Detailed Information about the Investment Changes for Welplan Pensions

Transcription

1 Detailed Information about the Investment Changes for Welplan Pensions

2 1 The Current Lifestyle Investment Strategy the Scheme s default strategy 4 Introduction of two new optional Lifestyle Investment Strategies Your pension fund is currently being invested in the Scheme s default Lifestyle investment strategy. This is made up of a phase, which applies until you are 10 years away from your Target Retirement Age (TRA). During this phase, your contributions are invested in the Growth Fund. In the 10 year consolidation phase before TRA your fund is gradually switched from the Growth Fund to the Growth Fund over the first 5 years, and then from the Growth Fund to a mix 2 Freestyle investment strategy For those members who wish to take direct control of their fund, and prefer to manage risk themselves, the Scheme offers a Freestyle investment strategy, where you can actively choose any combination from the investment funds currently available. of the Liquidity and Over 15 Year Gilts Index Funds over the last 5 years. Therefore, without your intervention, over the course of 10 years, your fund is automatically moved to less risky investment funds as you approach your TRA. The aim is to provide greater certainty over the level of annuity and tax free cash you can take at retirement. You can amend your TRA from the default State Pension Age to any age from and above at any time by calling Welplan Pensions on Information on the existing nine, and two new funds, is shown in Table A. More detailed Fund Fact Sheets are available from the downloads section of the Welplan website ( If you wish to adopt the Freestyle Strategy then please complete and return the Investment Options Form. Whilst the Cash Lifestyle strategy will be the Scheme s new default investment strategy, the Trustee Board is also introducing two new optional Lifestyle strategies to cater for those members for whom the Cash Lifestyle may not be appropriate: a) Annuity Lifestyle if you already know you are likely to purchase an annuity (i.e. an insurance policy that provides known, regular income for life) at retirement, you might want to consider this option. By keeping the majority of your investments in the Pre-Retirement Fund in the consolidation phase, it allows for an element of in the run-up to retirement whilst still protecting your investments, but with better alignment to annuity prices. The main difference compared to the Cash Lifestyle strategy, is that during the five years prior to retirement, 75% of your investments will have been moved to the Pre- Retirement Fund and 25% to the. See Table C for more information. b) Drawdown Lifestyle if you want to take your retirement income partly as cash whilst still keeping some of your fund invested, you may wish to consider this option. By keeping most of your remaining investments in the Retirement Income Fund, this allows continued over the longer term (even post-retirement) but with the option to take cash drawdowns over an extended period. The main difference compared to the Cash Lifestyle strategy, is that during the five years prior to retirement, 75% of your investments will have been moved into the Retirement Income Fund, and 25% to the Liquidity fund. See Table D for more information. It is important to note that your decision regarding which Lifestyle Investment strategy you choose should, ideally, be made at least 10 years before your TRA. We will of course write to you before then to remind you of your options and ask you to choose your preferred investment strategy. If you are already less than 10 years away from your TRA, please call our pensions helpline on to discuss whether you would like to switch to one of these new Lifestyle options as soon as they become available. 3 What are the changes to my current Lifestyle investment strategy? 5 Changing the structure of the Growth and Growth Funds The name of the default Lifestyle strategy will be changed to Cash Lifestyle, as it is now designed for those members who plan to take their pension fund as a single cash lump sum in retirement, or smaller cash sums spread perhaps over a short period, such as a year. From five years before your TRA your fund will now be switched only to the rather than the current mix of the and Over 15 Year Gilts Index Fund. The is cash-based, so it both significantly reduces the risk to your investment and provides greater certainty of the capital value of your pension pot as you approach retirement. It will not however provide protection against movements in the price of annuities. See Table B for the investment breakdown of the new default Cash Lifestyle strategy. The Trustee Board has also considered the mix of investment types that make up the Growth and Growth Funds. As these two key funds continue to grow we have been able to secure lower investment management charges which, at this stage, we have used to broaden fund diversity. This will reduce volatility whilst still targeting original rates. The current and revised mix of funds is set out at Table E.

