Invest in our funds

We have a range of funds for you to choose from. To help you decide which type of fund may best suit your needs, here are three questions to get you started:

• How much do you want your investments to grow by?
• How long do you have to achieve your target?
• How much risk do you want to take?

These should help to narrow your search by reducing the number of funds for you to pick. Generally speaking, the more you want your investments to grow by the greater the risk you will have to take in order to achieve your goals. You can also afford to invest in riskier assets, like equities (shares) if you have longer to invest. This is because you have time to ride out the highs and lows of the stockmarket. However, it's important to review this the closer you get to when you need to cash in your investment. You should also be aware that, although you may prefer not to take any risks with your investments, there's always the risk that the real value of your investment, in other words what you can buy with your money, could fall. This risk increases the longer you invest.

To narrow your search even further, think about the following:

• The fund manager who runs the fund(s).
• What the fund invests in – do you prefer particular sectors or assets?
• Do you want to have an active role in the ongoing investment of your money or do you want a fund that’s managed for you? We offer funds that fit both these categories:
  • Managed funds usually invest in a mix of investment types, for example equities (shares), fixed interest (bonds), cash and property, industries and regions of the world. The manager takes all the decisions about where and when to invest. In some cases, a managed fund can contain funds managed by a number of different fund managers to increase diversification further. These are known as a 'fund of funds' or 'multi-manager' funds.
  • Lifestyle funds focus on growth in the early years to build up your retirement savings. As you get closer to your target retirement year, they switch your pension fund systematically and progressively into funds better suited to preserving the size of pension you can buy at retirement. From time to time, we'll review the structure of the fund and we might make changes if we need to. Please remember that all investments involve some degree of risk.
  • Our Guidance or Full Fund Ranges allow you to choose your own fund or mix of funds. They invest in different types of investments and sectors to let you choose one or a combination that best suits your needs. These will remain until you retire or select a new fund(s).

Please note - the value of an investment can fall as well as rise for a number of reasons, for example market and currency movements. You may get back less than originally invested.

Any additional charges/expenses we disclose for our funds are estimated. Although the majority is made up of an agreed management fee, the expenses element depends on the actual expenses incurred by the underlying fund, so what you actually pay may vary slightly.

Choosing your investment strategy can be confusing so you may want to speak to a financial adviser before making your decision.