The S&P 500’s an index that tracks the performance of 500 of the largest public US companies. It’s considered to be a good measure of the health of the US stock market. As of the time of publication, the S&P 500’s 12-month performance is close to +21%.

Source: BBC Market Data

While the long-term picture has seen impressive growth, in the short-term there’s been some summer shivers. Some of the major factors impacting global economies and stock markets include:

• reports of ‘sticky’ inflation resulting in decade-high interest rates;
• geopolitical tensions in the Middle East fueling oil concerns; and
• doubt about the speed of Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption in the technology sector.

Keep reading to find out how these factors have created short-term volatility and why diversification is crucial in pensions.

1. ‘Sticky’ inflation and decade-high interest rates

‘Sticky’ inflation is the combination of stubbornly high inflation, lower spending and low economic growth. In the US last year, the expectation was that the Central Bank in the US, the Federal Reserve, would cut interest rates at least three times throughout 2024. This all depended on the progress made in lowering the rate of inflation. In positive news, US inflation reached 3% in the 12 months to June 2024 - closing in on their 2% inflation target. But this isn’t fast enough for Chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell.

In the months since, expectations have been scaled back to a single interest rate cut later this year. This means that borrowing will continue to be challenging and interest payments will remain high for governments, businesses and consumers. Investors are concerned that interest rates have been too high for too long, creating the risk of a recession. The upcoming US presidential election, set to take place in November this year, adds to this uncertainty in the US economy, which in turn impacts what you’re seeing happen with your pension balance.

2. Tensions in the Middle East fueling oil concerns

Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have been escalating over the last few months. These tensions have also contributed to market volatility, which in turn is impacting your pension balance. It’s worth noting that the Middle East is responsible for producing a significant portion of the world’s crude oil. Stability in the region is crucial for maintaining a stable global oil market.

In recent weeks oil prices had been trending downwards but after the news of the death of the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, oil prices surged. This triggered speculation about a war in the Middle East and rising inflation across the globe.

3. Scepticism about the speed of AI adoption

Finally, there are also growing concerns about some of the top-performing companies in the US stock market, often referred to as the ‘Magnificent Seven‘. The ‘Magnificent Seven’ comprises Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Nvidia, Meta (Facebook’s parent company), and Tesla. Together, the ‘Magnificent Seven’ make up more than 29% of the S&P 500’s total valuation.

These companies have been very successful in the past year, with lots of excitement about a potential ‘AI gold rush‘. However, investor sentiment has shifted in recent weeks as it appears this new technology won’t revolutionise industries as fast or efficiently as originally speculated.

As such, the value of their share prices has gradually dropped in the past month, which you may have then seen the impact of in your pension balance. But how does this impact your pensions? If you look at the top 10 holdings in your pension, you may find that you’re invested in these companies.

Why pension diversification matters

Right now there’s uncertainty about whether the current volatility in the market is temporary or will continue for a while. The main reason behind this fluctuation seems to be inflation, which refers to the general increase in prices of goods and services over time. One thing to note is that different countries are experiencing varying economic situations. Some are doing well while others are facing challenges. Because of this, it’s crucial to consider diversification.

Most pensions are already diversified, across a range of locations and asset types. This means your retirement savings could be invested in company shares, bonds, cash, property and other assets, across the globe, depending on the plan you’ve chosen. As a result, a decline in one type of asset or location can be offset by growth in the others, with the aim of achieving not only balance, but ultimately growth over the long term.

If you want to understand more about how inflation could impact your pension savings and how far your savings could go in retirement, use our Inflation Calculator.

If you’re nearing retirement

It’s impossible to completely isolate your retirement savings from the wider economy - even investing in cash means you could lose real value due to inflation - but being invested in a pension plan that’s designed for those approaching retirement could reduce its risk of losing value.

For PensionBee customers nearing retirement, we have a couple of plans that are designed to lower your exposure to market volatility.

• 4Plus Plan - aims to achieve long-term growth of 4% per year above the cash rate, by managing your money actively across a range of investments.
• Preserve Plan - makes short-term investments into creditworthy companies. This reduces risk and preserves your money.

When markets are down many people are tempted to withdraw from their investments under the assumption their money is safer in their pockets than in stock markets. Or even move their pension to a different provider because they believe their current provider is to blame for the losses caused by market volatility.

Remember investments go up, as well as down. So the more you withdraw, the less you’ll have invested to recover when markets rise in value. Withdrawing during a downturn guarantees a loss, whereas waiting for markets to bounce back gives you an opportunity to regain and grow your investments again.

Have a question? Get in touch!

Again, it’s important to try not to fixate on short-term balance fluctuations. Short-term fluctuations are normal and expected, and even the portion of your pension that remains invested after you retire should continue to recover over the long-term.

You can check out our Plans page to learn how your money is invested in different assets and locations - or log in to your BeeHive to see your specific plan. You can always send comments and questions to our team via engagement@pensionbee.com.

Risk warning

As always with investments, your capital is at risk. The value of your investment can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. This information should not be regarded as financial advice.

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We started PensionBee because we felt like the pensions industry needed to change. For too long pension providers have levied high fees and lacked transparency, and our recent research revealed that many current workers are anxious about retirement but unsure what to do about it.

Clearly, we’re not the only ones getting riled up by pension issues. Our article on the six most costly pension mistakes to make in your 30s has been read by thousands of people and has been shared over 160 times (and counting) on Facebook, where it is generating lots of lively discussion.

From distrust of pension schemes to debate over the best type of investment, here are our responses to some of the main points you’ve raised.

Is a pension really a more reliable investment than property?

Steve Collins took issue with our point that it’s a mistake to think property is your pension, saying “I just don’t think it’s factually accurate to imply property is more volatile than assets pensions are invested in.”

There’s risk, but also reasons to be reassured

The money you put into your pension plan is indeed invested, and as with any investment there’s risk involved, and the value of your investments can go up as well as down. But investment managers spread your risk by investing your money in a range of different assets (such as shares, bonds and cash), so it’s unlikely all of these assets will lose value at the same time.

Plus, a pension is a long term investment, so even if there’s a dip, there’s usually enough time for your funds to recover.

The pros and cons of property

This doesn’t mean, of course, that we think you shouldn’t invest in property. Although like any asset, property values fluctuate, Natalie Morris-Carwithen points out that while the housing market is likely to crash in a recession, it usually follows an upwards trend again (above inflation) during the recovery period.

We fully support the idea of investing in several different products, and if you can afford it, investing in both property and a pension is great. But as Matt Taylor says, the buy-to-let market is becoming trickier to enter, with stricter lending criteria and changes to tax relief.

Tax on pensions vs. property

You get generous tax top ups when you pay into a pension (25% as standard) and if you die before 75, your pension can usually be passed on to your partner or family member without being subject to inheritance tax. In contrast, as Alex Pritchard commented, “any property that isn’t your main residence will be a taxable investment on income and gains for the rest of your life”. Alex also makes the point that property is illiquid, something that Lucy Hyland also agrees with: “If you reach retirement and you only have your property, how are you going to release the money from it?”

Steve’s right when he says that there are disadvantages and advantages of both pension investment and property investment, and neither is risk-free, but Lucy sums up the benefits of a pension well:

“The advantages of a pension are employer contributions (sometimes up to 10%) and tax relief. The investments may fluctuate but they should go up.”

Is my money actually safe in a pension scheme?

Ralph Presgrave warned “the government will rob your pension to balance books when the next crash comes”, while Afshin Faridani claims “nearly every pension fund is a Ponzi scheme”. While these comments demonstrate the extent to which pension providers aren’t trusted, they misunderstand how most pensions work.

The lowdown on defined contribution pensions

Defined contribution pensions (the PensionBee plans and most modern workplace pensions are this type) are effectively long-term savings plans with tax relief. Concerns that your contributions are being used to pay out current retirees, with your own retirement income reliant on people paying into the scheme once you’ve retired, are misplaced. And it’s not easy for the government to raid your personal pension fund.

Matt Hammond put it really well, explaining that these defined contribution pensions (also called money purchase schemes) work a bit like ISAs, but with higher tax relief thresholds:

“You invest your money each month, build up a pot and get tax relief from the government. If you are a higher rate tax payer you get an additional 20% back on your tax return meaning that you only pay £60 in for a pension being funded by £100. The funds invested are tax efficient and the can be tax efficient when you draw on them.”

A word about other types of pension

Things may be a little different if your pension is a defined benefit pension, and/or if it’s a public sector workplace pension. Some public sector pensions are unfunded, which means that pension incomes are paid from the employer’s current income. A defined benefit pension is a promise from your employer to pay you a certain income on retirement. While these schemes can bring really nice retirement incomes, if your employer has financial problems, your pension may be affected. We’ve explained this more fully in our article on the BHS pension fiasco.
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With wages low and household budgets tight, can anyone afford a pension?

Lots of commenters reckon that the salary we’ve mentioned in our article as an example (£30k) is far too high and perhaps only reflects London wages.

We’ve only used a salary figure because it’s easier to explain these concepts using concrete examples, and we used a number close to 2014’s average salary, taken from ONS figures.

We understand that many people earn a lot less money than this, but the general principle still applies: the earlier you start saving, the easier it is to build a decent pension pot.

Salaries swallowed up

We also understand that for many people, just covering the cost of living is difficult enough, let alone saving into a pension. Leanne Briggs speaks for many when she says that “Most people’s salaries are swallowed up with the cost of living, mortgage, bills etc., especially those with children”.

While finding the money to put aside for a pension is difficult for many, once you’ve taken into account employer contributions (compulsory under auto-enrolment legislation) and tax relief, you’ll find that you don’t have to contribute as much out of your own pocket as you think. Even if you can only afford to pay in a small amount of money initially, starting early and taking advantage of employer contributions is still a sensible idea if you can manage it.

Let’s keep talking!

We reckon that one of the best ways to demystify the pensions industry is to have more of these open conversations about pensions: the good, the bad and the ugly. We’re delighted that our articles are generating discussion, and we’ll continue to answer as many of your points as we can on social media. Hop over to the PensionBee Facebook page to join the debate!

As always with investments, your capital might be at risk.

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We’ve all encountered a bully before - whether it’s the quintessential bigger kid in the school yard or the unrelenting boss who likes to receive weekend emails from you. Bullies use their strength to influence, harm or intimidate those they perceive as weaker. And the corporate playground is full of them.

Today, I published an open letter to the CEO of a large pension company, Aegon. The letter details the frustrations of our mutual customers trying to transfer their pensions to their new provider, typically to combine a few small pension pots and take control of their retirement. Their experience with Aegon is wildly in contrast with their transfer experience with most other UK pension companies, who honour their customers’ wishes expediently.

Wow. How not to do customer service. @Aegon don't trust me to transfer a pension to @pensionbee so send a really patronising questionnaire.
_{— Ben (@benhubbard434)}

You see, in our opinion, Aegon has been bullying our mutual customers, requiring them to fill in multiple complicated forms, make trips to the post office and take hours out of their busy days in order to take control of THEIR OWN money. But don’t just take our word for it, check out these tweets from frustrated customers...

So true - I’m sure it’s their ploy to make people stay by either flooding them with paperwork or just ‘losing’ the returned documents! pic.twitter.com/aLdSJFPrni
_{— Gordon Miller (@Gordon_T_Miller)}

On top of this we also believe Aegon is also bullying us, the relative newcomers in the industry. Of course, there is enormous financial benefit in keeping customers locked into financial products they actually wish to leave.

We thought it was time to take a public stand against this type of behavior in the pensions industry and to stand up to corporate bullying. At PensionBee, we believe in doing right by the customer and in changing the pensions industry to serve the interests of the savers. So I asked my team why they think it’s important to stand up to bullies. And their answers were telling...

1. Bullies perpetuate a negative environment

Often, bullies like to intimidate because they themselves have been bullied in the past. If we allow bullying to continue, the vicious cycle knows no end. The boss who bullies you into working over the weekend is creating a monster who is more likely to bully their own employees one day as a rite of passage. We believe that - as a pension industry - we will only be able to encourage people to save for retirement once all pension providers treat their customers with respect and support.

2. Most people actually disagree with bullies

When you are being bullied, it can seem like the world is against you, but actually most people dislike bullying or seeing others get bullied. Every time someone speaks out against a bully it gives other people strength to do the same, and before you know it the bully doesn’t have their power anymore. In pensions, the more people speak out against what’s wrong in the sector, the more other providers will have the courage to place customer interests at the forefront of their behavior.

3. It’s the right thing to do

A lot of the past year has seen the world focusing on doing the right thing, whether it comes to climate change or treating our fellow human beings with decency. I spend most of my time thinking about how we can make pension saving better, and how we can help people prepare for retirement - because financial security is a good thing. And as a mum, I see no more important task than showing my son to do as I do (and not just to do as I say!)

So I hope this post will inspire others to stand up to bullies. For who else should you rely on to make changes but you?

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Annuity rates are currently at their highest since 2009, which has once again made them an appealing choice for those considering how to make the most of their pension savings in retirement.

An annuity enables you to use your pension savings to provide you with a regular guaranteed income in retirement, usually paid out over a predetermined period of time or for the rest of your life. There are a few different types of annuities, including enhanced annuities, which typically offer higher rates to individuals with certain health conditions, and escalating annuities which increase at a fixed rate each year or in line with inflation.

Annuities were once a common way for those at retirement age, currently, 55 (rising to 57 from 2028), to convert their pension savings into a retirement income. However, annuity purchases have seen a decline following government reforms to pensions in 2015, which gave those at retirement age increased control over how to take their pensions. This included the introduction of pension drawdown. Drawdown allows those at retirement age to withdraw income from their pension pot as and when they need it whilst leaving the rest invested. However, there’s been a resurgence in the popularity of annuities over the course of 2022 due to rising rates.

Why are annuities becoming popular again?

The main driver of annuity purchases over the past year has been the rise in interest rates. With the UK economy seeing soaring inflation, the Bank of England has been raising its base rate, which is currently at 4%, in an attempt to curb inflation’s continued upward creep. And there may be a further increase in interest rates in 2023 with some predictions that they could reach 4.4% by July. Whilst rising interest rates impact the affordability of some financial products and services, such as mortgages, they have a positive effect in other ways such as increasing the rates on savings products as well as annuities. And a higher annuity rate generally means a higher income in retirement.

Higher interest rates make annuities a particularly attractive option for retirement income as they allow you to lock in the rate offered at the time you purchase it, for the length of your annuity term. This provides a level of security for your income in a period of market volatility and provides a more predictable level of guaranteed income compared to the relative uncertainty of investment products.

Is an annuity right for me?

Rising interest rates certainly make annuities a more attractive way to draw your retirement income, however, there are a number of factors worth considering when deciding if an annuity’s right for you.

Age and health

Generally, the shorter your life expectancy the higher your annuity payments will be. So, the older you are when you take out an annuity the higher the rates you usually receive compared to buying an annuity when you’re younger. It’s a similar situation when it comes to your health, if you have a particular medical condition you may be able to get an enhanced annuity offering a higher rate.

Flexibility

Whilst you may benefit from having a more stable regular income, annuities lack flexibility. As you lock in the annuity rate at the time you purchase it, should interest rates rise, you won’t be able to move your annuity to take advantage of higher rates.

Income needs in retirement

Your income needs may change as you enter retirement or take semi-retirement. It’s important to consider how much you’ll need to support yourself and your family. Your circumstances may change over time but your annuity rate will remain the same.

Combining an annuity with drawdown

When comparing annuities and drawdown it can often seem like a choice between one or the other. However, you can combine the two approaches. Doing so can allow you to take advantage of the benefits each offer.

You could use a portion of your pension to purchase an annuity, giving you a regular and predictable income whilst leaving the rest invested from which to draw down variable amounts as you decide. Additionally, leaving some of your pension invested allows that portion the possibility of growing over the long term. Considering your personal circumstances, this could mean using an annuity to cover certain regular costs and then using drawdown to take additional income as you want for any other costs.

Read more about the differences between annuities and drawdown.
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Purchasing an annuity

If you’re considering an annuity, it’s worth shopping around for the best rates. Your current pension provider may also offer annuities but you may find preferable rates elsewhere. Like all financial products, how much you can get can vary among providers.

PensionBee has partnered with Legal & General where you can get a free annuity quote. You’ll simply need to provide some information about yourself, such as your pension savings and your health, and they’ll search the whole market to get you the best available quote. Learn more about getting a quote through Legal & General.

Risk warning

As always with investments, your capital is at risk. The value of your investment can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. This information should not be regarded as financial advice

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As PensionBee turned 10 last year and we reached 260k Invested Customers and over £5.5 billion in Assets Under Administration (AUA), our mission to build pension confidence and help everyone enjoy a happy retirement has never been stronger. I was tasked with looking at how we make sure our customers and potential new customers are aware of who we are, the mission we’re on as a business and what makes us different from other pension providers.

Our large-scale brand campaigns started with floating customers on nationwide billboards in 2020, moved on to our Feels So Good wave in 2021 and our Yellow Chair customer campaign in 2022. In September 2022 we launched our largest scale multi-channel brand campaign, ‘Believe in the Bee‘. It looked at what we do and how we do it - bringing multiple pension pots together into one simple online plan so you can look forward to a happy retirement.

These campaigns have contributed to PensionBee becoming a household name, known for our simple consolidation process. So for our next campaign, we wanted to move beyond that. We’ve always been bold marketers at PensionBee, so we partnered with our long-standing creative agency, Builders Arms, to help craft our messaging, looking at the reasons our customers love and trust us so much.

