Allen & Overy Pension Scheme
Your Investment choices

Your age and how long you have before you retire

As you get closer to retirement, the relative importance of each type of risk changes. The following guidelines will help you understand your investment options as you approach retirement.

When you are a long way from retirement...

You will usually be looking for good investment growth. Capital value risk and annuity price risk (click here for details) should normally be less important to you. What you should be concerned about is limiting the inflation risk and missed-opportunity risk in the investments you choose.

This is because, as you are earning and have time on your side, you probably have the ability to ride out, and hopefully recover from, any ups and downs of the financial markets and can aim for higher returns without undue concern. At this point you may wish to consider investing in equity-based funds and any other funds you think may generate higher returns over the long-term.

When you are closer to retirement...

Since April 2015, a change in the law means that you now have much greater flexibility around how you choose to access your retirement savings.

This is a big decision and should influence where you choose to invest. As you approach retirement, it is important to consider your options. If you are unsure, you may wish to seek independent financial advice. However you are planning to access your savings, as you approach retirement you will probably want to protect the value of your investments from falls in the markets. Capital value risk and, if you plan to buy an annuity, annuity price risk (click here for details) are normally more important to you at this stage in your career. To help protect your fund against these two risks, you can consider investing in assets which have lower risk relative to equities, such as bonds and cash.

Choosing your retirement date

Because the Lifecycle options change how your account is invested according to how long you have before retirement, it is important to select a Planned Retirement Age, so switching between funds takes place at the right time. The Normal Retirement Date at Allen & Overy is your 65th birthday. You may be able to draw your pension earlier with the agreement of Allen & Overy, and with that in mind, you can select a Planned Retirement Age between age 55 and 65 for Lifecycle*.

* If you are a DC member who joined the Scheme before 1 April 2010, you have the right to retire at age 62. If you continue as an employee of Allen & Overy beyond age 62 you may continue in membership of the DC Section on the same terms as applied before age 62. You may select a Planned Retirement Age between 55 and 65 for Lifecycle. The charts here show what the three Lifecycle options are, assuming your Planned Retirement Age is 65.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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