Your investments

‘Lifestyle’ is the term we use for a pre-set, automated investment strategy which aims to grow the value of your pension account when you are far from retirement and gradually switch to funds that aim to protect the value of your pension account as you approach your retirement age. Of course, the value of your pension account isn’t guaranteed, because any investment, even one used in a Lifestyle strategy, can go up and down in value.

The Fund offers three Lifestyle strategies to match the different ways that members may decide to take their retirement benefits:

• Roche Flexible Retirement Lifestyle Strategy (drawdown) – this may be suitable if you’re thinking of taking most or all of your pension account in the form of ‘income drawdown’ at retirement. 
• Roche Lifestyle Strategy Targeting Cash – this may be suitable if you’re thinking of withdrawing some or all of your pension account as cash at retirement.
• Roche Lifestyle Strategy Targeting Annuity – this may be suitable if you’re thinking of taking most or all of your pension account in the form of a guaranteed income at retirement (also known as an ‘annuity’), through an insurance company.

The default investment option (if you don’t make an investment decision) is the Roche Flexible Retirement Lifestyle Strategy (drawdown).

The way the Lifestyle strategies work is linked to when you’ve told us you want to retire. You can choose a target retirement age through PlanViewer or by contacting Fidelity International. If you don’t make a choice, we’ll set your retirement age to 65. 

If we don’t have your correct retirement age, then the Lifestyle strategies won’t work as they’re supposed to.

You can find out more about the investments in the DC Section investment guide.

The Self-select option is for members who wish to make their own investment choices for their pension account. The Trustee has made available 13 individual funds, investing in different types of assets (equities, bonds etc) and with different risk/reward profiles. You can find out more about the individual funds by clicking on the fund names below. This will open up a fund factsheet that provides an overview of the fund objective, investment performance and ESG rating (that is, how well each fund rates in terms of environmental, social and governance factors). If you want to see how your investments have performed or make changes to them, please log into PlanViewer. 

Equities

These are shares in companies and their value and any returns from them are linked to the performance of those companies. They are expected to achieve higher returns than bonds or cash over the long-term, but their value can rise and fall dramatically in the short term.

Roche Emerging Markets ESG Equity Tracker Fund

BlackRock UK Equity Index Fund

BlackRock World ex-UK Equity Index Fund

Roche World ESG Equity Tracker Fund

HSBC Islamic Pension Fund

Roche Global Sustainable Equity Fund

Multi-asset

These funds are a combination of asset classes (including, for example, cash, equity and bonds and involve different approaches to investing, such as the use of derivatives). They can increase diversification by distributing the risk across the whole portfolio.

Nordea Diversified Return Fund

BlackRock ESG Strategic Growth Fund

Bonds

These are loans (debt) to companies or governments. UK Government bonds are called gilts. A fund will typically receive a fixed return of ‘interest’ on each of these loans, except for index-linked gilts which pay a return that increases with inflation. However, other factors will affect the value of these funds such as the level of interest rates. Bonds typically give lower returns over longer periods than equities, but their values are usually more stable.

BlackRock Over 15 Years UK Gilt Index Fund

BlackRock Over 5 Year Index Linked Gilt Fund

BlackRock Corporate Bond Index Fund All Stocks

L&G Future World Annuity Aware Fund (previously named the Pre-Retirement Fund)

Roche World Bond Fund

Cash

These usually contain deposit and/or cash-like investments. They only give a return in line with market interest rates, but their values are unlikely to fall except perhaps because of severe stresses in financial markets, or due to fund charges. 

BlackRock Cash Fund

You should regularly review your investment decision to check that your choice remains appropriate – especially if you plan to change your retirement date or if your needs change. 

You can switch between the funds at any time through PlanViewer. If you need help selecting your investment choices on PlanViewer, contact the team at Fidelity International and someone will be able to help you. However, please note that no one connected with the Fund can advise you on which investments to choose. 

If you need advice based on your personal circumstances, you should speak to an authorised financial adviser. You can find the details of how to obtain advice here.

When changing investments between different funds, there may be some indirect transaction costs associated with selling your old investments and buying your new investments. The unit price of your new funds will take these indirect costs into account.

By being a member of the Roche Pension Fund, you not only shape your future, but you also have the power to make a difference in the world. 

In 2020, as part of the Trustee’s continued focus on sustainability, we reviewed the Fund’s investment strategy and made some changes to the DC investment options offered. Our investment approach makes Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations a key part of the strategy – enabling you to invest your pension in a way that delivers economic value and has a positive impact on society and the planet.

Regardless of which investment options you choose, you’re able to invest your money in funds with ESG considerations:

• The main growth fund in all three of our Lifestyle strategies is an ESG fund (the BlackRock ACS World ESG Equity Tracker Fund). It minimises carbon exposure and maximises our exposure to positive ESG factors.
• There are also three ESG funds to choose from, if you invest in our Self-select strategy: 
  • BlackRock ACS World ESG Equity Tracker Fund
  • Roche Global Sustainable Equity Fund
  • BlackRock ESG Strategic Growth Fund.