What makes a master trust different?
The Aviva Master Trust is different from our other pension offerings. It’s governed by a Trustee Board that is wholly independent, and supported by its independent advisers.
A master trust is an occupational pension scheme.
The Aviva Master Trust consists of just one legal trust and a single board of Trustee Directors, which acts as trustee for the whole trust. Each employer using the trust has its own section within the overall arrangement.
The role of the Trustee Board is crucial. It's wholly independent of the pension provider, and has ultimate responsibility for the investments in the scheme and the ways in which the scheme serves its members. The Trustee Board holds Aviva to task as both sponsor and administrator, ensuring that the Aviva Master Trust offers value for members.
The role of the employer is important. They decide contribution levels to the scheme, for example.
The Trustee Board is always keen to engage with employers and scheme members. It regularly seeks feedback from both parties and encourages open and honest discussion at all times.
We therefore believe it's important to choose a master trust whose Trustee Board understands workplace pensions and investments inside out and has a strong record of looking after members' best interests.
The key role of the Trustee Board – experience, expertise and governance
By choosing the Aviva Master Trust, you and your members will be able to take advantage of quality governance and a wealth of financial services experience from the Trustee Board. And because the Trustee Board's services are used by a number of unrelated employers, not just yourselves, it's a cost-effective workplace pension solution for your business.
The Aviva Master Trust Trustee Board
The Aviva Master Trust Trustee Board is made up of five wholly independent Trustee Directors with the expertise, vision and commitment to provide genuine confidence. All Trustee Directors are established leaders in their own right, with many years' experience in a variety of capabilities within the UK pensions industry. Each Trustee Director also has their own specialist background, giving the Board the balance of diverse skills needed to ensure effective scheme governance. The Trustee Board works in tandem with its independent external advisers and Aviva's own experts to further enhance their range of competencies to ensure the scheme is being managed effectively for customers at all times.
Why choose the Aviva Master Trust?
The Trustee Board's mission statement is:
“As a Trustee Board we are passionate about providing you with excellent value as well as expertise, reassurance and support. We commit to helping you make well informed decisions so as to achieve your future financial goals. We work collaboratively with Aviva to protect and invest your retirement savings responsibly and sustainably.”
Aviva supports this statement and works closely with the Trustee Board to achieve this.
Like other types of pension scheme, a master trust aims to produce good outcomes for its members. This means actively encouraging members to engage fully with their pensions and empowering members to make decisions which will ultimately help them enjoy the lifestyle they want in retirement.
The Aviva Master Trust seeks to balance strong governance, thanks to the Trustee Board and Aviva's investment team, with an investment offering which addresses the concerns and needs of members – always prioritising their best interests. A particular area of focus for the Trustee Board is to be at the forefront of integrating their environmental, social and governance ("ESG") policy into the investment funds used within the Trust.
Aviva Master Trust combines these priorities with Aviva's strengths, namely the scale, resources and financial stability, to fully support members.
Scale
Aviva is one of the UK's leading wealth, retirement and insurance businesses, with 19.2 million customers in the UK, Ireland and Canada.
A leading workplace pensions provider
Aviva helps members engage with their pensions and make the right choices. We've received Gold ratings from Benefits Guru across a number of measures.
Confidence
Aviva Master Trust currently manages over £12 billion of assets for more than 500,000 members as of 2024. A large number of employers from all sectors of the economy choose Aviva for their workplace pension arrangements.
Heritage
Aviva has a 328-year history of supporting people through life's opportunities and challenges, including a strong Trust heritage.
Is a master trust the right choice for your business?
Aviva recognises that employers have an important choice to make. Should you opt for a master trust pension solution, establish your own trust-based scheme, or a enter into a contract-based scheme with a pension provider?
A master trust has a range of benefits:
- Reduced costs for employers compared with running your own trust-based scheme
- Greater simplicity and convenience
- Members benefit from ongoing management and oversight of investments
- Trustee Board responsible for accounting and governance requirements
- A single Trustee Board for the whole scheme
Our Trustee Board offers investment choices to suit members’ priorities
Most employees invest in the default solution when joining a workplace pension scheme — accessing a ready-made investment solution rather than putting together their own portfolio of investments. Investments can fall as well as rise in value and members may not get back the amount paid into their pension.
Caring about the world we live in
The investment solutions and funds available through the Aviva Master Trust strongly reflect the Trustee Board's investment beliefs.
The Trustee Board is focused on ensuring that the default investment solutions and the self-select fund choices they offer to members reflect environmental social and governance (“ESG”) considerations.
An ongoing process
In September 2019, the Trustee Board set out its own set of ESG beliefs and was one of the first boards of master trust boards to do so. The Trustee Board carried out a detailed process to formulate its beliefs and to reflect the importance of the role which it feels ESG factors should play in the Scheme’s investment strategy decisions. The ESG Beliefs were most recently reviewed and the revised beliefs adopted by the Board in March 2024.
