How to change your investments

What should I consider?

When making investment choices it helps to understand the effects of risk on the value of your individual account. Changes in market price, as well as inflation, can impact your savings, especially if investment growth is lower than the pace of inflation. This means the value of your investments can rise or fall, which will have a direct impact on investment returns and the amount payable to you on retirement. 

The further you are from retiring, the more capacity you have for absorbing risk, so you might choose to maximise growth by investing in an equity fund. The closer you are to retirement, the less time your investments have to recover from market fluctuations, which means you may want to lower your exposure to risk.  

Some examples of risk include: 

  • Market risk is the risk that the value of your investments will fall due to market conditions and events. It’s what most of us think of when we think of ‘risk’. This is particularly important to consider as you approach retirement.

  • Volatility risk relates to how often and how sharply the market price of an investment goes up or down.

  • Inflation risk occurs when your investment growth could be lower than the pace of inflation, so the purchasing power of your investments falls (i.e. it can buy less in the future than it can now).

Your choices will depend on your individual situation and your plans for the future. These could change over time, so we recommend reviewing your investment choices on a regular basis. You may also want to seek independent financial advice when making investment choices. For help finding an adviser take a look at our Guidance and advice section. Please note that you’ll need to meet these costs.    

To find out more about The Schroders Retirement Benefits Scheme default lifestyle strategy or learn more about the self-select funds available to you, visit the Our funds page.  

If you’re unsure which option is right for you, seek financial advice using our Guidance and advice section.

If you’re happy with the default you don’t need to do anything.   

 If you’re investing in self-select funds, or want to start doing that, you can choose, update, and change your investment choices on Aptia OneView, your personalised portal where you can review your options and monitor performance. Navigate to the ‘Investments’ section and then ‘Investment Choices’ to make a change. 

 You can transfer investments between funds at any time, but it’s sensible to view investments as long-term decisions rather than making frequent changes in response to market fluctuations.  

Where do I go for more guidance?