Asset types

A guide to help you choose

Fund selection is a very important decision. To help you decide, you should read our Funds Guide. The default option, our Managed Fund, may be appropriate for anyone who’d prefer not to make the choice of investment fund themselves.

The main asset types that we invest your money in and the associated risks and rewards are listed below:

• Cash
  Cash investments receive interest on the money invested. Such investments include bank accounts, certificates of deposits (CD) and short-term paper usually assumed to have a life or term of less than 90 days. Cash investments generally give you easy access to your money, but may have a notice period and the interest rates payable may be fixed or variable.
• Fixed Interest Securities
  Fixed interest securities, also known as bonds are redeemable obligations where the issuer guarantees a certain rate of interest payable during the life of the instrument and to redeem the bond on pre-determined terms and a specific price at the end of its life. They are a means by which companies, governments or local authorities borrow money directly from the public. Fluctuations in interest rates are likely to affect the value of fixed interest securities e.g. if interest rates rise, the value of your investment is likely to fall and vice versa.
• Property
  An investment in property is usually either a direct purchase of a property or investment via a property fund. Property funds give investors the opportunity to pool their money and spread the risk. Returns are determined by changes in the market value of the properties held in the portfolio and any rental income.
• Equities
  Also known as shares, stocks, or securities, represent a unit of ownership of a company which are entitled to the earnings of the company when they are distributed (dividends). Investing in equities generally has the potential for higher capital growth over the longer term. However there might be considerable fluctuations in equity prices.

Risk factors

Before choosing an investment, please bear in mind that all investments carry an element of risk:

• The value of the units which make up your fund can go down as well as up. It is particularly important to remember this if you are close to retirement. Please remember that your statutory contributions are tied up until you take your retirement benefits.
• The amount of pension income provided by your retirement fund will depend on a number of things, including investment returns and the rates available to buy your pension when you decide to take this benefit.
• We can increase or decrease our charges but we will let you know before we make any change. The Total Annual Management Charge will not exceed the PenCom’s maximum permitted charge, which is currently 2.0% a year of the value of the fund.
• The past performance of a fund is not an indicator of its future performance.
• The fund or funds you choose to invest in will have specific asset risks as explained above:

A vital component of being able to invest with confidence is the certainty that your attitude to risk is fully considered and investments made accordingly. There are many factors that you need to take into account, including:

• How old are you?
  Your attitude to risk may change over time. If you are in your 20’s, you are more willing to invest for the long term than if you are near retirement. A younger person may be prepared and is more likely to take a higher level of risk when investing. Conversely, older people tend to have shorter investment timeframes, so therefore may be less willing to and less able to take a higher risk with their money. It is generally accepted that higher risk investments should offer higher potential returns over the longer term. Generally, history has shown us, the longer your investment time frame, the more likely it is that a higher risk investment strategy will out perform a lower risk strategy, although past performance isn’t a guide to future performance.
• What other investments do you have?
  If you have other investments which will help you maintain your current standard of living in retirement, you may wish to consider taking more risk with this newer investment, depending on how long you have until you intend retiring.
• What are your investment goals?
  You may be investing for your retirement as well as saving for other specific events. Your attitude to risk may be different for the two separate goals.
• How long are you investing for?
  If you are only investing for the short term which we define as up to 5 years, you are generally less likely to take a large degree of risk with your money. Longer term investments might be more suitable for higher risk taking. This is due to higher risk investment funds generally including a higher equity content which, historically, have offered a greater chance of providing a high level of return over the longer term. Please remember that past performance isn’t a guide to future performance.

Investment Profiles

There are many ways to evaluate risk. At CrusaderSterling Pensions we aim to help you decide on the appropriate investment approach for you. We categorise investment periods as follows: -

• Short term – up to 5 years
• Medium term – between 5 and 10 years
• Long term – over 10 years

Secure

Secure investments provide safety to the amount invested and can be expected to offer relatively low growth over the long to medium term. They cannot fall in actual value but can fall in ‘real’ value due to the effects of inflation. Secure investments can be characterised by some of the following:

• investments are generally cash based;
• a return is normally in the form of interest;
• the future ‘real value’ or ‘purchasing power’ of the money could be greatly affected by inflation;

Cautious

Cautious investments can be characterised by investments which are typically in government and corporate bonds but may have some small equity exposure. They have the potential to provide income, and/or over the medium to long term, relatively modest growth with some degree of capital fluctuation.

Balanced

A balanced investment can be characterised by investments which are typically split between equity related investments, balanced with other investments such as corporate and government bonds. Balanced investments have the potential for capital growth and/or income over the medium to long term with some degree of capital fluctuation.

Progressive

Progressive investments can be characterised by investments which contain a significant portion of equity related investments and have a fixed interest securities portion that is used to provide portfolio diversification. Progressive investments have the potential of relatively more capital growth over the medium to long term. They are subject to fluctuations in capital are also expected to have a relatively significant risk of loss to capital value.

Adventurous

Adventurous investments can be characterised as investments where all or most funds will be in equity or equity related investments. Adventurous investments have the potential for higher capital growth over the medium to long term and may be subject to considerable fluctuation in capital value.

Specialist

Specialist investments are characterised by investments which have:

• exposure to very high risk investments;
• high volatility that risks the entire capital value;
• some investments in this category may require a longer term investment outlook before any benefit maybe expected.

These investments carry a very high risk of capital loss with a potential for higher return over the long term. They are very volatile and are only suitable for clients who can afford to, and are prepared to risk their entire capital value.