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BRASS, IWDC and AVC Extra – upcoming changes

Jun 21, 2024
The Trustee has reviewed the investment funds and lifestyle strategies available to members in the BRASS and AVC Extra arrangements.

The review took account of members’ views, the membership profile and market environment, and looked at what other schemes offered.

As a result of that review, we are making some changes to the funds and lifestyle strategies later this year.  

We are changing the names of the lifestyle strategies 

Lifestyle strategies are investment options for members who don’t want to actively manage their fund choices, and would prefer to have it done by the Trustee.   

We are changing the names of the lifestyle strategies to make them more meaningful to members and reflect the target retirement outcome of the strategy. We asked members what makes the most sense to them. They told us that they preferred lifestyle strategy names that included the purpose of the strategy.  

Current Lifestyle Strategy NameNew Lifestyle Strategy Name
Full Cash WithdrawalTarget Lump Sum
Flexible DrawdownTarget Flexible Drawdown
Annuity PurchaseTarget Annuity

 

Whilst there are no changes to the mix of funds held within each lifestyle strategy, one of the underlying funds used nearer retirement - the UK Government Fixed-Interest Bond Fund - will invest slightly differently. We’ve explained a bit more about this below.  

You’ll see the new names used on the website and in the communications you get from September this year.  

We are also making a change to the UK Government Fixed-Interest Bond Fund 

The UK Government Fixed-Interest Bond Fund invests in bonds issued by the UK government.  

The underlying bonds held within this fund will change so that they have a shorter ‘duration’. This means it takes less time for the bond to be repaid and there is not as much movement in the bond’s price, both up and down, often referred to as ‘volatility’.  

The objective of the UK Government Fixed-Interest Bond Fund will change from focusing on building a pot that will provide a regular income, called an annuity, to one that helps protect the value of a member’s pot at retirement. 

While the expected return of the fund and lifestyle strategies will slightly decrease, shorter duration bonds are expected to be more stable and members will benefit from less volatility, particularly as they approach retirement.    

There will be no change to the fund name. And there will be no change in the value of the fund at the switch date. The change to the UK Government Fixed-Interest Bond Fund will be made in September 2024, at the earliest.  

How the change could affect you 

The change will affect: 

  • Members who choose to invest in the UK Government Fixed-Interest Bond Fund; and  

  • Members in a lifestyle strategy who are within ten years of their Target Retirement Age (TRA), as at this time investment in the bond fund starts being built up.   

Members in lifestyle strategies who are more than ten years from their TRA will not currently invest in the Fund, but will start to do so once they are within ten years of their TRA.  

If you’re impacted we’ll send you a separate letter with more information, and keep you updated on the member website. 

We are also changing the objective of the Target Annuity Lifestyle Strategy 

The objective of the Target Annuity Lifestyle Strategy, previously called the Annuity Purchase Lifestyle Strategy, will change from only protecting the value of annuity income expected to be purchased, to one that also protects the value of a member’s pot at retirement.  

You should check that your investment choices are still right for you 

We believe that the changes are in the best interests of the majority of our members. If you hold the UK Government Fixed-Interest Bond Fund, the volatility of your pension pot is expected to reduce. We believe this is important, particularly as you approach retirement.  

It is really important that you know which funds you are invested in and make sure that you are still happy that choice meets your needs. The quickest and easiest way to do that is to register for, or log into, your myFund account at member.railwayspensions.co.uk/register. If you do want to make any changes you need to do this before 1 September.  

You can also set, check, or change your TRA in your online myFund account so that it accurately reflects when you plan to take your benefits. Your chosen TRA does not need to be the same as your Section's Normal Retirement Age. It could be earlier or later, depending on your plans. 

There’s also lots of other useful information on the member website.