What better time to launch our newest multi-channel campaign than New Year’s Day? From 1 January 2025, customers across the UK started to see 16 different TV ads, with our radio ads to follow from mid-January. Half of our ads feature real customers and showcase their real life testimonials and experiences of being a PensionBee customer as well as the reasons they feel we stand out as a brand. Let’s take a look at some of them:

1. Our experienced money managers and range of curated investment choices

Daniel has been a PensionBee customer since 2019 and loves how he’s able to choose from a range of carefully curated pension plans. With PensionBee, he’s able to invest in a way that aligns with his values, which is why he’s selected one of our sustainable pension options.

Our plans are managed by some of the world’s biggest money managers, who collectively oversee more than £10 trillion in investments, so you can rest assured that your money’s in experienced hands.

2. A simple consolidation process with a personalised approach

Simone has been a happy PensionBee customer since 2022. She loves how PensionBee made it straightforward for her to combine her pensions into one easy-to-manage online plan. With her very own BeeKeeper, a UK-based account manager, assigned to her, Simone had personal support every step of the way, making the process of consolidation smooth and stress-free.

3. A straightforward process for accessing your pension and making withdrawls

Moira joined PensionBee in 2021 and now feels in control of her retirement thanks to her PensionBee pension plan. She’s able to draw down with ease and adjust her withdrawals depending on her needs. Our Drawdown Calculator helps her to plan her pension withdrawals and understand the tax she may pay on them.

Our award-winning app makes accessing your pension straightforward, it’s simple to use and allows you to withdraw with ease from the age of 55 (rising to age 57 from 2028).

4. A simple contribution process and flexibility for self-employed savers

Rotimi has been a PensionBee customer since 2023. Being self-employed, Rotimi loves the flexibility that comes with saving for his retirement with PensionBee. He can pay into his self-employed pension based on his current income, making it super easy to keep up with his retirement savings, no matter how much he earns. As the director of a limited company, he’s also able to make contributions from his business directly into his pension. It’s all about convenience and PensionBee helps him stay on top of his pension without the hassle.

At PensionBee we’re on a mission to build pension confidence and help everyone achieve happy retirement. That’s why we believe when your pension’s in a good place, you’re in a good place.

You can catch our ads on TV, Radio and Online across 2025 or watch our TV ads YouTube channel. If you’d like to share your experience as a PensionBee customer in future advertising or press work, please drop us a line at: press@pensionbee.com

Risk warning

As always with investments, your capital is at risk. The value of your investment can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. This information should not be regarded as financial advice.

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Rishi Sunak’s first Budget was by necessity an emergency reaction to the coronavirus pandemic, however there were several significant announcements which could have an impact on your financial plans in both the short and long-term.

Pensions

As expected, pensions featured heavily in yesterday’s Budget. From increasing the tapered allowance threshold for pensions tax relief, to increasing the lifetime allowance, here’s everything you need to know.

A cut to interest rates could leave pension savers worse off

Technically not in the Budget, but announced by the Bank of England just before, was a 0.50% cut in interest rates to 0.25%.

Designed to help businesses and borrowers amid the chaos being caused by the coronavirus, it’s not great news for pension savers who want to buy a guaranteed income in retirement; annuity rates (connected to the Bank of England base rate) will worsen.

After the recent fall in global stock markets, which will have cost those whose pension is invested (the vast majority), it is a double whammy for retirement savers.

High earners to receive pension tax relief increase

The threshold that dictates how much higher earners can save into their pension pot has been raised. The tapered annual allowance currently kicks in on earnings over £110,000 and gradually reduces the annual amount that can be saved into a pension from £40,000 to £10,000.

From April, anyone with income under £200,000 will escape the taper, providing a much-need solution for the NHS which has seen some doctors cap their working hours to avoid tax penalties.

In reality the annual allowance will only be reduced if the total income plus employer pension contributions exceeds £240,000. For those with incomes above £312,000, however, the maximum annual allowance will fall to £4,000, from £10,000.

Everyone set to benefit from a Lifetime allowance increase

The lifetime allowance, the maximum amount someone can accrue in a pension, will increase in line with the Consumer Prices Index for 2020/21, and so rise to £1,073,100 from April.

National Insurance is on the rise

Anyone earning under £9,500 will pay no National Insurance Contributions from April, after the Chancellor raised the threshold, saving 31 million people up to £104 a year.

Importantly those taken out of paying National Insurance won’t lose out on credits towards their State Pension. Anyone earning above the ‘lower earnings limit’, currently £6,136, will still be entitled to a year’s credit.

This is important because people need at least 10 years’ credits to receive any State Pension and 35 years’ to receive the full State Pension which is expected to rise to £175.20 a week from April.

Tax

A few tax changes will take effect from April and could affect your savings strategy in the short-term.

ISA limit changes

The ISA limit was maintained at £20,000 for 2020/21 but you may need to change tack after the interest rate cut, which is set to reduce returns on cash ISAs even more. Savers who can tie up their money for longer will get better returns in a stocks and shares ISA.

The under 18s Junior ISA allowance has been doubled to £9,000, meaning that it’s now possible to save £162,000 before a child’s 18th birthday.
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Entrepreneurs’ relief to be slashed

Entrepreneurs’ relief from capital gains tax – usually on profits from selling their business – will be reduced to apply on gains of up to £1m, down from £10m. Meaning that any entrepreneurs who planned to rely on the proceeds of exiting their company to pay for their retirement, may now need to consider paying more into their pension instead.

What we didn’t see in the Budget

The government announced it intends to review the ‘net pay anomaly’, which means 1.7 million low paid workers currently miss out on tax relief.

Following a Freedom of Information request to HMRC earlier this year, PensionBee found that higher and additional rate taxpayers are likely to be missing out on almost £1 billion each year in unclaimed tax relief, and is calling for a universal rate of 30% to stop consumers across all tax brackets missing out.

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Let me be honest - writing this blog has been a lot like solving a puzzle for me. Today is my last day and bringing back all the memories and experiences in just a few words requires a great amount of skills that are not my strength. Anyway, here’s what I’ll take from my time at PensionBee…

Breaking traditions

On my first day of the internship I was a bit too overdressed and came with a mindset of ‘traditional’ corporate culture - you know, being serious all the time and wearing a suit and tie.

However, I was pleasantly surprised when I got into the office and sat down, as everyone seemed easy going, stress-free and sort of informal. I never expected that in one of the world’s biggest business cities a company could be like this. But boy was I wrong!

Not your normal 9-5

I never felt like I was going to ‘work’ on any given day of my whole internship. PensionBee felt like the complete opposite to what I expected a pension company to be. Before I started I worried I might be joining a business where everyone was deadly serious, and I felt uneasy about asking questions out of a fear of being laughed at. I really needn’t have worried though, as PensionBee is the complete opposite. Everyone is happy to be here and happy to help wherever they can.

As the days passed I started realising why some companies continue to prosper while others don’t. I saw that at the end of the day being productive is the main key to success. Every employee in the company contributes to their best and it just could not get any better!

Happy employees make for happy customers

One of my tasks was to do a comparison of FinTech companies. No matter what the criteria the result was always the same - PensionBee sitting at the top in terms of customer satisfaction. It quickly became clear to me why PensionBee is loved by its customers and continues to grow and grow!

I learned a lot while working here, including:

• Research skills

I worked on various projects which required intensive researching.

• Communication skills

Calling (sometimes difficult) providers really helped me improve my communication skills!

• Writing skills

Articulating my point of view on the research findings helped me improve my writing greatly.

• CV building

I got into this company with a blank CV with no real work experience - only some volunteering. Now once I update my CV I think it’s going to gleam like never before!

And finally, I’ve made lifelong friends which goes without saying. Friends I went to lunch with every day and spent 6 weeks of my life with. I think I tried every food place that there is near the office and each of them was amazing! It has been a truly great learning experience.

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Pension lifestyling removes the risk from your pension pot, as you get closer to retirement. Lowering risk might sound sensible, but depending on when and how you want to retire, lifestyling can damage your wealth.

What exactly is pension lifestyling?

Typically lifestyling works by shifting your pension money out of investments in the stock market (for example company shares) and into more bonds and cash when you reach a certain age

Lifestyling is the default option for many defined contribution pension schemes. This means your pension provider could carry out lifestyling automatically, unless you actively choose to do something else.

It can start anywhere between 15 years and five years before your retirement age - which for defined contribution pensions is 55 (rising to 57 from 2028).

In theory, moving into lower risk assets helps lock in gains and protect your pension pot from suddenly slumping in value, if stock markets plummet. It recognises that investments can fall, as well as rise. However, lifestyling also strips out any potential for investment growth in future.
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Pension lifestyling and annuities

Pension lifestyling was a popular strategy before pension freedoms - when most people had little option but to use their pension savings to buy an annuity. Pension freedom rules gave individuals more choice over how to access pension money at retirement. For example, leaving your pension money invested in the stock market and taking an income as and when you need it. Also known as pension drawdown.