3 TABLE A 6 When are these changes being made? The Trustee Board intends to introduce all of these changes during July/August a) The changes to the default Growth and Growth Funds will be put in place at the end of July/ early August. However, the Trustee Board reserves the right to delay this if it feels that is in your best interests, in the event that the outcome of the EU Referendum to be held on 23 June this year creates significant uncertainty in investment markets. Information about the precise timing of the change 7 What do I need to do next? You should consider how you would like your pension fund to be invested either: a) if you are happy with the changes that the Trustee Board will be making on your behalf, you do not need to take any action. Your fund will be switched to the new default Cash Lifestyle strategy when it is implemented in August 2016 (this timing may be subject to change as noted at 6 above); or 8 Further Information Although we are not allowed to advise you on how to invest your pension savings, our experienced team will be happy to explain the choices that are available to you if you are unsure. When considering your investment arrangements, the Trustee Board recommends that you seek the advice of an Independent Financial Adviser ( IFA ). A list of IFAs in your area can be found at Alternatively, you can contact the Money Advice Service (established by the Financial Services Authority) for will be published on Welplan s website at as soon as possible after the referendum result is known. b) Changes to investments as a result of changes to the default Lifestyle, and changes to investments as a result of members opting for one of the new optional Lifestyle strategies will take place mid-august subject, again, to the outcome of the EU Referendum as explained above. b) if you would like to make an alternative choice then please complete the enclosed Investment Options Form and return it to Welplan Pensions, Old Mansion House, Penrith, Cumbria, CA10 2BX. Your instruction to change will be actioned as soon as possible after the new Lifestyle strategies are available, after 1 August You will receive a letter of confirmation once the change has taken place. unbiased advice at or by calling We also recommend that you visit the Government s Pension Wise website When making any investment decisions please always bear in mind the return for each investment fund is directly related to the performance of the assets in which it is invested. The value of the underlying assets in each investment fund can go down as well as up. As a result of this you may not get back as much money as you invest. Investment Funds (post-2016 changes) The table below sets out the full range of options available to members following the implementation of the proposed changes. Unless otherwise stated, all underlying assets are managed by Legal & General Investment Management on a passive basis. Fund Global Equity 50:50 Index Growth Fund Property Growth Fund Risk Grading Member Investment Profile Description High Adventurous 100% invested in equities, split 50% UK equities and 50% in a basket of overseas equities. High/ High/ Balanced Balanced 80% invested in equities, 10% invested in corporate bonds and 10% invested in long-dated index-linked gilts. Predominantly invested in directly held UK commercial property. Actively managed. 60% invested in equities, 20% invested in corporate bonds and 20% invested in long-dated index-linked gilts. Diversified Fund Balanced Invested in a wide range of asset classes with the overall objective of achieving long-term with less volatility than equities. Actively managed. Retirement Income Balanced The investment objective of the Fund is to provide long-term investment up to retirement with a focus on income generation. The Fund invests globally in a range of different asset classes in both passive and actively managed funds. Pre-Retirement Active Corporate Bond All Stocks Over 15 Year Gilts Index Over 5 Year Index- Linked Gilts Index / Low / Low To provide diversified exposure to sterling assets (typically corporate bonds and fixed interest gilts) that reflect the broad characteristics of investments underlying the pricing of a typical non-inflation linked annuity product. Actively managed. Predominantly invested in the debt of corporates and other non-government entities issued in the UK. Actively managed. Low 100% invested in long-dated fixed interest Government bonds. Low 100% invested in long-dated inflation linked Government bonds. Liquidity Low 100% invested in cash instruments including bank deposits and other cash instruments. Actively managed. Fund fact sheets are available from the downloads section of the Welplan website.

4 TABLE B Investment breakdown for the new default Cash Lifestyle Strategy. TABLE D Investment breakdown for the new Drawdown Lifestyle Strategy. Age Phase Growth Fund Growth Fund Pre-retirement Age Phase Growth Fund Growth Fund Retirement Income Fund Pre-retirement TABLE C Investment breakdown for the new Annuity Lifestyle Strategy. TABLE E Revised Composition of the Growth and Growth funds Age Phase Growth Fund Growth Fund Pre-Retirement Fund Pre-retirement Fund Growth Growth Current % Revised % Current % Revised % Global Equity 50:50 GBP hedged Global Equity 50: World (ex UK) Equity Index GBP hedged Emerging market equities Diversified Fund Corporate Bonds Over 5 Year Index-Linked Gilts Total * Tables B, C and D show the overall mix of funds through a member s working lifetime, assuming a Target Retirement Age of 65. However, you can set your own Target Retirement Age to any age from and above.

5 Old Mansion House Eamont Bridge Penrith Cumbria CA10 2BX Telephone: Welplan Pensions meets the ICAEW Master Trust Assurance standard. Registered company number: