Other ways to invest your pension
Members of this pension plan can invest their pension savings in either:
Investment fund
An investment fund can invest in different things such as property, company shares, bonds and cash.These are known as asset classes.
It is run by a fund manager who makes sure the fund(s) is/are being run in the right way on behalf of the investors.
You can invest in a range of different investment funds.
What happens when I invest in a fund?
Each fund is divided into units. When you invest in one of our funds, you buy units in that fund.
The price of units will change as the value of the underlying assets purchased by the fund changes.
If the unit price goes up, the value of your investment will increase. Similarly, if the unit price falls, so will the value of your investment.
For more information about investing and the choices available to you, see Your investment guide.
Lifestyle profile
This is an investment strategy that automatically adjusts where your pension pot is invested as you approach your selected retirement age.
A typical lifestyle profile is designed to automatically move your money into funds that reflect the way you want to take your money when you get to your selected retirement date, such as taking regular income or cash lump sums.
You can only invest in one lifestyle profile at a time and cannot invest in any other funds at the same time.
To see the lifestyle profiles that you can choose from, please go to the Your investment guide.
For more information on your investments, see the Your investment guide.
Target Date Fund
The Legal & General Target Date Funds allow you to match your investment strategy to a range of ‘target dates’.
Each Target Date Fund targets a different five year range, which will normally include the year you expect to retire or initially access your pension savings.
Why choose a Target Date Fund?
The Target Date Funds aim to help you grow your retirement savings over time to provide an income in later life.
If your retirement plans change, you can change to a different Target Date Fund at any time.
Each Target Date Fund invests in a wide range of assets such as company shares, government and corporate bonds, property, infrastructure and other investments.
Each Target Date Fund adjusts the way your savings are invested as you move closer to and then into retirement.
To find out more about target date funds, please see your Guide to the Target Date Funds or The Target Date Funds video.
What are the charges?
Each investment fund has a fund management charge (FMC). The FMC is a regular charge and varies from fund to fund. It covers the day-to-day costs of managing the fund.
It is made up of the investment management charge (IMC) plus additional expenses (AE).
The additional expenses (AE) are variable and consist of things like;
- share registration fees
- legal fees and
- custodian fees.
They can vary throughout the year and the FMC may change from time to time when they are updated. To work out the total cost of running a pension plan, add the annual management charge (AMC), which covers Legal & General’s administration costs, to the FMC.
Your scheme AMC can be found in the Member booklet. Sometimes we may need to make changes to our charges or introduce new charges.
| Investing in a Target Date Fund | Investing in a lifestyle profile |
|---|---|
| Members are invested in one fund for their whole retirement journey. | Members will be invested in more than one fund as they approach retirement. |
| Target Date Funds are designed to reduce investment risk as members approach retirement date. | At a certain point before a member’s selected retirement date, their savings will be moved into different fund(s). Further information can be found in the specific lifestyle factsheet |
| The Target Date Funds have been designed to allow members to remain invested beyond their target retirement date, giving them flexibility to use their pension savings either in full or in part and at a time that suits them. | Members can choose different lifestyles, which are designed for those who would like to choose either drawdown, an annuity or cash at retirement. |
| The fund manager can change how the fund is invested if they think it could deliver a better outcome for members. | The switching of money into other funds happens automatically and cannot be changed to reflect market conditions. |
| The fund manager can make changes to the way the fund is invested beyond the ‘target date’. | Automatic switching stops when members reach their selected retirement date. Members' savings will stay invested in this way from that point. |
| Members can invest in other funds, including other Target Date Funds, at the same time. | Members invested in a lifestyle profile cannot invest in any other funds or lifestyle profiles at the same time. |
