Stakeholder pension investment choices.

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Apply now for Stakeholder pension investment choices.

When you apply for a Stakeholder pension, you can choose where you want to invest your payments - in other words, which funds you want to invest in. We understand that every customer is different and while some may enjoy researching their options, others may prefer not to.

Choosing from our fund options may seem daunting, but the process is actually quite straightforward. Below we explain the basics of what funds are, and how to choose your Stakeholder pension funds.

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FUNDS EXPLAINED

When you make a payment into your pension plan, it is invested into a fund. Each fund is divided into a number of units. Every payment is used to buy some of these units in your chosen fund or funds.

Funds invest in assets such as:

Equities - also known as shares,
Fixed interest securities - also known as bonds,
Commercial property,
Cash.

Alternatively, rather than selecting individual funds, you can invest in one of our lifestyle profiles.

What is a lifestyle profile?

In a lifestyle profile your money will initially be put into a fund that typically invests in a mix of assets including equities. As you get nearer to your selected retirement date, we steadily switch your money into one or more funds we consider to be lower risk. The lifestyle profile will apply to the whole of your plan.

Lifestyle profiles were designed based upon the assumption that you'd take your maximum tax-free cash at your selected retirement date and use your remaining pension pot to buy an annuity. There are now a number of options available to you when accessing your pension pot, so a lifestyle profile may not be the most suitable investment option for you.

How many funds can I invest in?

You can choose to invest in up to 10 different funds or one lifestyle profile at any one time. If you don’t want to make a choice, we’ll automatically invest your payments into our default lifestyle profile called the Multi-Asset Lifestyle Profile.

What is the default lifestyle profile?

Our default lifestyle profile is the Multi-Asset Lifestyle Profile and if you're more than 10 years from your selected retirement date it initially invests in the Multi-Asset Fund. When you're 10 years away from your selected retirement date, we start to gradually switch your pension pot into our Over 15 Year Gilts Index Fund and the Cash Fund, which are generally considered to be lower risk funds.

Please remember that the values of funds may go up or down.

To find out more about assets and which funds and lifestyle profiles are available, please see the Choosing your investment fund brochure and the Investment fund choices section below.

If you're unsure which funds to choose, you may want to talk to a financial adviser. Visit www.unbiased.co.uk to find your local adviser.

INVESTMENT FUND CHOICES

To choose your investment funds, take a look at the options below:

1. Research the basics.

If you’d like to choose your own funds but you’re not sure which funds might be suitable for you, or you want more information on what funds are, first read the Funds explained section above. Then you can either decide to choose from the funds listed below, or select one of our lifestyle profiles.

2. Choose your funds.

If you’re confident choosing your funds yourself, then spend some time reviewing the fund information in our Choosing your investment fund brochure. More information on each fund can also be found on the fund factsheets in the boxes below. We have a wide range of funds, some managed by us and others managed by specially selected external fund managers.

If you're still unsure which funds to choose, you may want to talk to a financial adviser. Visit www.unbiased.co.uk to find your local adviser.

3. Our default option.

If you’d rather not choose your funds at all, that’s fine. We’ll automatically invest your payments into our Multi-Asset Lifestyle Profile. This means your money will initially be invested in the Multi-Asset Fund, then as you approach your selected retirement date, we’ll gradually switch it into funds generally considered to be lower risk.

Lifestyle profiles are explained in the Funds explained section above. To find out more about lifestyle profiles and those available, see our Choosing your investment fund brochure.

Where can you invest your pension pot?

You can choose up to 10 funds from the choices below, or one lifestyle profile. You can change your funds free of charge after your application has been accepted.

All investments carry an element of risk, some more than others. To ensure that you're comfortable with the specific risks for your chosen fund(s), please read the Choosing your investment fund brochure.

INFORMATION ABOUT OUR INDEX-TRACKING FUNDS

If you’re investing in any of our index-tracking funds, you should note the following information about the stock market indices these funds track:

All rights in the FTSE All-Share Index, FTSE 350 Index, FTSE USA Index, FTSE World Europe ex UK Index, FTSE World Japan Index, FTSE Actuaries UK Conventional Gilts Over 15 Years Index, FTSE World Index, FTSE All-World ex-UK Index (the ‘Indices’) vest in FTSE International Limited (‘FTSE’). ‘FTSE®’ is a trade mark of the London Stock Exchange Group companies and is used by FTSE under licence.

The Legal & General UK Equity Index Fund, Legal & General Ethical Fund, Legal & General US Equity Index Fund, Legal & General European Equity Index Fund, Legal & General Japanese Equity Index Fund, Legal & General Over 15 Year Gilts Index Fund, Legal & General Global Equity Fixed Weights 50:50 Index Fund and Legal & General (PMC) World (ex-UK) Equity Index Fund (the ‘Funds’) have been developed solely by Legal & General.

The Indices are calculated by FTSE or its agent. FTSE and its licensors are not connected to and do not sponsor, advise, recommend, endorse or promote the funds and do not accept any liability whatsoever to any person arising out of (a) the use of, reliance on or any error in the Indices or (b) investment in or operation of the funds. FTSE makes no claim, prediction, warranty or representation either as to the results to be obtained from the funds or the suitability of the Indices for the purpose to which they are being put by Legal & General.