Whereas with annuities, you hand your pension pot (or a portion of it) to an insurance company at retirement. In exchange, they provide you with a guaranteed income for the rest of your life (or for a specified period of time).

You really don’t want the value of your pension pot to drop just before buying an annuity. Think of it like putting down a deposit when buying a house. You need a specific lump sum on a specific day. You can’t say to the seller “oh sorry, share prices dropped so I no longer have enough money, can we delay the sale for several months until markets pick up again?”.

Gradually switching your money from company shares into lower risk cash and bonds in the run up to retirement, so the value can’t be impacted by stock market volatility, can therefore make sense if you want to buy an annuity.

Pension lifestyling and drawdown

The big difference these days is that annuities aren’t as popular. Annuity sales topped 460,000 back in 2009, according to the Pensions Policy Institute. Whereas in 2024/25, there were only 88,430, while sales of drawdown increased to nearly 350,000, according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

If you need your pension pot to stretch for 10, 20 or even 30 years, shifting all your money into cash and bonds at the start of retirement might not make any sense.

Lower risk assets (such as bonds and cash) tend to have lower growth potential than investing in the stock market. Keeping some money in higher risk investments via the stock market means your remaining pension pot has more chance of continuing to grow, and doesn’t get eaten away by inflation. Otherwise, you may end up with less to withdraw, and are more likely to run out of money.

Lifestyling and the current pension age

Pension lifestyling can also cause problems if it targets the wrong retirement age, as people end up working - and living - longer. With lifestyling, the ‘de-risking’ starts automatically based on the retirement age selected way back when you started your pension scheme. Fast forward many years later, and the reality might be very different.

You might, for example, choose to work flat out for longer, or switch to a part-time or lower paid but less stressful role. Your actual retirement age could be much older than the age you optimistically put down on the original paperwork. But if lifestyling starts moving your money into less risky assets too early, you could miss out on the chance of higher returns and a bigger pension pot.

What to do about pension lifestyling

Don’t sleepwalk into a smaller pension pot. Just because, typically, pension lifestyling is automatic, that doesn’t mean it’s right for you.

Here’s what to think about and how to take control if you want to make the most of your pension money:

• Look out for letters or emails from your pension provider which will have details about the plan you’re invested in and whether it’s a lifestyle fund.
• Check your pension account to see where your money is invested and whether lifestyling has already started. This could be via your annual statement or online. You could choose to delay lifestyling or switch it off altogether.
• Work out when you’re realistically likely to retire, and update the retirement age with your provider. Currently, the State Pension kicks in at 66 (rising to 67 from 2028), but you might choose to retire earlier or later.
• Think about how you want to use your pension money to provide an income in retirement. Whether potentially by using an annuity, drawdown or a combination of both.
• Review where your pension money is invested, and what kind of balance you want between lower risk and higher growth investments.
• If you’re feeling clueless or overwhelmed, you can book a free PensionWise appointment. The free, government-backed service can help explain your options. You can book an appointment with them via MoneyHelper once you’re 50 or over. Or, consider whether to pay for expert advice from an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA).

Faith Archer is a Personal Finance Journalist and Money Blogger at Much More With Less. Check out Faith’s YouTube series about retirement planning.

Risk warning

As always with investments, your capital is at risk. The value of your investment can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. This information should not be regarded as financial advice.

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Facing a serious illness can be overwhelming, especially when it comes to managing your finances. For many, the option to access pension savings early can provide much-needed financial support during a difficult time. However it can also drastically impact your retirement. So it’s important to understand the potential benefits, implications and rules around doing so.

Most pensions can’t be accessed before age 55 (rising to 57 from 2028). If you’re seriously ill or have an accident you may be able to access it earlier. How you take your pension will depend on what type of pension you have.

If you get sick and have a defined benefit pension

Defined benefit pensions, also known as final salary schemes, are a type of workplace pension that pays you a retirement income based on your salary and years of employment. These pensions are getting rarer but if you started saving 25 years ago or work in the public sector, you may have one.

If you get sick or develop a disability that means you can no longer work, then you may be able to get your defined benefit pension paid earlier. You’ll need to:

• give your pension scheme evidence that you’re medically, physically, or mentally incapable of continuing in your job as result of injury, sickness or disability; or
• you’ll have to satisfy the trustees who run the scheme and the sponsoring employer that you can no longer work.

The application process can be time-consuming but if you meet the scheme’s ill health payment conditions then you might be able to take your pension as a regular income. Each defined benefit pension is different, some schemes may reduce the pension you get, whereas others might increase your pot. This could happen if you’re an active member when you become unwell or, if your condition is terminal.

Keep in mind that some schemes will stop paying out your pension if you recover, so it’s best to check with your employer on their exact rules.
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If you get sick and have a defined contribution pension

If you have a defined contribution pension, including personal and workplace pensions, the rules are different.

These schemes are run by pension companies and are based on how much you’ve contributed, rather than your salary and length of employment. So just keep in mind that if you start accessing it early, you’ll still need to leave enough to last you in retirement.

With a defined contribution pension, your options for early withdrawal are:

• to buy an annuity to guarantee your income, but these are expensive to buy if you’re under 55; or
• to choose pension drawdown and take some of your pension, leaving the rest invested. You’ll still be entitled to take 25% of your pension as a tax-free lump sum, the rest will be subject to income tax.

As with a defined benefit pension, you’ll need to provide your pension provider with evidence you’re no longer able to work. It’s then at their discretion how much you’re able to access - for example, it could be a tax-free cash sum or reduced pension. Check for exact terms and conditions with your provider.

If you’re a PensionBee customer, you can find out more about what qualifies for early withdrawal on ill health grounds.

If you do start withdrawing from your pension early, it may affect your ability to claim benefits. You can check if you’re eligible for any state benefits using this calculator. It could be more worthwhile to keep your pension invested and claim benefits to support you while you’re sick. This way you’ll continue gaining National Insurance (NI) contributions, which count towards your State Pension entitlement.

What happens to your pension if you’re terminally ill?

If you’re diagnosed with a terminal or life-limiting illness, then the same rules apply whether you’re in a defined benefit or defined contribution scheme.

If you have less than 12 months to live then you may be able to receive a serious ill health lump sum. You can receive a serious ill health lump sum at any age as long as you’ve yet to withdraw anything from your pension (referred to as an uncrystallised pension). This is effectively an early lump sum death benefit payment where:

• you can withdraw up to £1,073,100 without having to pay tax;
• you’ll pay tax at your marginal rate on withdrawals over £1,073,100;
• your marginal rate considers any other income you earn; and
• if you’re over 75, taking a serious ill health lump sum is taxable.

When funds are withdrawn from your pension, they form part of your estate. This means when you pass away, your loved ones will have to pay Inheritance Tax (IHT).

Can I access the State Pension if I get sick?

You can’t access your State Pension earlier than the current State Pension age (66 rising to 67 from 2028) even if you get sick. If you’re unable to work because of ill health or an accident you may also want to check what benefits you’re entitled to, including Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) and/or Universal Credit.

Samantha Downes is a financial journalist and has written for most national newspapers and women’s magazines. She’s also the author of two finance guides and has set up the Substack PumpkinPensions to help guide people looking to save more towards their future.

Risk warning

As always with investments, your capital is at risk. The value of your investment can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. This information should not be regarded as financial advice.

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Last week marked the third anniversary of PensionBee. What started out as an idea in 2014 is now a team of 29…

Or perhaps even 30, if you include our robot Armie.

This year has been massive in the progress of PensionBee, so with 2017 coming to a close I thought I’d share some of the highlights. Here’s what’s happened in the past 12 months.

Our first billboard campaign hits Brighton

Back in January, we brought together five happy customers to be the stars of our billboard campaign. We chose customers rathers than actors as you’re at the heart of everything we do at PensionBee - a big thanks to Juan, Lynn, David, Stu and Lucy!

Building Britain’s best pension

Key to keeping customers like Lucy happy is a first-rate pension product, so another focus of 2017 was to bring you lots of brand new features. Here’s some of our biggest releases of the past 12 months, driven entirely by your feedback:

• Our eco-friendly Future World Plan
• A new history chart to track fund performance
• A fairer fee structure
• Direct Debit contributions
• And last but not least, our improved drawdown service which we released this week!

The feedback to these new features has been really helpful and inspiring, so please do tell us what else you’d like to see. It helps us build a better product.

I highly recommend @pensionbee, great experience so far, and a climate-friendly fund: https://t.co/raaTaSIe5v
_{— James Smith 💾 (@Floppy)}

We also won some great awards and partnered with some of the biggest names in fintech. Plus, back in August, we changed our address…

PensionBee gets its own HQ

Our first office was a tiny room just off Borough High Street.

And after several moves around that coworking space, come this summer we were at full capacity. That’s why in August we decided to up sticks and take our growing team to Southwark Street.

