General terms
- Chair’s Statement
- This document sets out the checks and governance in place to help run the Scheme effectively and help members save for retirement.
- Default option
- This is the option a member's Retirement Account would be invested in if they do not make an investment choice in the Scheme.
- Trustee
- This is the board responsible for running the Scheme under Trust in the interests of the members.
Investment terms
- Bonds
- Loans issued by organisations or governments for different lengths of time (that is, the investor loans the organisation or government money for a period of time).
- Company (or corporate) bonds
- Bonds issued by private and public companies.
- Diversified growth
- A wide range of investments usually including shares, bonds, cash, commodities, property and other investments, generally investing in different geographical regions and business sectors.
- Emerging markets
- Investments in geographical areas which are still considered to be developing economically, including Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa and parts of Asia.
- Money markets
- Sterling investments including short-term bank deposits, UK government bonds, and promissory notes such as Treasury bills.
- Pre-retirement
- A fund that invests in a range of investments whose performance is expected to match changes in annuity rates (that is, the rate of converting retirement savings into pension).
- Shares / Global shares
- A share in the ownership of a company. Global shares are shares that are traded on stock markets, in a range of currencies, around the world.
- Shariah compliant investments
- Investments that abide by the principles of Islamic Shariah Law which prohibit the payment of interest or fees for loans of money.
Different ways of investing:
active vs index tracker funds
Active
The investment manager uses his/her expertise to decide which investments to buy, sell or hold onto. The aim is to beat the return of a particular index. Because of this, funds that are actively managed generally have higher charges than other types of investment management.
Index tracker / passive
The investment manager chooses a market index and invests in broadly the same investments as that index (for example, the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) All-Share Index which is made up of all the shares quoted on the UK Stock Exchange). Returns follow (or track) the returns for that index.