My Future
Preparing for retirement financially is a necessary step in life – it can however be one of the most challenging things we ever do. Here at Aviva, we believe that everybody deserves to access the best possible retirement and that’s why we designed My Future, a well-diversified investment solution which manages risk for customers as they travel through their retirement journey.
The focus of My Future is on growing the size of members' pension savings in the earlier stages of the retirement journey, and therefore in the so-called engine of the pension, the My Future Growth Fund. For this reason, the My Future Growth Fund predominantly invests in equities with company shares, including the shares of overseas companies and UK companies - to provide the potential for capital growth in member savings.
The remainder of the My Future Growth Fund invests in fixed income assetsFootnote [1], and therefore in government bonds (both UK and overseas), as well as UK corporate bonds. This is to help safeguard members' savings should equity markets fall.
From 15 years before retirement, My Future starts to gradually move customers into My Future Consolidation
When members are 15 years away from their planned retirement date, the programme will move their savings gradually from the My Future Growth Fund to the My Future Consolidation Fund. The movements take place on a quarterly basis. While growth is the focus in the growth stage, and therefore in My Future Growth, it's increasingly about capital preservation in the last 15 years of the retirement journey.
The value of a pension can go down as well as up, so members could get back less than has been paid in.
Please be aware that there's no guarantee any investment programme will benefit members' pension savings when they come to retire and we can't guarantee My Future is suitable for their individual needs or appetite for risk.
The My Future Consolidation Fund mainly invests in fixed interest assets, and therefore assets that traditionally have been less risky than company shares.
Designed to give customers choice
Together the My Future Growth Fund and the My Future Consolidation Fund make up the My Future 'Universal' strategy. This is intended for members who have not yet decided how they want to take their pension savings at retirement.
The “universal” strategy sits alongside alternative options targeting annuity purchase, cash withdrawal and drawdown, which enables members to select the option that is best aligned with how they intend to use their pension savings in retirement. To support these options, the My Future solution comprises Annuity, Cash Lump Sum and Drawdown Funds. The My Future Growth Fund is the growth fund of all of options.
Managing risk for your employees throughout their retirement journey
The My Future Growth, Consolidation, Drawdown and Cash Lump Sum Funds incorporate long-term volatility targets to ensure members’ savings are exposed to the most appropriate level of risk depending on where they are in their retirement journey.
We show the volatility targets for the fund below:
| Fund | Annualised volatility target % |
| My Future Growth | 12 |
| My Future Consolidation | 4 |
| My Future Drawdown | 8 |
| My Future Cash Lump Sum | 2 |
Strategic asset allocation overseen by global solutions provider BlackRock
Global fund manager and solutions provider BlackRock looks after the strategic asset allocation of My Future. BlackRock is one of the world’s leading providers of investment, advisory and risk management solutions. Its purpose is to help more and more people experience financial well-being. 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.
Sustainable Investment
We believe that companies which are aware of and manage their environmental, social and governance risks, are better placed to create value for their shareholders over the long term. Below we describe the steps we've taken so far to incorporate ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) factors across My Future.
- In December 2022 we moved the cash in My Future from the BlackRock Sterling Liquidity Fund into a dedicated environmental fund, namely the BlackRock Liquid Environmentally Aware Fund, also known as LEAF.
- In April 2023, we reached our target of having 50% of the equity allocation in My Future Growth, My Future Consolidation and My Future Drawdown invested in the BlackRock World ESG Insights Equity Fund. This is a dedicated ESG fund.
- The My Future Annuity Fund invests in the LGIM (PMC) Future World Annuity Fund. This fund is aligned with the L&G Future World Protection List. This means that companies involved in, or that derive certain parts of their revenue from areas such as controversial weapons and pure coal mining are excluded from the fund, along with certain companies which do not comply with the United Nations Global compact screening agenda.
Alignment with Aviva’s baseline exclusions policy
My Future is aligned with Aviva’s baseline exclusions policy. This means that civilian firearms and controversial weapons, thermal coal, artic drilling and oil sands and tobacco are excluded from the underlying index tracker funds held in My Future Growth, Consolidation and Drawdown. While we would prefer to engage with businesses rather than divest, the sustainability risks to the climate, the planet and people from these sectors are so severe that they misalign with our corporate values and Responsible Investment Approach. Companies that do not meet the UN Global Compact, according to Aviva Investors, are also excluded from from the underlying funds in My Future.
Please refer to our baseline exclusion policy for more information and for exceptions.
Useful information
Guides
BlackRock
For information on BlackRock please visit BlackRock.com/uk