Just three months on, it’s safe to say we’re already running out of desk space! But thankfully we have a very resourceful team…

Robin Hood strikes again

At around the same time of the office move we released our Robin Hood Index - just to make things extra hectic!

Spurred on by the success of the previous year’s campaign we decided to dig through the data again, examining annual charges, exit fees and transfer times. It’s fair to say a few providers were left red-faced when the research was released, with The Telegraph, The Daily Mail and Business Insider all covering the story.

We’ll continue to press providers publicly until they’re forced to change.

PensionBee partners with State Street

And finally, perhaps the biggest news of the year came earlier this month. After several months of negotiations State Street took a minority stake in PensionBee, becoming the largest external shareholder in the company. They’ve supported us right from the start - their Tracker fund was one of our first three plans - and we’re really excited to see what the future holds for the relationship.

Thank you for all of your support this year! Merry Christmas from everyone at PensionBee.

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We are extremely proud to be announced today as Starling Bank’s first financial services Marketplace integration. So now all our customers can see their real-time PensionBee pension balance right next to their real-time Starling current account balance.

Yes, you heard right, that’s your today money, right next to your tomorrow money. Finally. For the first time ever in the UK. And it’s happening today.

People sometimes forget those two things are connected, since you can’t ever see them in the same place, at the same time. But as the financial decisions you make on a daily basis today, directly impact and create the financial future you have tomorrow, we think it’s high time they met face to face and said hello.

Starling Bank and PensionBee share a common vision. That everyone should be in complete control of their money. That means instant, real time access to information about transactions, balances, and investment growth on your smartphone, 24/7.

Sadly, we both operate in industries that think it’s ok to share these updates days, if not months, after a transaction has occurred.

We’ve all been there with our current accounts: a healthy looking balance can suddenly disappear because your bank hasn’t yet accounted for your last three days of spending, and that can leave you in financial trouble.

In pensions, those three days can be a year, or even a lifetime. If you are lucky you’ll get a paper statement of your balance, growth and fees in the post once a year (let’s ignore the fact no one understands them). But more often than not, the paperwork stopped following you when you moved house ten years ago. And if you have five or six of these pots, it’s impossible to feel in control or have any real understanding of what your income will be in retirement, which can also leave you in much more serious financial trouble later on.

Starling Bank and PensionBee both thought that was entirely unacceptable

Our shared vision is that healthier financial lives - and happiness - start with 24/7 access to the real-time information and insight we need to make financial decisions, when we want and how we want. This is the financial empowerment that we all need, to help us drive towards making better financial decisions, day after day after day, which helps lead us to the future we want. Head over to the Starling Bank Marketplace and start getting smarter with your money!

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In February 2022 PensionBee invited all customers in its Tailored Plan to share their views on the plan’s current exclusion policy and how the exclusion criteria should develop in the future.

This is the third year of running our Tailored Plan customer survey as part of our ongoing commitment to representing our customers evolving investment views. We seek to understand the issues most important to our customers when it comes to driving change in the companies their savings are invested in. We also want to hear our customers’ views on screening and the practice of removing harmful industries and sectors from their pension due to the financial and environmental risks they pose.

As usual, we received strong levels of engagement. 2,314 customers of all ages and genders responded to the survey, broadly reflecting PensionBee’s customer base. You can find the report here.

What did we learn?

1. Customers want companies in the oil industry to take concrete actions towards halting climate change

49% of respondents wish to continue investing in fossil fuel companies, but only if they concretely show a commitment to net-zero and on improving their impact on the environment.

15% of respondents would like to see the oil sector completely excluded from their investments. A small minority (7%) want to invest in fossil fuel companies only so they are able to vote at their AGMs (annual general meetings) and effect change more quickly.

27% of customers are happy for their pension to continue to be invested in the oil industry as long as they make good profits. This trend is particularly visible amongst respondents aged 41-50 and over 50, showing that younger respondents seem to be more conscious about the environment.

2. Corporate net-zero targets can be a powerful tool to address climate crisis, but only if proper measures are implemented

We asked our customers their views on companies that have pledged to go net-zero by 2050. The majority of customers (63%) believe that these pledges are disingenuous and will not make a difference to the climate crisis. 37% of respondents felt that net-zero pledges are merely corporate PR, with 45% of respondents aged under 30 believing this. A remaining 26% of respondents stated that 2050 is too late for change and that these pledges lack accountability, with women (33%) being more concerned than men (23%) about this issue.

However, there is also a consistent minority who believes that net-zero pledges are a good first step to start tackling the climate crisis (18%), and that this means companies have already started to improve the impact of their business on the environment (16%).

The need for pragmatism and accountability was echoed by several respondents in their supplementary written answers to this question. Indeed, 37% of respondents felt that the lack of a standardised approach allows companies to devise their net-zero strategies with little transparency on the scope and boundary of the targets and the plans for reaching them.

3. Halting deforestation, habitat and wildlife destruction, ocean pollution and plastic waste are key priorities

The overwhelming majority of respondents across all ages and genders considered deforestation, habitat and wildlife destruction to be of significant importance. There was also a strong belief in the need to address ocean pollution and the indiscriminate use of plastic, animal testing on non-medical grounds and intensive farming.

4. Investors are concerned about human rights abuses, both in core business operations and in the supply chain

When it comes to which social and governance issues our customers value more in terms of voting and influencing the big companies their pension is invested in, all respondents agreed on the importance of respecting human rights.

In particular, our customers unanimously want to address human rights abuses in the supply chain, poor treatment of the workforce in core business operations, and also expect the big companies they are invested in to pay wages that represent the true cost of living (Living Wage). There also was a strong demand for transparency to tackle tax avoidance and exploitative labour practises.

Next steps

We rely on customer feedback to keep advancing our plans and moving the market forward. This input will provide us with the insights we need to make sure our plan continues to be aligned with our customers’ views in 2022 and beyond.

We regularly share these insights with the wider world through the press to inform the debate on what kind of companies pension savers expect to invest in. We also have an excellent working relationship with our money managers, who manage trillions of pounds worth of investments all over the world, as well as PensionBee’s plans. We regularly share our customer insights with them to inform their thinking on stewardship, exclusions, and the changing sentiments of pension savers in the UK.

We believe that spreading awareness of your views will help nudge company leaders to adopt fairer and more sustainable practices.

If you have any thoughts you’d like to share, please email us at engagement@pensionbee.com. We’re very keen to hear from you!

Risk warning

As always with investments, your capital is at risk. The value of your investment can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. This information should not be regarded as financial advice.

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Our mission at PensionBee’s to help our customers feel pension confident so that they can have a happy retirement, and part of that involves giving you more control over how you manage your pension.

To date, for our customers who are eligible to start drawing down from their pension, we’ve enabled them to withdraw money as and when they like from our website and mobile app. However, we know that withdrawing from your pension’s a process that can be made even easier and more convenient. That’s why we’ve been working on enabling regular withdrawals from your PensionBee account.

We’re getting closer to making regular withdrawals available to all customers over the age of 55 but for now, we’re only looking to make the feature available to those interested in trying it out. That’s where you come in! We need your help to test it out and let us know what you think.

What’s a regular withdrawal?

A regular withdrawal will automate the process of drawing down from your pension pot to your bank account. Currently, this is a manual process requiring customers to log in to their account and go through the withdrawal process each time they’d like to withdraw their money. Whilst this is certainly useful whenever an ad hoc withdrawal needs to be made, we heard from many customers who wanted to use a ‘set it and forget it’ approach to withdrawing. Our regular withdrawal feature will allow you to choose from one of the withdrawal date options provided and the amount you’d like to withdraw and, once set up, your funds should appear in your bank account on that date, after factoring in any effect a weekend or bank holiday may have on processing your payment.

Read more about what to expect from our regular withdrawal feature.

Collaborating with our customers

A key part of our feature development process is listening to our customers’ thoughts on what would be useful for them, whether that’s about an entirely new feature or enhancing an existing one. Our customers’ feedback helps us to design products that help make managing their pensions easier. And customer feedback has been a core part of how our in-app withdrawal feature has evolved over time.

Our journey to enabling regular withdrawals has seen us continually expand the functionality of how withdrawing works over several product iterations. The first version of the withdrawal feature enabled our customers to withdraw a lump sum from their pension through our website. We then brought this feature into our mobile app to make it possible to draw down from your pension from the palm of your hand. And now we’re expanding the feature further by offering the added convenience of regular automatic monthly withdrawals to your bank account.

Get early access!

We’re excited to offer the regular withdrawal feature and hope to make it generally available soon, but before we roll it out for all eligible customers we’d love to hear what you think of it.

Here’s what you need to know to try out regular withdrawals:

• You need to be over the age of 55 (eligible age to access your pension).
• The feature will only be available through the PensionBee website, so you’ll need to access it by logging in to your PensionBee account through a web browser.

We’re looking to enrol customers for testing within the next couple of weeks so please let us know if you’d like to get your hands on the new feature. You can let us know by emailing feedback@pensionbee.com and we’ll contact you if you’re selected to try out the new feature.

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Hi, I’m Konrad Święcicki from State Street Global Advisors, and I’m here to give you an update about the Tracker Plan, which you are invested in.

How did the plan perform compared to the market, over the last three months? Did we have a good quarter or a bad quarter?

Economic growth rebounded across the globe in the third quarter amid relaxation in COVID-19-related lockdowns, government and central bank support and pent up demand being released. However, growth momentum decelerated toward the end of the third quarter as governments cut back support and services growth remained restricted given persistent and rising COVID-19 cases. In short, the uncertainty evident for much of this year remained, meaning the value of your plan will have varied over the past three months.

In light of this, the plan was down 0.25% for the quarter ending in September, bringing the year-to-date return to -6%. Whilst down modestly during the third quarter, the plan has recovered from its March lows.

As a reminder, the aim of the Tracker Plan is to help grow the value of your savings over the long-term, having returned 7.72% annualised over the past five years. So even though we are seeing some bumps in the road now, it is important not to overreact to short-term shocks.

What can savers expect for the next quarter?

The global economy and stock markets have made reasonable strides to recover from low points earlier in the year, with the current trajectory suggesting a positive outlook over the coming months. However, challenges lie ahead as greater uncertainty is expected around rising COVID-19 cases, Brexit, and the US election.

The second wave of the coronavirus pandemic has now materialised, prompting many European states, including the UK, to increase social and business restrictions. This is likely to hinder economic recovery over the next quarter and present companies with a more difficult operating environment.

Formal Brexit talks have resumed meaning the possibility of reaching a deal in the near-term remains. However, savers should expect uncertainty during this period as the exact details of the solution become known. Faced with the dual threat of a global pandemic and Brexit, UK companies have lagged global peers and will likely continue to face challenges. Savers should expect variations in their plan value as a result of this.

Whilst we expect a difficult market environment over the next quarter, with many unpredictable factors, I’d like to remind you of the diversified nature of the Tracker Plan. It holds a combination of different types of investments, aiming to limit the extent to which your savings suffer from this market uncertainty, whilst growing the value of your savings over the long-term.

How has State Street Global Advisors driven positive social change in the past quarter?

Our aim is to promote positive changes to the environmental, social and corporate governance practices in the companies that the Plan invests in by engaging with them and voting on resolutions at company annual general meetings.

Climate change has been, and will continue to be, a key area of focus for our stewardship endeavours. As a result of the impact from COVID-19 the attention of many companies has shifted from longer-term sustainability matters to more immediate ESG and economic factors. It is important that companies focus on the short-term issues that have arisen but this should not be to the detriment of systematic risks, such as climate change, hence we have continued to engage with companies on the topic. So far this year we have had 72 specific climate-related engagements and they have focused on having companies:

• Address the risk of climate change on their business
• Commit to reducing carbon emissions
• Educate boards ensuring directors are aware of climate risks
• Provide climate reporting which conforms with relevant standards

Coupled to our engagement efforts to drive positive change, is the use of our vote at shareholder meetings. In recent years most climate-related shareholder resolutions were targeted at energy companies. This year however, we have seen a growing number aimed at financial institutions. One such example is a shareholder resolution raised with Barclays by the responsible investment charity, ShareAction. The resolution sought to direct the company to stop financing energy and utility companies that are not aligned with the Paris Agreement.

Following engagements with shareholders and ShareAction, Barclays announced a plan to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and a commitment to align all of its financing activities with the goals and timelines of the Paris Agreement. Barclays also submitted its own management resolution on climate for investors to consider at the annual meeting vote. The spirit of both resolutions was broadly similar but we opted to support Barclays’ resolution and abstain from the resolution submitted by ShareAction for the following reasons:

• We believe Barclays’ proposal was the more ambitious of the two. Further, Barclays’ ambition to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 covers all of its portfolio, not just lending (as proposed by ShareAction’s resolution).
• The resolution submitted by Barclays sought to transition its provision of financial services across all sectors to align with the Paris Agreement, whereas ShareAction’s resolution was too narrowly focused on the “phaseout” of specific financial services in the energy and power sectors.
• The passing of both resolutions could have created legal uncertainties, as they are both binding.

We will continue to engage and vote on climate change matters and our recently published Annual Climate Stewardship Review which providers further insights into our activities can be found here.

Your updated fact sheet will soon be available to download in the BeeHive. If you’d like to ask a question in the next update or share your thoughts, you can get in touch with PensionBee via email or Twitter.

As with all investments, past performance is not indicative of future performance and you may get back less than you start with.

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Hi, I’m Olivia Kennedy from State Street Global Advisors, and I’m here to give you an update about the Tracker Plan, which you are invested in.

How did the plan perform compared to the market, over the last three months? Did we have a good quarter or a bad quarter?

The last three months have continued to be dominated by the coronavirus related market turmoil. However, after the steep stock market falls that we saw in March, the second quarter of the year saw some recovery. Although we have seen markets recover to some extent, uncertainty continues to be high, meaning that you may have seen the value of your plan fluctuate over the last three months.

During the first three months of the year, the Plan had gone down by around 16%. As of the end of June, the plan had recovered from some of the losses experienced in March, and was down by just under 6%, on a year-to-date basis.

As a reminder, the aim of the Tracker Plan is to help grow the value of your savings over the long-term. So even though we are seeing some bumps in the road now, it is important not to overreact to short-term shocks.

What can savers expect for the next quarter?

Without ignoring the devastating health impact that the coronavirus has had around the world, we are clearly in the midst of a very challenging period for companies and the economy more generally.

Savers can expect challenges to continue as threats of second wave outbreaks continue to hamper economies. The UK has seen some signs of recovery since March after some easing of lockdown measures. This trend may continue as bars, restaurants and cinemas open up, including a support package announced by the government aiming to kick start the economy.

Whilst we expect a difficult market environment over the next quarter, with many unpredictable factors, I’d like to remind you of the diversified nature of the Tracker Plan. It holds a combination of different types of investments, aiming to limit the extent to which your savings suffer from this market uncertainty, whilst growing the value of your savings over the long-term.

How has State Street Global Advisors driven positive social change in the past quarter?

We drive positive social change to the companies that the plan holds through engaging with them and voting on resolutions at company annual general meetings. Our aim is to promote positive changes to the environmental, social and corporate governance practices that the plan invests in.

We recently engaged with Tesco plc, and discussed how strong corporate culture is vital to support the company’s ambitious sustainability efforts. Tesco was the first FTSE 100 company to set a target to become a zero-carbon business by 2050. The company has also committed to source 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, and so far, has achieved 58% of this goal. In our engagement, we found that Tesco’s board places significant focus on the wider culture of the business. Tesco’s sustainability strategy, the “Little Helps Plan”, is inspired by the company’s core values and aims to mobilise all parts of Tesco’s business to focus on the social and environmental challenges that matter most to its customers, employees, suppliers and stakeholders.

In addition, we engaged with Apple Inc ahead of their annual general meeting. We engaged with the company multiple times to discuss the resolution pertaining to “Freedom of Expression and Access to Information Policies”. We determined that the company’s practices could be further strengthened, as certain aspects lagged those of its peers. During our engagement, we encouraged Apple to establish and publish a formal policy statement on human rights. Apple was agreeable to this request and intends to publish a formal statement on human rights with mention of freedom of expression within a year.

Today, there is a global focus on the value of diversity in the boardroom. Diversity is about having a balance of backgrounds and experiences on boards that manage companies. When we engage with companies, the diversity conversation is no longer about “why” we are engaging on the issue. Instead, the focus is “why not” enhance their board by embracing the value of diversity.

Earlier this quarter, we celebrated the Fearless Girl campaign’s third anniversary and International Women’s Day by creating a “Living Wall”, highlighting the number of companies that have added their first female director to their boards since we began our campaign in 2017. The campaign began with us placing a statue of a girl near New York City’s Wall Street and calling on companies to have at least one woman on their boards, failing which, we would take voting action against directors on the board.

After three years of productive engagements and voting, we are pleased to report that since the introduction of Fearless Girl in 2017, 681 companies, or approximately 49 percent of companies identified by State Street Global Advisors, responded to our call by adding a female director.

Your updated fact sheet will soon be available to download in the BeeHive. If you’d like to ask a question in the next update or share your thoughts, you can get in touch with PensionBee via email or Twitter.

As with all investments, past performance is not indicative of future performance and you may get back less than you start with.

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Hi, I’m Olivia Kennedy from State Street Global Advisors, and I’m here to give you an update about the Tracker Plan, which you are invested in.

How did the plan perform compared to the market, over the last three months? Did we have a good quarter or a bad quarter?

