The Lifestyle options adopt an approach which manages the investment of your pension account throughout your working life by aiming to invest in the appropriate type of funds between now and retirement, depending on how you wish to take your savings at retirement. There are two Lifestyle options:

The Cash at Retirement Lifestyle Option is aimed at individuals who wish to take their entire pension account as cash at retirement. This will be the default investment option, and is the option that your retirement savings will be invested in if you do not actively choose another option.

The Income at Retirement Lifestyle Option is aimed at individuals who wish to buy an annuity (a secure income for life) and take a cash lump sum at retirement.

If you retire earlier than age 65 this may result in your pension fund being invested in higher risk funds rather than lower risk funds at retirement. The Lifestyle Options invest on the assumption that you will take retirement at the Normal Retirement Age of 65 – it is your responsibility to tell Capita if your intended retirement age differs from this.

You should be aware that the value of your investment is not guaranteed and may go down as well as go up. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to the future.

If you are in the Pension Builder Plan section, you can decide to manage the investments of your pension account yourself. You can choose from a range of funds selected by the Trustee. You can invest in just one of the funds, or split your investments between a number of the different funds. You will also be able to switch your investments between funds at a later date, if you wish.

Investment on a self-select basis will not be affected by the age at which you aim to retire – for example, risk will not automatically reduce as you approach retirement. It will be your decision to manage your investment choices using the list of fund options available.

Bear in mind that although higher risk funds are likely to be more volatile and more likely to rise and fall in value, they may give better returns over the long term. Generally, people may choose to take more risk when they are younger and less risk as they get closer to retirement. Typically, this is done by investing in higher risk funds initially, and then switching into less risky funds as you get closer to retirement. The Lifestyle Options do this automatically for you.

You should be aware that the value of your investment is not guaranteed and may go down as well as go up. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to the future.

You can switch funds by accessing your online pension account. There is no administrative charge for this switch.

For individual factsheets on the self-select range of funds please contact our Pensions Administrators, Capita, on 0345 122 2032

If you do not choose your funds to invest , your contributions will automatically be invested on a default basis into the Cash at Retirement Lifestyle Option. The Cash at Retirement Lifestyle Option is aimed at individuals who wish to take their entire pension account as cash at retirement. This will be the default investment option, and is the option that your retirement savings will be invested in if you do not actively choose one of the other options.

It is important that you review the progress of your pension account. To help you do this, each year you will receive an annual benefit statement. This will show the current value of your pension account and will also include a projection of your future pension benefits.

You may wish to monitor your pension account more frequently and you can do this in two ways:

Online pension website
We have a website specifically for the pension scheme which allows online access to your fund value. If you have not already then please register your details here.

Make a call
Contact Capita on 0345 122 2032 to obtain your current unit-holding and daily fund prices.