How it works

You don’t have to choose your own investment funds

With LifePlan, you don’t have to choose your own investment funds. LifePlan invests your savings to give them the opportunity to grow, then it automatically switches your savings into lower-risk investments over time as you get closer to retiring. This aims to protect the value of your savings, and helps avoid any significant dips as you get closer to taking them.

Most members are in LifePlan. LifePlan may be suitable for you if you want a ready-made investment strategy where you don't need to choose funds yourself, or you don't have the time to regularly monitor investment performance.

You just need to choose how you plan to use your savings when you retire

There are three options within LifePlan. Initially, all three options aim to grow your savings in the same way. Then, 10 years before you retire, the three options differ in how they get your savings ready for you to use. All you have to decide is how you plan to use your savings when you retire (subject to certain restrictions). Your three options are on the next tab.

Because the three options grow your money in the same way until 10 years before you retire, you can wait until that point to choose how you plan to use your savings if you want to. And even after that point, you can change your option when your plans change.

Your choice of option doesn’t have to dictate how you actually use your savings. But the closer you can align your option to how you plan to use your savings, the better your savings can work for you.

LifePlan gets your savings ready for your chosen target retirement age

LifePlan invests your savings based on your target retirement age. You can set your target retirement age on Your Pension – and change it any time you like. It’s what LifePlan uses to work out how and when to move your investments. It doesn't mean you have to take your pension savings at that age. It's a good idea to review your target retirement age and update it when your plans change.

If you don't set a target, we'll assume you want to use the default retirement age for your Scheme, and LifePlan will get your savings ready for then. For most members this will be 65 or 60. You can see what your default retirement age is on Your Pension.

Responsible investment in LifePlan

We choose fund managers and funds that invest your savings responsibly. For instance, many of our funds invest in companies that treat their employees, suppliers and communities well, that protect the environment, and that are governed responsibly. This is what many members told us they wanted. Investing this way can also help us reduce risk and deliver better long-term returns.

We do this by working with our fund managers to make sure they integrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations into the investment strategies available to you. Fund managers use ESG considerations to assess the risks and opportunities of investments, alongside other financial factors. For instance, for every company they might invest in, they take into account factors such as:

• What impact does it have on the environment?
• How well does it treat its workers?
• How well is the company run?

The factors a fund manager might consider in the investment process:
Environmental	Social	Governance
How a company treats the environment	How well a company treats its workers	How well the company is run
Greenhouse gas emissions	Approach to health and safety	How diverse the board of decision-makers is
Waste management	Employee diversity	How it protects its shareholders and their rights
Energy efficiency	Human rights	Transparency
Climate change	Labour standards in its supply chain	How it compensates its executives
By taking ESG factors into account, a fund manager is likely to invest less in things like:
Environmental	Social	Governance
Companies that are heavy polluters	Companies that don't pay the living wage	Companies that pay huge bonuses to their executives without holding them to account
And likely to invest more in things like:
Environmental	Social	Governance
Companies that are working to reduce their carbon emissions	Companies with no gender pay gap	Companies with diverse boards

The Global Equity fund integrates ESG considerations. This is the fund that LifePlan invests your savings in until 20 years before your planned retirement date. The fund invests more in companies with strong ESG attributes, especially when it comes to climate, and less in those with weaker ESG attributes. Because of this, we can invest your pension savings in an even more responsible and sustainable way, while aiming to reduce risk and deliver long-term returns.

Remember, pensions are a long-term investment and the value of investments goes up and down. Some volatility is to be expected from time to time.

Your three options

These LifePlan options are new from July 2021

All three options grow your savings in the same way. Then, 10 years before you retire, the three options differ in how they get your savings ready for you to use at retirement. Your three options are:

Flexible Income Focus – give yourself a flexible income by investing your savings and taking an income from them as and when you need it. This option is also for members who plan to use their savings in a variety of ways (for example, a mix of flexible income, regular guaranteed income and cash).

Annuity Income Focus – turn your savings into a guaranteed income by buying an annuity.

Cash Focus – take your savings as a cash lump sum.

How each option invests your savings

All three options aim to grow your savings in the same way

They do this by investing in the Global Equity Fund to begin with – when you're over 30 years away from your retirement age.

All three options start to consolidate that growth in the same way

When you're 30 years from your retirement age, LifePlan starts to switch your savings out of the Global Equity Fund and into the Mixed Investment Fund. This aims to keep growing your savings, but with slightly less risk. This gradual switch happens over 10 years. So by the time you're 20 years from your retirement age, you're wholly invested in the Mixed Investment Fund.

