Your pension in your pocket
Our app makes it easy to keep an eye on your pension and plan for the future.
Simple investing. Powered by 200 years of expertise.
- invest from £50 a month, or a £500 lump sum
- no monthly account fees until 01 July 2026*
- our experts invest your money for you
- low ongoing fund charges
Build your future with us, today.
Special offer - no monthly account fees to pay until 01 July 2026
We’re waiving our £3 monthly account fee until 01 July 2026.
Why choose Ready-Made Investments?
Scottish Widows expertise
Scottish Widows has been helping people save for their future for over 200 years and remains one of the UKs largest pension providers. We're part of a group that includes well-known names such as Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland.
See how our funds compare
Our ongoing fund charges are some of the lowest on the market, so more of your money is invested.
This graph shows ongoing charges only - from a selection of comparable competitor’s fund offerings. Other account fees and charges also apply.
We sourced the data from competitor websites, accurate as of 10 February 2026.
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Ongoing charges comparison overview Provider
Charges
Provider
Scottish Widows - Ready-Made Investments
Charges
0.10%
Provider
BlackRock - MyMap
Charges
0.17%
Provider
HSBC - Global Strategy Portfolios
Charges
0.18% - 0.21%
Provider
Vanguard - Life Strategy
Charges
0.20% - 0.24%
Provider
NatWest - Invest
Charges
0.39% - 0.40%
Provider
Barclays - Ready-Made Investments
Charges
0.45%
Provider
AJ Bell – Growth, Responsible Growth and Income Funds
Charges
0.31% - 0.50%
Provider
L&G – Multi-Index Funds
Charges
0.31% - 0.70%
Provider
Aviva – Multi-Asset Funds
Charges
0.15% - 0.88%
Start investing in 3 easy steps
Simply choose an investment style, pick an account, and then leave the hard work to us. Here's what you need to know.
1
Choose an investment style
You can change this at any time, even after you've opened an account
Adventurous
Medium-high risk
Fees and charges include:
Account fee: £3 a month
Ongoing charge: 0.1%
Key documents
Balanced
Medium risk
Fees and charges include:
Account fee: £3 a month
Ongoing charge: 0.1%
Key documents
Cautious
Lower risk
Fees and charges include:
Account fee: £3 a month
Ongoing charge: 0.1%
Key documents
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Adventurous
Medium-high risk
Our highest risk fund. You’re willing to accept a higher level of risk in return for the chance of higher returns.
Fees and charges
Fees and charges table If your investment was worth
Your annual fees would be
If your investment was worth
£1,000
Your annual fees would be
£38.60
If your investment was worth
£5,000
Your annual fees would be
£49.00
If your investment was worth
£10,000
Your annual fees would be
£62.00
If your investment was worth
£20,000
Your annual fees would be
£88.00
Our charges, explainedMonthly account fee
This £3 fee is taken from the value of your investments every month.
Please note: investments are sold at a minimum value of £10. All remaining sale proceeds, after the £3 fee has been paid, will be held as cash in your account and will be used to contribute to future fees.
Fund split
Data summary
How this fund’s investments are split across different asset types:
How the fund is split Bonds and Gilts
9.5%
Shares
87.0%
Property
3.0%
Other
0.5%
-
Balanced
Medium risk
Our medium risk fund. You want your investment to grow steadily, and accept that there may be some ups and downs.
Fees and charges
Fees and charges table If your investment was worth
Your annual fees would be
If your investment was worth
£1,000
Your annual fees would be
£38.60
If your investment was worth
£5,000
Your annual fees would be
£49.00
If your investment was worth
£10,000
Your annual fees would be
£62.00
If your investment was worth
£20,000
Your annual fees would be
£88.00
Our charges, explainedMonthly account fee
This £3 fee is taken from the value of your investments every month.
Please note: investments are sold at a minimum value of £10. All remaining sale proceeds, after the £3 fee has been paid, will be held as cash in your account and will be used to contribute to future fees.
Fund split
Data summary
How this fund’s investments are split across different asset types:
How the fund is split Bonds and Gilts
48.5%
Shares
48.0%
Property
3.0%
Other
0.5%
-
Cautious
Lower risk
Our lowest risk fund. Your investments could still go down as well as up, but are generally more stable.
Fees and charges
Fees and charges table If your investment was worth
Your annual fees would be
If your investment was worth
£1,000
Your annual fees would be
£38.30
If your investment was worth
£5,000
Your annual fees would be
£47.50
If your investment was worth
£10,000
Your annual fees would be
£59.00
If your investment was worth
£20,000
Your annual fees would be
£82.00
Our charges, explainedMonthly account fee
This £3 fee is taken from the value of your investments every month.
Please note: investments are sold at a minimum value of £10. All remaining sale proceeds, after the £3 fee has been paid, will be held as cash in your account and will be used to contribute to future fees.
Fund split
Data summary
How this fund’s investments are split across different asset types:
How the fund is split Bonds and Gilts
77.5%
Shares
19.0%
Property
3.0%
Other
0.5%
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Understanding risk
We can't tell you which investment style to pick, but there are some things you should consider.