Without ignoring the devastating health impact that the coronavirus has had around the world, we are clearly in the midst of a very challenging period for companies and the economy, more generally.

Both the social and economic environment we find ourselves in is unprecedented, and the majority of investments have suffered losses. However, in times of market stress, it is often the case that lower-risk investments such as government bonds hold up.

Whilst the Tracker Plan has not been immune to market losses, the combination of investments held, including government bonds, have meant that its value has had some protection against the significant falls that we have seen in the stock market. Over the first quarter of the year, the Plan went down by c.16% which is around a third less than the c.24% fall that we saw in UK stock prices*.

As a reminder, the aim of the Plan is to help grow the value of your savings over the long-term. So even though we are seeing some bumps in the road now, it is important not to overreact to short term shocks.

*Figures to 31/03/2020 are preliminary and unaudited.

What can savers expect for the next quarter?

We expect this challenging environment to continue into the near-term with damage to economic activity over the coming months. However, whilst there are still major risks that are yet to be played out, and a recession is a real possibility, it is also worth remembering that unlike other crises such as natural disasters of earthquakes and flooding, there is no damage to physical infrastructure in this instance. Factories remain ready for workers to return and for production to ramp up.

In addition, we have seen governments all around the world react faster than ever to help support the global economy through this period. As a result, there are fewer barriers to the economy getting back up and running once coronavirus is contained. Whilst this is our expectation, there are still many unpredictable factors and the next quarter is likely to be very difficult.

The diversified nature of the Plan means that it holds a combination of different types of investments, aiming to limit the extent to which your savings may suffer from this market uncertainty over the coming months.

How has State Street Global Advisors driven positive social change in the past quarter?

We drive positive social change to the companies that the Plan holds through engaging with them and voting on resolutions at company annual general meetings. Our aim is to promote positive changes to the environmental, social and corporate governance practices in the companies that the Plan invests in.

In light of the outbreak of coronavirus, our President and CEO, Cyrus Taraporevala sent a letter to the boards of companies that we invest in on your behalf, outlining how we will be engaging with them in 2020 given the serious impact the virus has had on many company’s employees, operations and customers.

In the coming months, our discussions with the companies that the Plan invests in will focus on immediate issues such as employee health, serving and protecting customers and ensuring the overall safety of supply chains. Importantly, we stand ready to help these companies to navigate financial threats and market uncertainty. The full version of the letter can be found here.

Your updated fact sheet will soon be available to download in the BeeHive. If you’d like to ask a question in the next update or share your thoughts, you can get in touch with PensionBee via email or Twitter.

As with all investments, past performance is not indicative of future performance and you may get back less than you start with.

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This time last year I was looking back on my first year as PensionBee CEO. Back then we had a team of six, all squeezed into one tiny office.

12 months on we’ve got a team that’s over twice the size (and thankfully a bigger office).

Lots of people ask me how we got here, so I thought I’d share the story. Here’s what happened at PensionBee in 2016…

Over 15,000 signups from people like you

At time of writing we’ve had 15,263 signups. This figure grows bigger and bigger every day, and it feels like we’ve really struck a chord with savers - especially when we talk to customers and read their Trustpilot reviews. Our favourite response has to be from Samantha, who told us this back in August:

“Pensions are not to be taken lightly and are shrouded in old-school mystery - both of which put me off sorting out this important to-do list activity. When I eventually lifted my head from running my business I took the time to research what 21st century options are available and that’s when I found PensionBee. Simple, straightforward, fuss-free, fantastic communication and a team genuinely dedicated to the customer.”

Helping people like Samantha is why we set up PensionBee. From fairer fees to a beautiful online account, we’re building a pension service that’s fit for today, and for tomorrow. That’s why we put so much effort into creating the BeeHive this year…

The BeeHive goes live

2016 saw the launch of the BeeHive (our online pension account), which allows you to manage your pension in a few clicks. We started with the pension calculator but quickly added more, including tools to set up contributions, add beneficiaries and track your pension balance. Our latest feature is the pension history that shows performance over time, as well as a new activity log that shows you when money’s been paid in (plus how much the government has added on top).

We intend to add more features in 2017 and what we build will be driven by you. If you have things you’d like to see added you can contact our product manager, Mario. He’s always listening to new ideas at **mario@pensionbee.com**. Building an amazing product is only half our job though, as we’ve discovered time and time again this year…

Taking on a dusty old industry

In tracking and transferring pensions we’ve encountered all kinds of difficulties. We’ve seen sluggish response times, transfer delays and some staggeringly bad customer service, so in July we decided enough was enough. We took it all to the press.

The Telegraph, The Times and This is Money all picked up the story, as well as a number of industry-specific titles like Citywire and PensionsAge. From news rooms to boardrooms it’s fair to say we’ve ruffled a few feathers. We’ll continue pressing them publicly until they’re forced to change, working together with the media and regulator. This is just the beginning…

Acclaim for innovation

And finally, 2016 saw us proudly recognised for our revolutionary approach to pensions. We won the Harvard Business School New Venture Competition back in April, beating dozens of impressive businesses.

Then, in November, we saw acclaim from the Financial Times. We were named one of their top ten ‘fintech companies to watch’ putting us amongst some of the brightest startups in the world.

The shortlist for the the FT Future of Fintech Awards is out. Winners announced Wednesday, 16th November: https://t.co/R5i5coKnpS pic.twitter.com/LS6IjK6HwZ
_{— FT Special Reports (@ftreports)}

Just days after we then won the prize for Innovative Business of the Year at the 2016 Startups Awards - cue big grins all round!

It was a fantastic end to what’s been an incredible year at PensionBee. We’ve got big plans on every front, so expect even more from us in 2017. Seasons greetings from me and the team!

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Most entrepreneur networking events are populated by business types looking for a technical cofounder - a CTO or chief technology officer.

The job of a modern CTO is to take an entrepreneur’s idea and to help it take shape as a real-world product.

As a result it is an incredibly broad role, covering everything from product development and software engineering, to information security and data protection, to systems procurement and recruitment.

CEO + CTO = the possible start of something big

The fact that a two-person team of a CEO and CTO can bring an idea to life - at least enough to raise further funding and start acquiring customers - is a result of two major trends in the software industry: the widespread availability of high-quality open source software and the huge and continued drop in the cost of hardware.

The importance of open source

Open source - software with source code that’s openly available for other developers to use and build on - has been around for several decades, and for a long time has powered the IT infrastructure that runs the internet.

What is new is that open source is now the de facto form of creation and expression for software developers (so much so we require an open source profile as part of a job application). It is free, global knowledge-sharing on a massive scale.

And open source is discoverable in a way that it previously was not. Sourceforge, for all its importance in the early days of the web, is nothing like modern package management and collaboration platforms like npm and github.

The net result of all this software is that a million niche problems and a few very big problems have already been solved, so you have a huge head start when creating a new product.

Rapidly shrinking set-up costs

So much for software. Hardware was the other massive cost for early internet startups: remember what happened to boo.com? The story goes that it used to cost $1m to get a startup off the ground, and a lot of that went into servers and the attendant network engineers.

This fell to $100,000 once virtualisation allowed companies to rent Linux boxes on demand. Then the cost fell to $10,000 with the rise of Amazon Web Services and its ilk, which delivered packaged IT services at an astoundingly and constantly falling price point.

The end result of this is that the infrastructure cost of trying a new idea in a marketplace is rapidly approaching zero, and the human cost is by far the dominant cost.

What does this mean for venture capital?

One of the questions this raises is where does this leave venture capitalists? The venture capital (VC) industry grew up making large investments in a smallish number of companies, and provided the gateway to a startup’s business.

But in a world where teams can evaluate an idea practically over a weekend (the first Launch48 conference was in 2004…) what role do VCs play? Can they contribute meaningfully to more companies taking two orders of magnitude less funding? Or will they stick with what they know and insist on high-growth, high-capital burn?
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The role of today’s CTO

As a CTO, I’m excited about the way that technology is changing the way that teams create, experiment and bring products to life.

It used to be the case that the CIO (chief information officer) department would set up the email server, buy the computers and Microsoft Office and then leave the employees to it, after suitably locking their hardware and software down.

The business landscape today is completely different. If an employee wants to sign up to use a new productivity boosting cloud app, there is not a lot the company can do about it, particularly because the account might be created on a team member’s own laptop, and integrate with other sources of data stored online.

Instead, I think the right approach is to recognise that technology allows people to scale their own abilities, like a developer would scale a server in response to increased demand. Great improvements in personal and team productivity can be achieved by selecting the right tools and rolling them out across a team.

The CTO picks up where the enthusiastic team member who signs up to the hot new thing leaves off: by helping to create a culture of harmonious use of common tools across teams, and communicating about security and behaviour in a way that prioritises the integrity of customer and business data.

Find out more about what it’s like to work at PensionBee, and if you have a burning question for Jonathan, leave it in the comments section below.

