Understanding pension investments

Learn how we invest member savings

When you join People’s Pension, your money is automatically placed in our ‘balanced’ investment profile, unless you tell us otherwise.

The ‘balanced’ profile is designed to be appropriate for most of our members’ needs. It aims to generate long-term growth and automatically reduces investment risk as retirement approaches.

Alternatively, you can easily switch investments, track performance, and use our pension investment calculator through your account or app.

Understanding pension investments

When you save with us, your money isn’t just sitting in a bank account – it’s invested in funds made up of a broad mix of different financial assets, like bonds and shares.

We do this to help savings:

Grow over the long term
Beat or keep pace with inflation
Smooth out investment ups and downs by spreading risk

How do pension investments work?

You and usually your employer contributes into your pension.
Your savings are invested in a pension fund made up of financial assets like shares (also known as ‘equities’), bonds, property or infrastructure to help them grow or at least keep up with inflation.
Your savings are invested across a range of different assets around the world to help reduce the risk of loses from any single investment.
You can choose from a range of investment funds or profiles depending on your goals, tolerance to risk, and how close you are to retirement.

What are pension investment funds?

Pension funds are professionally managed investment vehicles designed to help grow your savings. Different funds offer different levels of risk and reward depending on your preferences and investment goals. you can choose between funds by logging in to their account or app.

How and where we invest member savings

When savings are invested in our funds, they buy what's called a 'unit'. The unit price changes daily and goes up and down based on market performance. This means the value of your pension can go up and down. Over time, though, the goal is for the units to grow in value and help you save more for retirement.

We invest across a mix of assets like shares, bonds, and property, aiming to spread risk by investing in lots of different places around the world.

Investment options

Pension investment profiles

Our three investment profiles – ‘balanced’, ‘cautious’ and ‘adventurous’ – automatically reduce risk from 15 years before a member’s selected retirement date by gradually switching from higher-risk investments, such as shares, into lower‑risk investments like cash or bonds.

Investment funds

You can choose where your money is invested by selecting one, or a combination, of our eight funds. Each fund carries its own level of risk, depending on your saving goals and attitude to risk. These don’t adjust automatically, so ongoing management is required. If you choose this option, we recommend seeking pension investment advice from a financial adviser, who may charge for their services.

FAQs

When a member pays into a workplace pension, their money’s invested in a pension fund. Instead of selecting individual investments on their own, a fund offers a diversified mix all in one package, making it easier to manage savings and spread risk. Traditional investments within a fund include stocks, shares and cash, but increasingly, they can also include property and infrastructure.

The right approach depends on investment goals and appetite for risk. Pension funds that invest in higher-risk assets like shares offer the potential for stronger long‑term growth, but they can also go up and down in value more often. Lower-risk options, including bonds or cash, tend to be more stable but may grow more slowly.

Many people start with higher-risk investments when retirement is far off, then move to lower-risk funds as they get closer to taking their money. For support in making decisions about the most suitable investment approach, it’s a good idea to speak to a financial adviser.

A workplace pension typically invests in shares, bonds and cash from a diverse range of businesses and governments around the world to help grow and protect the savings of its members.

Larger schemes, such as People’s Pension, are also starting to invest in alternative growth assets – such as property and infrastructure – that offer greater scope to generate long-term returns compared to traditional workplace pension investments.

Understanding pension investments

Learn how we invest member savings

Understanding pension investments

How do pension investments work?

What are pension investment funds?

How and where we invest member savings

Investment options

FAQs

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Pension investment options

Pension investment funds

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