Pension fund choices.

We’ve been providing pensions since the 1930’s. Our financial strength has been recognised by three of the world’s leading independent rating agencies; Standard & Poors, Moody's and A.M. Best.

We offer a wide range of funds, each with varying levels of risk and potential reward.

These fund fact sheets give you information about the performance, fund composition and top ten holdings of the funds available and are updated on a monthly basis (portfolio updates are provided monthly at fund manager discretion).

You can print them and keep for future reference.

Your attitude to risk

Identifying your attitude to investment risk is very important. We’ve created four attitude to risk categories to help you with the way you look at risk and investing your money - minimal, cautious, moderate and high. We’ve also put all the funds we offer into one of these four categories to make it easier for you to choose where to invest.

• Minimal
• Cautious
• Moderate
• High

We've also put all the funds we offer into one of these four categories to make it easier for you to choose where to invest.

How we decide on the risk rating of our funds

We organise our funds into our four risk categories based on the risks we think they present to your money, assuming you’ll keep your investment for at least five years. To help make it clearer, we show our view of the risk rated funds on our ‘risk meters’. These are basically a scale running through the four risk categories, from minimal up to high. Each fund is given a place within the scale so you can compare it easily to other funds.

Our ratings have to be calculated without knowing your personal attitude to the different risks that exist. When you’re looking at where to invest it’s therefore important that you don’t just rely on our rating. You need to look at and think carefully about all the different risks we’ve outlined. Then decide how your view on them, combined with our risk rating, affects where you might want to invest. Your circumstances and outlook are unique, and so it’s this that should be influencing your investment decisions. If you’ve got any doubts or questions, you should talk to your financial adviser.

Our risk meters show a ‘spectrum of risk’, so while two funds could be in the same risk category, they don’t necessarily have the same level of risk. A fund near the top of one risk category might have a similar risk profile to a fund near the bottom of the category above it than to funds lower down in its own category.

You can look at risk categories both in terms of the type of investor for that category and the sorts of funds that are available.

Minimal

If you’re only prepared to take minimal risk it’s likely that your main concern is the security of your money. Other people with this attitude to risk often share a number of common traits.

• You prefer investing in banks and building society deposits.
• You tend to limit where you invest to these.
• You look for stability in the value of your investment.
• You view the security of your money as more important than the possibility of the buying power of your money reducing as a result of inflation.
• You’re unlikely to invest in shares or property and would prefer funds that didn’t do this.

Minimal risk funds tend to be cash or cash-like investments. Minimal risk doesn’t mean there’s no risk.

Cash Fund

Cautious risk

If you’ve got a cautious attitude to risk, it’s likely that, when investing your money, you look for the security that your investment’s value won’t go up and down a lot. Other people with this attitude to risk often share a number of common traits.

• You’re happy to invest in non-cash assets, such as fixed interest securities.
• You accept that the value of your investment isn’t guaranteed and might go down as well as up.
• You’re comfortable with some of your money being invested in shares, but not all of it, and some of it may be outside the UK.
• You accept that it’s possible you may lose some of what you invested for the prospect of better growth.
• You’ll probably want to spread your money across different types of investments, which should help to reduce the risk by balancing out one type of risk against another.

Cautious risk funds tend to have a mix of investment types, or just fixed interest securities.

Fixed Interest Fund

Index-Linked Gilt Fund

Distribution Fund

Over 15 Year Gilts Index Fund

Moderate risk

If you’ve got a moderate attitude to risk, it’s likely that you already have an interest in investing and are comfortable with the ups and downs of the stock market. Other people with this attitude to risk often share a number of common traits.

• You’re happy to put a significant proportion of your money in shares or other unpredictable investment types.
• You accept that there’s a real risk of losing your money, but this is balanced with the prospect of greater growth.
• You’re likely not to mind investing outside the UK.
• You might have an interest in and knowledge of the stock market.
• You understand the general risks involved with investing.

Consensus Fund

Property Fund

JPMorgan Life Moderate Fund

Aberdeen Life Multi-Asset (ex Property) Fund

GLG Balanced Fund

Managed Fund

Newton Income Fund

Aberdeen Life UK Growth Fund

Newton Balanced Fund

Newton Higher Income Fund

UK Equity Index Fund

Equity Fund

UK Recovery Fund

JPMorgan Life UK Disciplined Equity Fund

Aberdeen Life Global Growth Fund

GLG Global Equity Fund

Aberdeen Life Global (ex UK) Equity Fund

Global Equity 70:30 Index Fund

Global Equity Fixed Weights 60:40 Index Fund

High risk

If you’re prepared to take high risk, it’s likely that you’re an experienced and knowledgeable investor, whose primary aim is to achieve the highest possible returns on your money, while accepting that this means taking substantial risks. Other people with this attitude to risk often share a number of common traits.

• You’re happy to invest in funds in specialist areas or new markets, or both.
• You’re looking for high returns on your money, and you’re willing to take substantial levels of risk to achieve it.
• You accept that there’s a real risk of losing your money, but this is balanced with the prospect of greater growth.
• You’re attracted to new markets with substantial risk, or enjoy trying new types of investment.
• You accept that the value of your investment can change rapidly and by a large amount, possibly resulting in total loss of your money.
• You’re experienced in investing in the stock markets, and probably already manage a range of your own investments.
• You understand the risks posed to your money when investing, particularly that your investment is very likely to regularly go up and down in value.

High risk funds tend to be in specialised areas or in one or more countries outside the UK.

JPMorgan Life Growth Fund

Alliance RMC Dynamic Growth Fund

Global Equity Fixed Weights 50:50 Index Fund

International Fund

Ethical Fund

GLG Continental Europe Fund

Newton International Growth Fund

European Equity Index Fund

European Fund

UK Smaller Companies Fund

US Equity Index Fund

North American Fund

Far Eastern Fund

Japanese Equity Index Fund

Allianz RCM UK Equity Fund

GLG UK Growth Fund

We can’t tell you where you should put your money. For some people, a mix of funds is the most appropriate option. Others prefer to invest only in one fund. There’s no one best place to invest. Wherever you decide to put your money, you’ll need to make sure it’s in a fund or funds that you feel comfortable with.

An important thing for you to remember:

Based on our experience, we’ve come up with a set of risk ratings. These show how we feel the risks of some funds compare against the risks of others. This is our view now, but we might change our mind in the future, so this could affect the risk categories of the funds you’ve chosen. It's up to you to review your situation regularly with your adviser to make sure that your funds remain the right choice for you.