Your Investments
The default fund
The current default fund for all new joiners is the Scottish Widows Balanced Pension Investment Approach (Targeting Flexible Access). This approach is designed specifically to provide members with growth during the majority of their working lives and then greater security as they approach retirement.
To find out which fund(s) you are currently invested in, please refer to your latest annual benefit statement produced by Scottish Widows or access your Scottish Widows plan details here, as you may not be invested in the current default fund.
How does the default work?
The scheme default fund uses a ‘lifestyle’ mechanism that works by initially investing in the main growth fund - the Scottish Widows Pension Portfolio 2 Fund. Then fifteen years from your selected retirement age (this is set to 65 as default, but you can change this at any time) your pension pot is automatically switched into different funds designed to imitate taking income as it is needed in retirement.
Lifestyling is a tried and tested investment technique that should provide most of our employees with a suitable investment platform to support their retirement income goals. However this approach, adopts a flexible approach by keeping your pension pot invested for taking income as it is needed in retirement and may not be suitable for everybody, we would therefore encourage you to consider if this strategy is appropriate for you.
You can find out more about the default fund, the underlying funds it invests in, as well as alternatives that might better suit your retirement planing here.
Performance
Investment performance is one of the key factors in building a worthwhile retirement fund. If you log into your Scottish Widows account here you can find out the performance of the fund(s) you are invested in, the fund factsheets and a whole lot more!