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Our investment strategy

We’ve designed a robust investment strategy with our members’ best interests in mind. We’ve set clear objectives: to manage risk, provide good value and secure positive long-term outcomes, while having a positive effect on the environment and our society.

We offer a single carefully-thought-out investment solution, rather than asking employers and members to make investment decisions.

Our investment strategy

We’ve updated our strategy in three key areas

Find out more in our Statement of Investment Principles (SIP)

Targeting growth

Higher target for growing pension savings over the long term.

Reducing risk

We’ve extended the Journey Path to retirement from 10 to 15 years.

Responsible investing

Increased focus on investing for good, as well as growing savings.

Responsible and sustainable investment

Climate change is top of our agenda. Read more about our commitment to responsible and sustainable investment, and what the metrics, scenarios and targets are which help us manage climate change-related risks and opportunities.

Learn more about our approach

Understanding our two funds

Our investment strategy is designed using two investment funds, one targeting long-term growth and one aimed at protecting the value of built-up pension savings. Members’ pension savings are gradually switched from one to the other starting 15 years before their target retirement age.

The Diversified Growth Fund (DGF) targets stable long-term growth for Scheme members during most of their working lives. It does this using ‘diversification’ – a range of different types of investment.

We’ve set the DGF a higher target with the aim of increasing its growth potential by broadening our areas of investment.

Find out more about our Diversified Growth Fund (DGF).

As Scheme members get closer to retirement most of their pension savings are gradually switched into the Retirement Countdown Fund (RCF). The RCF is designed to reduce the risk of built-up pension savings falling in value before they’re turned into retirement benefits. We call this switching period the ‘Journey Path’.

We’ve further reduced the risk by extending the Journey Path from 10 to 15 years.

Find out more about our Retirement Countdown Fund (RCF).

How our Diversified Growth Fund (DGF) diversifies

The DGF spreads investments across five areas.

Equities (shares)

Interest rates

Inflation

Income

Other investments

Young man sitting at desk talking to colleagues

Professional management

The Trustee has appointed Cardano Risk Management Ltd (CRML) as our investment manager, delegates day-to-day investment decisions to CRML and meets with them regularly to discuss the investment strategy and review performance.

We believe it’s reassuring for employers to know they’re offering their employees a well-designed, good-value investment option, and for members to know their investments are managed by professionals with their long-term savings needs in mind.

Protection and safeguarding

To protect your money we employ a custodian who holds the Scheme funds in a ring-fenced account, separate from both NOW: Pensions and the custodian’s own funds and company accounts.

Our custodian is BNY Mellon, one of the world’s largest custodians. It looks after over US$30 trillion on behalf of pension schemes and other investors. It has strong credit ratings: for example, the credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s rates it as AA- for long-term deposits.

Choice isn't popular

Our single-solution approach is supported by evidence that shows most people in workplace pension schemes don’t make investment choices. When we looked at other auto enrolment pension providers, we found over 99% of their pension scheme members were in the default investment option and had never made another choice.

We believe most people saving for retirement are happy to know professionals are investing their money and taking responsibility for making investment choices.