The three options only differ in how they get your savings ready for you to use

10 years from your retirement age, LifePlan starts to switch your savings again. How it is invested when you reach your retirement age depends on which of the three LifePlan options your savings are invested in:

Flexible Income Focus	Annuity Income Focus	Cash Focus
More than 30 years to your retirement age
Global Equity Fund	Global Equity Fund	Global Equity Fund
30 - 20 years to your retirement age
Global Equity Fund, gradually moving to the Mixed Investment Fund over 10 years	Global Equity Fund, gradually moving to the Mixed Investment Fund over 10 years	Global Equity Fund, gradually moving to the Mixed Investment Fund over 10 years
20 - 10 years to your retirement age
Mixed Investment Fund	Mixed Investment Fund	Mixed Investment Fund
10 - 3 years to your retirement age
Mixed Investment Fund, some of which gradually moves into the Annuity Bond fund	Mixed Investment Fund, most of which gradually moves into the Annuity Bond fund	Mixed Investment Fund
3 - 0 years to your retirement age
Starts to move some savings into the Cash Fund	Starts to move some savings into the Cash Fund	Starts to move most savings into the Cash Fund
0 years (you've reached your retirement age) Your savings are invested in a mix of:
Mixed Investment Fund
45%	20%	30%
Annuity Bond Fund
35%	65%	-
Cash Fund
20%	15%	70%

How your savings are invested with Flexible Income Focus

How your savings are invested with Annuity Income Focus

How your savings are invested with Cash Focus

Fund factsheets and information

For more information about our funds, including fund factsheets, charges, past performance and unit price history, see the fund investment information section.

Fund charges are measured by the Total Expense Ratio (TER). The TER is the cost of running the fund expressed as a percentage of the fund’s value. The TER includes investment management fees (which are usually a fixed percentage), plus trading, legal and other costs incurred in managing the fund which can vary over time.

For details of the current TERs, see the fund factsheets in the fund investment information section.

The Trustee reserves the right to vary charges or introduce additional charges without prior notice to you, but if it does so, it will always aim to notify you as soon as possible.

Fund unit prices

Your contributions are invested each month into funds. Each fund is divided into 'units' and each unit has a value (the unit price). Your invested contributions buy units in these funds and every time you pay a contribution into the fund you're allocated more units. The number of units bought with your contributions depends on the unit price on the day when your contributions are invested.

Each fund has one unit price each day, whether you are buying or selling units, however, most of the underlying assets have a different buying and selling price. The fund’s single unit price can therefore be based on either the buying or selling price of the underlying assets in the fund, depending on whether the fund has to buy or sell more assets that day. This ensures that investors joining or leaving the fund pay or receive a fair price for their investments and are not subsidised at the expense of other investors in the fund.

The benchmark and the manager’s own stated performance figures are based on the mid-price (the average of the buying and selling price) and therefore do not take into account the difference between the buying and selling price that is reflected in the fund’s unit price.

The Trustee regularly reviews the performance of all funds. After consulting with its advisers, the Trustee may change the funds or investment managers at any time if it believes there is good reason to do so, for example, if it is expected to improve investment performance or help the funds to achieve their objectives. The benchmarks or fund charges may also change from time to time. Current information will always be available on the Scheme website. The Trustee will tell you about all important changes to the funds, their objectives or charges.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION IF YOU LIVE OR HAVE LIVED IN THE ISLE OF MAN OR THE CHANNEL ISLANDS:

If you built up any pension savings while living in the Isle of Man or in the Channel Islands, local tax rules mean that some of the options available to you at retirement may be different. For example, you cannot usually take all of your account as cash unless it is very low in value and other conditions are met, including age limits and allowing for any amounts taken from other pension arrangements. If you choose the annuity or flexible option, you may only be able to transfer to locally approved drawdown providers, retirement annuity trusts or similar.

How to make changes

You don't need to make investment changes if you don't want to. The default option is managed by the Trustee on your behalf, so you don't have to make any investment choices yourself. If you do want to make any changes though you can do.

You can change your LifePlan option or your investment strategy at any time on Your Pension. You can also set your target retirement age, or check what your default retirement age is, if you haven't done so already (if you're saving in LifePlan we recommend that you do this).

If you’re thinking about changing your investment choices, please remember that pensions are a long-term investment and that the value of investments goes up and down. Some volatility is to be expected and we would advise against making any hasty decisions during periods of financial uncertainty.

If you’re unsure about any of the investment decisions you have to make, it’s strongly recommended that you contact an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). You can find details of an IFA in your local area by visiting Unbiased or the Finding an adviser page of the Financial Conduct Authority’s website.