Retirement planning
Pension Portfolio Funds
Pension Portfolio Funds: A Low-Cost, Simple Solution
Our family of competitively priced, multi-asset portfolio funds can meet a variety of your clients’ needs. The Pension Portfolio Funds are our original multi-asset offering.
Pension Portfolio Funds 0.1%*
Our original portfolio fund range. Well established, having been first launched in 2010, the Pension Portfolio Funds have a performance track record dating back to 2006 (when they were launched for our Workplace pensions). At only 0.1%* the Pension Portfolios are invested in a number of passively managed funds, which themselves invest primarily in funds tracking global equity and bond indexes. The portfolios benefit from a comprehensive governance process and active strategic asset allocation.
How these funds can help your clients
These funds may be considered suitable for clients with more straightforward retirement planning needs, who would benefit from a multi-asset fund solution that fits with their attitude to risk. Naturally these clients want their retirement fund to grow, but also want to avoid excessive costs and charges, which could limit their fund growth. That’s where our Pension Portfolios could provide an ideal solution.
Low cost doesn’t mean low quality
Often when investing there can be a trade-off between cost and the quality of the fund solution, but for our Pension Portfolios this isn’t the case. We offer a range of seven portfolio funds, ranging from 30% to 100% equity content, with each of the portfolios investing in an array of global equity and bond tracker funds.
The Pension Portfolios have a strong track record of performance, against some of the key ABI mixed-asset sector benchmarks. Here’s how four of our most popular Pension Portfolios have performed relative to the ABI benchmarks over the last 1, 3 and 5 years.
Performance built on robust governance
So how do we deliver this performance? We believe that for a multi-asset portfolio, asset allocation has the biggest impact on long-term performance. This is where our robust investment governance, experience and expertise play a key part.
Our Asset Allocation team regularly reviews the asset mix in the portfolios to ensure they are positioned appropriately to help customers reach their long-term investment goals.
Mitigating the impact of charges on clients’ funds
At 0.1%* our low-cost funds can help minimise the impact of charges on your client’s pension pot. It’s no surprise that high charges can eat into investment returns over the long term, but the potential difference in total returns due to charges can be an eye-opener for clients and investors.
The graph shows the impact of charges over time on an initial investment of £200k, if your client invests in our Pension Portfolios versus what advisers told us they believe to be a fair price to pay for a passive multi-asset fund*1.
Figures exclude service charges and assume an annualised investment growth of 5% per year.
130bps, SW NMG Multi Asset Research 2019.
Provide a full advice model for low cost
Our low-cost funds can help you provide the ongoing advice and support needed to meet your clients’ changing needs. The combination of a 0.1%* per annum fund charge, our RA service charge and your cost of advice, could potentially be established for 1% per annum or less.
We’ve continued our clear and competitive approach to charges with our service charge. Our straightforward, tiered charge rate reduces as your client’s funds increase – rewarding them for saving more for retirement.
In summary, our Pension Portfolio Funds are quality multi-asset solutions at passive fund prices. We believe these funds are an excellent option for your clients who are looking for a low-cost fund solution, with a demonstrable track record of good performance.
For more information on Retirement Account’s strong investment options visit: https://www.scottishwidows.co.uk/multi-asset
*Total Annual Fund Charge (TAFC)