Investments
"As Trustees we are responsible for helping all members achieve their retirement goals. We want members to have investment options designed to meet their goals in retirement, by providing low cost and flexible investment solutions for a variety of retirement outcomes.
Responsible investing is at the heart of the Trustees’ commitment to helping our members achieve these outcomes, and we work with Scottish Widows to ensure the schemes' investments reflect this approach. You can find out more about our Investment Aims and Objectives in our Statement of Investment Principles."
Gerald Wellesley, Trustee
Default investment strategies
Scottish Widows Lifetime Investment (SWLI) is designed to offer a low cost, flexible option while targeting various retirement outcomes.
Self-select funds & bespoke investment solutions
The Trustees have selected a range of robustly governed self-select funds for members. These cover the most widely used asset classes and regions on both an active and passive basis.
We also offer bespoke investment solutions for employers who prefer this.
Drawdown investment solutions
We offer four Investment Pathways for investment at retirement, for members who have not received financial advice.
Responsible investment
Read about our Responsible Investment and Stewardship Policy, and the steps we’re taking to help tackle climate change.
Default investment strategies
Scottish Widows Lifetime Investment (SWLI) is designed to offer a low cost, flexible option while targeting a number of retirement outcomes.
The Scottish Widows Master Trust uses the SWLI Growth Path 'Targeting Flexible Access' as the standard default investment solution.
The default investment solution includes:
- High level of equities in the growth stage
- Inclusion of 12-year lifestyle glidepath
- Enhanced Environmental, Social and Governance integration for upside potential and downside protection
Further information on SWLI can be found in this guide (PDF, 700KB).
Targeted Investment solutions:
Members can self-select from five other lifestyle solutions, based on their attitude to risk or desired outcome at retirement. Employers can also select from these solutions to use as an alternative "default" investment option if deemed more appropriate for their employees' needs.
Self-select funds & bespoke investment solutions
The Core Funds provide members with access to a range of funds across the most widely used asset classes. This allows them to choose how to invest their pension based on their own attitude to risk, and also environmental, social or ethical views. These include:
- A range of active and passive managed options
- Sustainable funds in line with our commitment to responsible investment
- Shariah option
- Equity, bond, property, multi-asset and cash options.
Our flexible platform allows members to simultaneously self-select from this range while leaving a portion of their funds in one or more lifestyle strategies.
For employers who would prefer a bespoke investment solution, we can help design an investment solution which meets the specific needs of the scheme and its members. This is subject to approval from the Trustees.
Drawdown investment solutions
| Pathway | Expected member need |
|---|---|
| Leave invested | Where the member has no plans to touch their money within the next five years |
Buy annuity |
Where the member plans to use their retirement savings to set up a fixed, guaranteed income for life within the next five years |
| Long-term income | Where the member plans to start taking their money as a long-term income within the next five years |
| Take money | Where the member plans to take all their money out as a lump sum within the next five years |
Members who don't want to select one of the Investment Pathways can choose from the core fund range or the Scottish Widows default drawdown strategy.
Responsible investment
Responsible investment is at the heart of the Scottish Widows Master Trust.
Responsible investment incorporates environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in investment decisions that resonate with members’ values and beliefs, while also aiming to benefit their long-term savings.
The Trustees have established an investment governance reporting framework, which includes receiving Responsible Investment & Stewardship (RI&S) reporting from Scottish Widows annually. We, along with our investment adviser, use the reporting to hold Scottish Widows and the underlying managers to account on all RI&S issues. The Trustees also have their own RI&S Policy in place which is reviewed annually.
Working in partnership with Scottish Widows, we have set climate change targets:
- A 2030 target of halving the carbon footprint of our default investments.
- A 2050 target of net zero in our default investments.
Read more about our Policy, and our commitment to achieve net zero in our investments below:
- Read our Responsible Investment and Stewardship Policy (PDF, 198KB)
- Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) (PDF, 5MB)