Giving members an investment solution with risk management built in
Saving for retirement is important – but it can also be one of the most challenging things we ever do.
At Aviva, we believe everyone deserves the best possible retirement. That’s why we designed My Future, a well-diversified investment solution that manages risk as members go through your journey to retirement, while aiming to give the growth they need.
The My Future funds aim to track the volatility of their respective benchmarks to make sure members' savings are exposed to the most appropriate level of risk depending on where they are in their retirement journey.
My Future is the default pension fund for our Group Self-invested Personal Pension. And, members of our other workplace pensions can access My Future after the scheme has been set up.
The value of a pension can go down a well as up, so members could get back less than paid in.
What funds sit within the My Future universal investment solution?
There are three funds in My Future, all designed to achieve different aims at distinct parts of the retirement journey. Together they make up the My Future universal strategy. Those funds are:
- My Future Long Term Growth Fund
- My Future Growth Fund
- My Future Consolidation Fund
How does My Future work?
Aiming for growth from the start
We focus on growing members’ pension savings in the earlier stages of their retirement journey by investing most of the money in the My Future Long Term Growth Fund.
At this stage capital growth is the aim, so the fund invests mainly in company shares. To safeguard member savings, the fund also invests in government and corporate bonds. Both are in the UK and overseas.
Moving to preserve capital later on
As members get closer to retirement, we begin to shift towards safeguarding their pension savings.
15 years before retirement, My Future starts to move customers to the My Future Growth Fund. This fund still has the potential for growth, but shifts a larger proportion of contributions to fixed income assets, which tend to be more stable.
Reducing risk as retirement gets closer
10 years before retirement, My Future gradually moves members to the My Future Consolidation Fund.
To preserve the value of their savings as members near retirement, the fund invests mainly in fixed income assets, which have traditionally been less risky than company shares.
All the fund movements within My Future happen on a quarterly basis.
My Future strategy (accessible description)
This bar chart (also referred to as a glidepath) shows the percentage allocation of investments across three My Future funds based on the number of years remaining until retirement.
- My Future Long Term Growth Fund (dark teal): Starts with the highest allocation at 15+ years to retirement and gradually decreases to 0% by 10 years before retirement.
- My Future Growth Fund (light teal): Begins with a moderate allocation (20%) 14 years before retirement and reaches 100% with 10 years remaining. Allocations then steadily reduce by 10% a year.
- My Future Consolidation Fund (light green): Gradually introduced from 10 years before retirement. Members are fully invested in this fund at retirement.
The chart illustrates how risk is reduced in the strategy and how the focus shifts from growth-orientated funds to more stable, conservative investments as members get closer to retirement.
Giving members more flexibility and choice with our universal strategy
Together, the three funds – My Future Long Term Growth Fund, My Future Growth Fund and My Future Consolidation Fund – make up the My Future universal strategy. We’ve designed this for members who haven’t yet decided how they want to take their pension savings when they retire.
The universal strategy sits alongside other options that target buying an annuity, withdrawing cash, and income drawdown. This lets members choose the option that best matches how they intend to use their pension savings in retirement. To support this, the My Future strategy includes Annuity, Cash Lump Sum, and Drawdown options, which all use the My Future Long Term Growth Fund as the growth-phase fund.
BlackRock oversees the strategic asset allocation of My Future
We use global fund manager and solutions provider BlackRock to look after the strategic asset allocation of My Future.
BlackRock is one of the world’s leading providers of investment, advisory and risk management solutions. As a fiduciary to investors, and a leading provider of financial technology, BlackRock helps millions of people build savings that serve them throughout their lives.
BlackRock has significant expertise in managing multi-asset solutions, and its investment teams incorporate their knowledge of local markets and collaborate closely to bring together their views on market dynamics and asset classes.
The timeline of My Future
Timeline (accessible description)
| 2013 | My Future launched |
| 2015 | Added drawdown and universal options to annuity option |
| 2019 | Added overseas bonds to build resilience |
| 2023 | Reached first target 50% equity allocation in BlackRock World ESG Insights Equity Fund Late 2023, aligned with BlackRock exclusion policy |
| 2024 | Full equity ESG integration |
| 2025 | Bond ESG integration Replaced two fund-model with a three-fund model to provide more potential for investment growth |
Sustainability matters
At Aviva, we believe companies that are aware of and manage their environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks are better placed to create value for their shareholders over the long term.
These are the steps we’ve taken so far to incorporate ESG factors across My Future:
Alignment with BlackRock’s baseline exclusion policy (BEP)
My Future is also aligned with BlackRock’s EMEA Baseline Screens Policy. That means that the underlying funds exclude corporate issuers which have exposure to, or ties with, certain sectors, namely:
- Civilian firearms
- Controversial Weapons
- Nuclear Weapons
- Thermal Coal
- Oil sands
- Tobacco
In addition, the underlying funds also exclude companies that violate the UN Global Compact. While our preference is to engage with businesses, the sustainability risks posed by these sectors to the climate, the planet, and people are so significant that, in our view, they conflict with our corporate values and responsible investment approach.
Thresholds apply.
Useful information
Blackrock
For information on BlackRock, please visit BlackRock.com/uk
