Risk factors

All investments carry an element of risk. Please bear these points in mind:

• The value of the investments which form the fund can go down as well as up so the value of the member's fund is not guaranteed. It is particularly important to remember this if the member is close to taking their benefits. Please remember that the money is tied up until a member takes their retirement benefits. Also assets may have to be realised before a member can take their retirement benefits.
• The amount of pension income provided by a retirement fund will depend on a number of things, including charges, investment returns and the rates available to buy a pension when a member decides to take their benefits.
• The assets you choose to invest in will have specific risks. To assess these risks we recommend you speak to a Financial Adviser.
• Different investments include funds which may have different levels of charges. If funds are switched at some point in the future, higher charges may end up being paid, which in turn may affect the benefits payable from the policy.
• The law and tax rates may change in the future and the value of tax relief will depend on an individual’s circumstances.
• Past performance is not an indicator of future performance.
• If you are an employee:
   

  · What you receive from With Profits investments will depend on future bonus rates, which are not guaranteed and can change. Future bonus rates may be reduced if, for example, our expenses are higher than anticipated or there is an increase in the expected cost of guarantees and options for With Profits policies.
  
  · Any investment in With Profits will share in the risks of other With Profits pension plans which can reduce your bonuses and therefore the amount we pay you. You also share in the risks of other With Profits policies such as bonds.
  
  · We write With Profits and non profit policies in our Long Term Fund. We provide guarantees for both With Profits and non profit policies and the assets in the whole fund are ultimately available to meet them. This means that although you may benefit from support from the assets backing non profit business, we could reduce the amount we pay you if we have to use the assets backing With Profits business to support non profit business.
  
  · We may reduce the amount we pay if you take your benefits early, transfer or switch out of With Profits. This is called a Market Value Reduction. We use the Market Value Reduction to treat customers who stay in With Profits fairly, as well as those who withdraw from it. The Market Value Reduction will usually be applied when investment conditions have been insufficient to support bonuses. It will also account for additional deductions that may be required to cover the cost of guarantees and options for With Profits policies.
  
  · We can increase our charges but we will let you know before we make any change.