From 4 March 2024, we’re making changes to Aegon’s MI Savings fund range, across our insured Pension and Aegon Retirement Choices (ARC) fund ranges.

Why we’re changing the objective

As part of our Funds Promise, we regularly review our funds to make sure they’re performing as expected, to meet the needs of our customers. The most recent review highlighted that Aegon’s MI Savings fund range hasn’t met our expectations. As a result, we’re making these changes with the aim of improving outcomes for our customers.

There’s no guarantee the funds will meet their objectives. The value of an investment can fall as well as rise and is not guaranteed. You could get back less than you pay in.

The change in more detail

We’re changing the underlying fund each Aegon’s MI Savings fund invests into. When this happens, we’ll update the fund objective to reflect the changes. The fund objective explains how the fund invests and what it’s trying to achieve for investors. Full details of the changes are in the tables below. The name of the funds, the risk levels and the charges are not changing.

Once the changes are complete, the asset allocation (mix of investments) for the funds will change but will be broadly similar to the existing funds.

Aegon’s MI Savings (L) fund

Old underlying fund

New underlying fund

BlackRock Volatility Strategy I

Aegon Risk-Managed 3

Old fund objective

New fund objective

This fund aims for long-term growth, and we believe it could provide returns greater than inflation over the longer term. It invests in a diversified portfolio so that you’re not relying on the success of just one type of investment. This mix of investments, known as assets, aims to suit someone with a low (L) or below-average tolerance for risk who’s prepared to see some limited movement both up and down in their fund value in the hope of achieving greater long-term growth. The fund has an added safeguard - when markets become more volatile, it replaces some of its investments with lower-risk assets like cash, which we believe can help to limit the impact of extreme and sustained market falls.

The fund aims to achieve capital growth (after charges) over rolling five-year periods whilst managing risk. It is designed for investors who have a below average tolerance for risk and value a balance between preserving capital and achieving some capital growth over the long-term. It does this by regularly reviewing its mix of investments and making adjustments to keep the fund within its risk level. Although risk is actively managed, it doesn’t mean there’s no risk and the fund could still experience falls in value. The fund invests in a balanced portfolio of fixed interest securities (between 9%-65%) including corporate and government bonds, between 35%-65% in equities (company shares) and between 0%-26% in money market funds. It will gain access to this mix through various index tracker funds, except for the cash investments.

Source: Aegon UK

Aegon’s MI Savings (M) fund

Old underlying fund

New underlying fund

BlackRock Volatility Strategy II

Aegon Risk-Managed 4

Old fund objective

New fund objective

This fund aims for long-term growth, and we believe it could provide returns greater than inflation over the longer term. It invests in a diversified portfolio so that you’re not relying on the success of just one type of investment. This mix of investments, known as assets, aims to suit someone with a medium (M) or average tolerance for risk who’s prepared to see some movements both up and down in their fund value in the hope of achieving greater long-term growth. The fund has an added safeguard - when markets become more volatile, it replaces some of its investments with lower risk assets like cash, which we believe can help to limit the impact of extreme and sustained market falls.

The fund aims to provide capital growth (after charges) over rolling five-year periods whilst managing risk. It is designed for investors who have an average tolerance for risk, are seeking capital growth over the long-term and are comfortable with the potential for some loss. It does this by regularly reviewing its mix of investments and making adjustments to keep the fund within its risk level. Although risk is actively managed, it doesn’t mean there’s no risk and the fund could still experience falls in value. The fund invests in a diversified portfolio of mainly (between 50%-80%) equities (company shares), between 0%-50% in fixed interest securities including corporate and government bonds and between 0%-24% in money market funds. It will gain access to this mix through various index tracker funds, except for the cash investments.

Source: Aegon UK

Aegon’s MI Savings (H) fund

Old underlying fund

New underlying fund

BlackRock Volatility Strategy III

Aegon Risk-Managed 5

Old fund objective

New fund objective

This fund aims for long-term growth, and we believe it could provide returns greater than inflation over the longer term. It invests in a diversified portfolio so that you’re not relying on the success of just one type of investment. This mix of investments, known as assets, aims to suit someone with an above-average tolerance for risk who’s prepared to see movements both up and down in their fund value in the hope of achieving greater long-term growth. The fund has an added safeguard - when markets become more volatile, it replaces some of its investments with lower-risk assets like cash, which we believe can help to limit the impact of extreme and sustained market falls.

The fund aims to achieve capital growth (after charges) over rolling five-year periods whilst managing risk. It is designed for investors who have an above average tolerance for risk, are seeking to maximise capital growth over the long-term and are comfortable with the potential for significant falls in value. It does this by regularly reviewing its mix of investments and making adjustments to keep the fund within its risk level. Although risk is actively managed, it doesn’t mean there’s no risk and the fund could still experience falls in value. The fund invests in a portfolio of mainly (between 65%-95%) equities (company shares). It can also invest in fixed interest securities (between 0%-35%) including corporate and government bonds and between 0%-22% in money market funds. It will gain access to this mix through various index tracker funds, except for the cash investments.

Source: Aegon UK

Aegon’s MI Savings (H+)

Old underlying fund

New underlying fund

BlackRock Volatility Strategy IV

Aegon Risk-Managed 6

Old fund objective

New fund objective

This fund aims for long-term growth, and we believe it could provide returns greater than inflation over the longer term. It invests in a diversified portfolio so that you’re not relying on the success of just one type of investment. This mix of investments, known as assets, aims to suit someone with a higher (H+) or above-average tolerance for risk who’s prepared to see movements both up and down in their fund value, which may at times be significant, in the hope of achieving greater long-term growth. The fund has an added safeguard - when markets become more volatile, it replaces some of its investments with lower-risk assets like cash, which we believe can help to limit the impact of extreme market falls.

The fund aims to achieve capital growth (after charges) over rolling five-year periods whilst managing risk. It is designed for investors who have high tolerance for risk, are seeking to maximise capital growth over the long-term and are comfortable with the potential for significant and sustained falls in value. It does this by regularly reviewing its mix of investments and making adjustments to keep the fund within its risk level. Although risk is actively managed, it doesn’t mean there’s no risk and the fund could still experience falls in value. The fund invests in a portfolio of mainly (between 80%-100%) equities (company shares). It can also invest in fixed interest securities (between 0%-20%) including corporate and government bonds and between 0%-20% in money market funds. It will gain access to this mix through various index tracker funds, except for the cash investments.

 

Source: Aegon UK 

We’ll update our literature and our website as soon as we can, but investors may notice the old and new information in use for a time.

More information about these funds can be found on the ‘Fund prices and performance’ page on our website and selecting either ‘Other fund ranges’, or  ‘Aegon Retirement Choices (ARC)’.

What current investors need to do

Existing investors don’t need to do anything. Please speak to a financial adviser if you’re not sure what these changes mean for you. If you don’t have a financial adviser, you can visit moneyhelper.org.uk/choosing-a-financial-adviser to find the right one for you.