basics

Investing is about putting your money into different items – called ‘assets’ – with the aim of making you more money (known as your ‘return’).

In general, there are two main ways you can invest:

  • buying assets that increase in value over time, like shares or property that you then sell for more than you paid (this is called a capital gain)
  • buying assets that pay you an income, like property that earns rent or shares that pay dividends.

There are lots of different assets you can invest in, each with its own risks and rewards.

Risk vs reward

Investment returns aren’t guaranteed, and all investments carry some level of risk. This could mean short-term ups and downs or longer-term changes in value. Typically, investments that aim for higher returns also come with higher risks. Lower-risk investments offer more stability, but usually with lower returns.

Why invest when you can save?

Bank savings accounts are low risk, but the interest they earn often doesn’t keep up with rising costs of living. As prices rise, your money buys less – that’s  inflation. If your returns grow slower than prices increase, the total amount you can purchase will actually decrease!

Because investing gives you a greater earnings potential, you’re less likely to find your finances going backwards due to inflation. But this comes with more risk. 

How can investing your super help you reach your financial goals?

Because investing typically delivers better returns than your bank account, you could reach your goals sooner. 

And since your super’s invested over a much longer time frame, you can benefit from the power of compound returns. This means any positive returns earned in one year will grow your balance – giving you more money to invest and more potential to compound the following year. Over time, this can make a big difference to your super balance.

The more you understand how your super is invested, the better equipped you’ll be to make decisions supporting your retirement.

How is your super invested?

If you’re a Hostplus member and you haven’t chosen where your super’s invested, your money’s automatically invested in our Balanced (MySuper) option. If you have a Hostplus Pension account, your money’s automatically invested in our Cash option.

But, if you’d like to be more hands-on, you can choose where your super is invested based on things like your risk appetite and your age.

Assets are categorised into groups known as asset classes, which each behave differently. Examples include:

  • shares – owning part of a company, with potential for capital growth and dividends (payments made by the company, usually from profits)
  • bonds – loans to companies and governments that pay interest
  • infrastructure – like airports, railways, and water supply systems
  • property – like shopping centres and office buildings 
  • cash and term deposits.

Diversification simply means spreading your super across different asset classes instead of putting it all in one place. Because asset classes group investments with similar characteristics, they help us diversify more easily.

Diversification is a good way to manage risk – if one investment performs poorly, it’s less likely to drag down your entire balance because other investments may do well at the same time. This helps smooth out returns over time.

The longer your money stays invested, the more time it has to grow. Your super’s designed to fund your retirement, so it’s usually invested for a long time. The average Hostplus member has around 30 years until retirement, and may also remain invested once retired.

This long-term horizon means your super can be invested in assets like emerging technologies and infrastructure. Emerging technologies may take years to reach their full potential, but the payoffs can be significant. Infrastructure, on the other hand, aims to deliver steady growth over time.

Investing over a longer time frame also helps smooth out short-term market  fluctuations, leading to more consistent returns.

You can take charge of your super by choosing the way it’s invested. We offer multiple investment options because we know everyone’s different. So, if you’re a Hostplus member, the choice is yours.

When choosing your investments, think about what matters to you most – growth, stability, control, or your personal values – as well as your age, investment time frame and your risk appetite. You can also read our handy guide to learn more about choosing your investments.

We're here to help

We offer financial advice online, over the phone or face to face that can explain how our investment options work and which one may be right for you. You can also try SuperSmart for interactive financial education, money tips and tailored advice online. 

Contact us on 1300 303 188, email us or book a callback today.

Hostplus has engaged Industry Fund Services Limited ABN 54 007 016 195, AFSL 232514 to make SuperSmart available to Hostplus members