When weighing up your options, it's important to understand how much risk you want, and can afford, to take. This will be determined by a number of factors, including your personality, current finances, investment goals, and where you are in life.
To get a clearer idea of what's right for you, ask yourself:
- How comfortable are you with the idea of losing money?
- How much can you afford to lose?
- How long would it take you to recover from a loss?
- Will you need this money in the next five years?
- Could you achieve your investment goals using a more cautious approach?
If you answer honestly, it'll be easier to decide which investment style makes sense for you.
Are you investing at the right time?It might not be the right time to invest if you're juggling debt, or if you don't have emergency savings you can access quickly.
Investing is a long-term way to potentially grow your money, typically over 5 years or more. The longer you leave your money invested, it'll have longer to potentially grow in value. Some investment products, like ISAs, may not let you withdraw your money at short notice.
Investing for longer increases the likelihood of positive returns. Over a period of five years or more, investments usually give you a higher return compared to cash savings. But investments can go down as well as up in value, so you could get back less than you put in.
2
Choose an account
3
Leave the hard work to us
The graph above, and the performance table below, show the percentage change of the funds since launch. This can help you understand how they’ve performed over the longer term. Remember that past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
The last available price for each fund is shown below the graph. This is usually the price from the previous trading day. If you decide to invest in one of our funds, your trade will be sent to the Fund Manager. You’ll then get the price given on the next available valuation point for this fund, which could be higher or lower than the price shown above.
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This table shows how each fund has performed annually over the past 5 years.
This table shows how each fund has performed annually over the past 5 years. Date
Cautious
Balanced
Adventurous
Date
30 Dec 2024 to 30 Dec 2025
Cautious
8.3%
Balanced
11.6%
Adventurous
16.2%
Date
30 Dec 2023 to 30 Dec 2024
Cautious
5.9%
Balanced
9.4%
Adventurous
12.6%
Date
30 Dec 2022 to 30 Dec 2023
Cautious
8.6%
Balanced
9.9%
Adventurous
11.0%
Date
30 Dec 2021 to 30 Dec 2022
Cautious
-12.3%
Balanced
-8.9%
Adventurous
-7.0%
Date
30 Dec 2020 to 30 Dec 2021
Cautious
3.5%
Balanced
8.2%
Adventurous
12.5%
Ready to invest? Apply now
Is investing right for me?
New to investing or need a refresher? Our quick guides explain the basics before you apply.
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Investing is different from putting your cash in a savings account to earn interest. You’re essentially buying investments, for example, shares in a company, that you think you’ll be able to sell for a higher price later.
There are risks with any type of investment. Your money could lose value and you may not get back what you put in.
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A fund is a package of investments. Your money is invested with other people's money in one fund.
Our funds are managed by a fund manager. They’re responsible for the mix of assets in the fund, and for giving you the best possible returns.
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When you invest in a fund, your money and risk are spread in many different places. This is known as ‘diversification.’
Let’s say that some assets in a fund aren’t doing well. If the other assets are doing well, this could help to reduce any potential losses.
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With ready made Investments you can invest in funds with a Cautious, Balanced or Adventurous investment style. See how our funds have performed in the past.
Whilst all investments carry some risk, this varies. Lower risk investments tend to be more stable and experience less volatility (ups and downs) but this comes with more limited opportunity for growth. Higher risk investments can provide the potential for higher returns but they may also experience more significant ups and downs.
It's important to remember fluctuations are a normal part of investing. Deciding on how much risk you are willing to take is a personal choice and can depend on a few things, such as:
- how long you’re planning to leave your money invested for
- the length of time you want to invest for (Time Horizon), as the longer it is invested for the more chance the investment has to ride out the ups and downs
- how much other income you have to fall back on if the value fell, as this helps you to keep your longer term plans in focus
- how comfortable you feel about the value of your investment rising and falling.
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If you’d like to have money set aside, either for specific goals or for emergencies, a savings account could be a better option. You’ll usually earn a small amount of interest and you’ll be able to access your money when you want.
If you invest your money, you should leave it for between 5 to 10 years to give it the best chance to grow. You may see the value of your investment go up and down, and you may not get back what you put in. But there’s often greater potential for higher growth over the longer term.
Learn more about the difference between saving and investing.
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We won’t charge the account fee, (£3 per month), between 19 May 2025 and 30 June 2026.
All other charges will still apply.
The account fee will be charged again from 01 July 2026. From this date, all monthly fees will be charged as usual.
Separate terms and conditions apply to our Ready-Made Investment ISA or Ready-Made General Investment Account in relation to the service we provide.
We may amend or withdraw this offer at any time.
The promoters of the offer are Halifax Share Dealing Limited and Embark Investments Services Limited, who provide Scottish Widows Ready-Made Investments. The promoters are contactable at 12 Wellington Place, Leeds, LS1 4AP.
Manage your investments on the move
The Scottish Widows app lets you check how your Ready-Made Investments are performing, wherever you are. Change how much you're investing at any time, and stay on top of your investment goals.
Ready-Made Investments is provided by Embark Investment Services Limited, a company incorporated in England and Wales (company number 09955930) with its registered office at 33 Old Broad Street, London, EC2N 1HZ. Embark Investment Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Financial Services Register number 737356).