SEASONAL
Varying according to the time in the calendar year ie with an annual cycle. Many types of general insurance claims are seasonal.

SECTOR
The main types of investments ie FIXED INTEREST, EQUITIES, PROPERTY, CASH and OVERSEAS
INVESTMENTS.

SECURED LOAN
A loan secured against a specific asset or specific assets. The lender will have the right to reclaim the asset(s) if the borrower does not keep to the terms of the loan.

SELECTION
Selection is present when a group selected from a larger population is not typical of the group as a whole eg the mortality rates for the group may be different. There are five types of selection studied in actuarial work: temporary initial selection, class selection, self selection, time selection and spurious selection.

SELECT PERIOD
The DURATION at which the rates in a mortality table for select lives become equal to the ultimate rates.

SERVICE
The period of time a person has been an employee of a particular employer, or the period of membership in a pension scheme.

ShARES
See: ORDINARY SHARES.

SHAREHOLDER
The owner of shares in a LIMITED COMPANY.

SHORT TERM BUSINESS
Another name for GENERAL INSURANCE.

SICKNESS BENEFITS
Also known as "disability benefits".

SIMPLE INTEREST
A method of crediting interest. Interest is credited to the original capital, but not to previous interest payments. Rarely used in practice. See also COMPOUND INTEREST.

SUM ASSURED
The stated level of benefit payable under a life assurance policy.

SUM INSURED
The declared value of an insured object eg a building. Premiums are often expressed as a percentage or rate PER MILLE of the sum insured.

SURRENDER
Termination of an insurance policy by the policyholder before the expiry of its term. No further cover is provided. In some cases a SURRENDER VALUE may be payable to the policyholder.

SURRENDER VALUE
The amount payable to a policyholder who SURRENDERS an insurance policy.

TERM
The period of time since the start of a financial contract or the stated "lifetime" of a contract or investment.

TERM ANNUITY
An annuity under which payments are limited to a specified period.

TERM ASSURANCE
An assurance under which cover is limited to a specified period.

TERM DEPOSIT
An investment medium that pays an agreed rate of interest on cash deposits, provided the funds are invested for a specified number of days.

THIRD PARTY
In general insurance, the insurer and the INSURED are the first and second parties (to the insurance contract). Anyone else (eg the driver of another vehicle) is a third party.

TRAVEL INSURANCE
Travel insurance provides protection to holidaymakers and business travellers against unexpected costs eg flight delays and cancellations, lost luggage and overseas medical bills.

TRUE MONTHLY PREMIUM
True monthly premiums cease immediately on the death of the policyholder. See also: INSTALMENT
PREMIUMS.

ULTIMATE
Experience (eg mortality) for which the DURATION exceeds the SELECT PERIOD.

UNDERWRITING
The process of assessing the risk for a potential policyholder to decide whether to accept a risk for insurance and, if so, on what terms to offer cover. (Originally, underwriters indicated their agreement to the terms of an insurance contract by signing their names at the bottom ie literally underwriting.)

UNIT LINKED
A life assurance policy or annuity where the proceeds are linked to "units" in an investment fund.

UNITISED FUND
See: UNIT LINKED.

UNIT TRUST
A trust (usually operated by a bank or insurance company) which manages a portfolio of investments on behalf of a number of small investors. The investors benefit from diversification and reduced dealing costs.