Investment options
- Designed for people saving for their future
- Options to suit different attitudes to market ups and downs
Invest to meet your retirement goals
Suitable for different savings pots
Different ways to save such as a Stocks & Shares ISA, Self-Invested Personal Pension and General Investment Account.
Manage market ups and downs
Each portfolio contains a mix of funds that invest across a diversified range of assets such as cash, bonds and equities.
For most types of investor
Choose a portfolio that best meets your needs and feelings towards potential fluctuations in the value of your investment.
Ready-made investment portfolios
- Our portfolios provide a range of options to suit different attitudes to market ups and downs.
- The range is designed by experts so it’s simple to choose the option that works for you.
Cautious portfolio
Aims for modest growth, with a lower level of volatility. Could be right if you want to limit ups and downs, rather than making large gains.
Balanced portfolio
Aims for moderate growth and medium level of volatility. Could be right if you want to grow your money and manage potential ups and downs.
Growth portfolio
Aims for above average growth, with a medium to high level of volatility. Could be right if you want potential for stronger investment growth over the long term.
Adventurous portfolio
Aims for higher growth, with the likelihood of higher volatility. Could be right if you want the potential for strong investment growth over the long term.
Learn more about our ready-made portfolios
An investment portfolio holds a mix of funds that are designed to achieve a targeted level of investment risk. The mix of funds helps to diversify your investment across different asset types, sectors and countries. (see ‘What do you mean by diversification?’)
Each investment portfolio aims to achieve a targeted level of investment risk. The level of risk you take will depend on your appetite for potential ups and downs in the value of your investment. The more ‘risk’ you take, the larger these fluctuations might be. There are no investment guarantees and you may get back less than you invested.
Each portfolio has a mix of funds that meet an agreed 'target fund mix'. They invest across different asset types, sectors and countries. Over time, each fund held within the investment portfolio will rise or fall in value based on the performance of the underlying investments it holds. This means the mix of funds in your portfolio will start to differ slightly from the target fund mix.
To ensure this difference doesn’t become significant, your portfolio will be ‘rebalanced’ every three months. This helps it achieve the investment objective and stay within the defined level of risk. You’ll be able to see which funds have been bought and sold by going into your online account a few days after the rebalance has taken place. You may not see buying or selling on all your funds. This is because the rebalance will only arrange deals where at least a £10 holding in the fund is being bought or sold.
The value of your investment and any income received from it can fall as well as rise. This means you may get back less than you invested.
When choosing how to invest your money, you’ll need to decide how much risk you’re prepared to take in order to reach your investment goals. It’s important to find the right balance between potential risk and potential reward, so think carefully about the impact losing money will have on you.
The more investment risk you take, the higher the potential returns, but also the more likely you are to get back less than you invested. Different types of investment have different levels of risk. For example, equities are considered more ‘risky’ than bonds or cash because they will experience bigger fluctuations in their value. Each of our portfolios targets a certain level of risk and the funds are chosen to provide the right balance of potential reward versus potential fluctuation in value.
Diversification is based on the old proverb, ‘don’t put all your eggs in one basket’. It’s about spreading your money across different assets to reduce the probability and impact of losing money. That’s because as the value of one asset goes up, another can go down.
A diversified portfolio might invest across different:
- Asset types such as bonds and company shares
- Sectors such as manufacturing, technology or financial services
- Regions, such as Europe, North America or Asia
Our portfolios mostly invest in passive funds.
A passive fund (sometimes called an index fund), aims to track the performance of an index or group of indices. An index is a collection of companies that meet a criteria. For example, the FTSE 100 is an index made up of the 100 most valuable companies in the UK. If the overall value of those companies increases, the value of your investment is likely to increase too. And if their overall value falls, your investment will likely fall too.
The alternative to a passive fund is an active fund. Rather than following the market, active fund managers try to meet a stated investment objective, such as reduce risk for the same reward or deliver better performance than the market. Markets are unpredictable, so not all managers succeed in this. Passive funds generally cost less than active funds because you’re not paying for the fund manager’s time and expertise.
Investing in passive funds should deliver market-driven performance, which can work well when investing over the medium to long term. And because passive funds generally cost less than active funds, the fund charges have less of an impact on the growth of your money.
What would you like to do next?
Which portfolio is right for me?
If you're not sure which portfolio best suits your needs, you can pay for one-off financial advice to help you choose.
How do I invest with you?
You need to be introduced to us by your wealth manager or financial adviser to invest with us. To find out more, speak to our Savings Specialists.
Important information
Remember that the value of your investment can go down as well as up and you could get back less than you invest. The information on this website should not be taken as a recommendation, advice or forecast. However, we do offer regulated financial advice if you're unsure about investing. Ask our Savings Specialists for more information about this service.
The tax you pay will depend on your personal tax position, and tax rules are subject to change by the UK Government. This is not tax advice. If you need more information, please speak to a tax adviser or an accountant.