Vigilant monitoring from the Trustee Board
The Scheme’s investments are actively monitored by the Trustee Board – with the assistance of its specialist independent investment adviser – over an appropriate timescale, to ensure that the investments remain aligned to the polices the Trustee has set out in its Statement of Investment Principles.
Investment solutions
My Future Focus
The Trustee Board has designated Aviva's My Future Focus Universal lifestyle strategy as the standard default investment option for members.
My Future Focus is managed by Aviva Investors (“AI”) who employs a combination of active and passive management.
The strategy utilises both strategic asset allocation (long-term asset allocation, reviewed on an annual basis) and tactical asset allocation (shorter term investment decisions to capitalise on market movements).
ESG considerations are integrated into the design and ongoing management of the strategy. ESG considerations are also fully integrated into the investment decision-making process, supported by a dedicated team of more than 40 sustainable investment professionals.
The solution is aligned with Aviva's baseline exclusion policy.
My Future
The Trustee Board has designated Aviva's My Future Universal lifestyle strategy as an alternative default investment option. Participating employers who do not wish to use their scheme's standard default may use My Future as a default.
ESG factors are integrated across My Future. Half of the solution’s equity component is invested in the BlackRock World ESG Insights Equity Fund. The remaining equity exposure is invested in BlackRock's regional equity funds. These funds take ESG factors into consideration. There is also an allocation to a global credit ESG fund, also managed by BlackRock. The cash is invested in the BlackRock Liquid Environmentally Aware Fund.
The solution is aligned with Aviva's baseline exclusion policy.
Stewardship Funds
The Stewardship Funds, which were the first ethical funds of their kind in the UK when they launched in 1984, are actively managed by Aviva Investors.
The philosophy behind the Funds has always been, and remains, to guide capital allocation responsibly, and therefore to exclude or to include a company in the Funds based on what the company does and how it does it.
The Stewardship process follows 3 stages:
1. Exclusion of businesses and sectors which are not aligned with our sustainability pillars - Climate, Earth and People. 2. Investment in companies that contribute to one or more of these three sustainability pillars. 3. Engagement with companies on thematic issues to encourage more sustainable behaviours.
The Stewardship default solution uses a glidepath to manage customer savings throughout the retirement journey. The solution comprises the Stewardship International Equity, the Stewardship Managed and the Stewardship Bond Funds. The funds are also available for members to self-select.
Self-Select Funds
For members who want the choice of investing outside the Scheme's default options, the AMT Trustee Board offers a range of self-select funds from leading fund groups such as BlackRock, HSBC, and Schroders, plus funds managed by Aviva's dedicated asset management group Aviva Investors.
Offering both actively and passively managed funds, the range gives access to equity, fixed interest, and multi-asset funds. It allows members to invest their pension in sectors that align with their values and beliefs, including environmental, social and governance (ESG) funds and Shariah-compliant options.
Shariah-compliant investing
Shariah-compliant investing excludes investment in certain sectors, such as alcohol, tobacco and pornography and other ‘Haram’ industries, which are not permissible according to the Islamic Faith.
Find out more about the Aviva Shariah Investment Strategy, designed to help pension scheme members save for their retirement, and in a way which is aligned with the Islamic Faith.
Lifestyle programmes
The default solutions are accompanied by a number of lifestyle programmes that can be selected by members who have an idea of how they would like to take their pension savings. My Future and My Future Focus have options for members who intend to take a cash lump sum, buy an annuity or draw an income from their pension pot and leave the remainder invested.
Members can choose to switch into any one of these options as they approach their selected retirement date, confident that ESG risks, such as climate change and the need to reduce carbon emissions, will be considered no matter which option they choose.
Trustee Board
The Chair of the Trustee Board issues a statement each year, giving details of their review of “value for members” and other aspects of governance.
Aviva Master Trust for year ending March 2024
The Aviva Master Trust Trustee Board is required to publish an annual report setting out how it will manage climate risks on behalf of members.
Aviva Master Trust for year ending March 2024
Statement of Investment Principles
The latest Statement of Investment Principles (‘SIP’) for the Aviva Master Trust is available below, together with the Implementation Statement for the SIP.
Aviva Master Trust (“the Scheme”)
What happens when you participate in the Aviva Master Trust?
What employers can expect from us
From the initial set-up process to providing ongoing support, Aviva’s own specialists back up the Trustee Board's expertise – doing what we do best, while freeing up employers to concentrate on their own core roles.
What employees can expect from us
Find out how we keep employees informed about their pension and provide the service and support they need to plan for their financial future.