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Hi, I’m Dom Byrne from BlackRock, and I’m here to give you an update about the Tailored Plan, which you are invested in.

Capital at risk. The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise and are not guaranteed. Investors may not get back the amount originally invested.

How did the plan perform compared to the market, over the last three months? Did we have a good quarter or a bad quarter?

New coronavirus outbreaks have dulled the economic recovery in certain parts of the world, including Australia, US, UK and parts of Europe. Many governments have started to respond to local outbreaks with localised and more targeted restrictions which generally have less severe effects on overall economic activity – meaning the broader recovery remains intact but further volatility in the near-term is a distinct possibility. Overall the second quarter rebound in investor sentiment continued into the third quarter and most global stock markets delivered positive returns, despite a significant pull-back toward the quarter-end where major markets saw negative returns for the first time since March.

Looking more deeply into the drivers of return, within stock markets, the Tailored Plan’s funds are diversified across a variety of stock markets. Over the third quarter of the year, World ex-UK and Emerging Markets stocks contributed positively on performance with overall positive returns year-to-date to September end. Over the same period, due to the elevated uncertainty, as a result of the recent developments in Brexit negotiations and the spike in new COVID-19 infections in the UK, domestic stocks had a negative effect on performance, remaining significantly down year-to-date to September end.

Against the uncertain backdrop in the UK, and given the lack of evidence that the Bank of England would fully support negative interest rates, gilt yields (UK government debt yields) ended the quarter higher compared to the beginning of the quarter, yet delivering negative returns. However, so far in 2020, gilts have been one of the best performing asset classes within the Tailored Plan providing portfolio diversification and resilience against the equity sell off in the first quarter of the year. Government bonds (debt) ex-UK ended the quarter slightly higher as opposed to the start of the quarter, adding to their already strong year-to-date performance, while corporate bonds continued to provide positive returns in Q3 after a strong Q2 performance, outperforming government bonds for a second quarter in a row.

Tailored Plan vintages experienced strong performance in Q3, with longer-dated vintages, designed for savers that have a long time (e.g. over 20 years) to their retirement date, outperforming the shorter-dated vintages (where our investments are more suitable for investors approaching and navigating retirement) with performance ranging from +1.8% (Tailored Vintage 2019-2021) to +4.4% (Tailored vintage 2070-72).¹ This is mainly due to the larger allocation to global stocks, which have outperformed bonds over the period.

As a result of these market moves and given their higher allocation to bonds, the vintages close to retirement erased all their Q1 losses and have added more than +1.5% year-to-date to September end, while the 2031-33 vintage balanced out its year-to-date losses entirely. The mid- and longer-dated vintages within the Tailored Plan remained in negative territory, with the longer-dated vintages being down approximately -3.6%. However, over a five-year period, despite several periods of volatility, we have seen greater growth from vintages with greater exposure to risk assets, with the Tailored Plan 2055-57 vintage for instance, returning gross +9.2% p.a. over the past five years to 30 September 2020.¹

^{1 source: BlackRock, as of 30 September 2020. Performance gross of fees in GBP}

The figures shown relate to past performance. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of current or future results and should not be the sole factor of consideration when selecting a product or strategy.

*2015 performance reflects inception date to year-end (7/4/2015 – 31/12/2015)

Data is subject to change. Source: BlackRock as at 30 September 2020. For illustrative purposes only. Performance shown is gross of the annual management charge but is net of additional expenses (if any) incurred within the fund, calculated on a Nav to Nav basis in sterling, and in a total returns. Results do not reflect the deduction of management/advisory fees and other expenses; management/advisory fees and other expenses will reduce a client’s return.

What can savers expect for the next quarter?

The initial phase of the economic restart has been quicker than expected, but the part that lies ahead will be the hardest. Governments are incentivised to respond to rising cases with new containment measures as health concerns generally still trump economic ones. We are seeing this play out in Europe, with the introduction of curfews in France and Germany, and the month-long lockdown in England. Measures are targeted and local, but in sum, they have the potential to weigh on mobility and economic activity in the near-term. The timeline for a vaccine has been a positive surprise following accelerated efforts worldwide. Yet immunisation is not a panacea for the economy and a recovery to pre-COVID levels will take time.

We do not expect a similarly large hit to economic activity as seen in the spring. But the restart now looks to be facing significant challenges in the near-term. The risk is a broadening of containment measures that leads to a stalling for a few months – or even temporary reversal – of momentum in the economic restart. Ongoing policy support is crucial to help bridge businesses through any shock and avoid any long-lasting economic effects. Well-designed COVID-19 testing regimes are a key differentiator across countries – and asset returns.

The pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities of global supply chains and added a catalyst to geopolitical fragmentation. It has led to a policy revolution that blurs the boundaries between fiscal and monetary action – which could address some of the rising inequalities. And it has put a premium on sustainability, corporate responsibility and resilience of companies, sectors and countries. Market sentiment has been driven by the pandemic’s near-term evolution and the policy response, but these structural limits are transforming the investment landscape and will be significant to investment outcomes.

At BlackRock we are focusing on building real resilience for the whole portfolio. This goes beyond building a better blend of returns - it’s about ensuring the portfolio is well positioned at a more granular level to underlying themes, including sustainability. The pandemic has accelerated a tectonic shift toward sustainability and a call for a focus on resilience: diversifying across companies, sectors and countries that are positioned well for these trends. Therefore, over the long-term we believe that owning a diversified portfolio of stocks and other assets that incorporates sustainable insights will be beneficial for savers.

How has BlackRock driven positive social change in the past quarter?

BlackRock has recently been analysing our investment stewardship activities over the past year. Investment stewardship for BlackRock goes beyond simply voting at companies’ shareholder meetings, we also emphasise engagement - the direct dialogue with companies on governance issues that have a material impact on sustainable long-term financial performance. We advocate for robust corporate governance and the sound and sustainable business practices core to long-term value creation for our clients and promotion of positive social impact.

To highlight some of our key achievements in 2020, firstly BlackRock Investment Stewardship team voted against more directors than in previous years, reflecting heightened investor and societal expectations. Over 5,000 votes against directors at 2,809 companies² were driven by concerns regarding director independence, insufficient progress on board diversity, and overcommitted directors. BIS also held directors to account for insufficient progress on climate disclosures and compensation policies inconsistent with sustainable long-term financial performance (5,130 vs nearly 4,800 (this year vs prior year)².

Secondly, engaging corporate leaders has been our top priority. The events of the past six months, have reinforced the need for strong leadership so in 2020 BlackRock Investment Stewardship team increased its engagement by almost half (+48%) – total engagements: 3,043 vs. 2,050 (in 2020 vs. 2019 respectively)² – both in reaction to the pandemic and to enable us to hold management accountable, particularly given our commitment to intensify our focus and engagement with companies on sustainability-related risks.

Thirdly, we believe investor expectations continue to rise. In light of the external environment and developments, we are currently reviewing our voting and engagement guidelines to provide more detail on our expectations and how we intend to reflect them in our voting actions in the next proxy season. BlackRock Investment Stewardship team has already set out expectations for 244 carbon-intensive companies making insufficient progress integrating climate risk into their business models or disclosures.² Those that do not make significant progress risk voting action being taken against management in 2021.

^{2 source: BlackRock 2020 Investment Stewardship Report, as at September 2020}

Views expressed are of BlackRock. The Tailored Plan represents the BlackRock LifePath Funds.

Risks warnings

Capital at risk. The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise and are not guaranteed. Investors may not get back the amount originally invested.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of current or future results and should not be the sole factor of consideration when selecting a product or strategy.

Changes in the rates of exchange between currencies may cause the value of investments to diminish or increase. Fluctuation may be particularly marked in the case of a higher volatility fund and the value of an investment may fall suddenly and substantially. Levels and basis of taxation may change from time to time.

Tailored Plan fund specific Risks

Credit Risk: The issuer of a financial asset held within the Fund may not pay income or repay capital to the Fund when due.

Equity Risk: The values of equities fluctuate daily and a Fund investing in equities could incur significant losses. The price of equities can be influenced by many factors at the individual company level, as well as by broader economic and political developments, including daily stock market movements, political factors, economic news changes in investment sentiment, trends in economic growth, inflation and interest rates, issuer-specific factors, corporate earnings reports, demographic trends and catastrophic events.

Derivative Risk: The Fund uses derivatives as part of its investment strategy. Compared to a fund which only invests in traditional instruments such as stocks and bonds, derivatives are potentially subject to a higher level of risk.

Liquidity Risk: The Fund’s investments may have low liquidity which often causes the value of these investments to be less predictable. In extreme cases, the Fund may not be able to realise the investment at the latest market price or at a price considered fair.

Counterparty Risk: The insolvency of any institutions providing services such as safekeeping of assets or acting as counterparty to derivatives or other instruments, may expose the Fund to financial loss.

Tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in the future.

Important information

This material is for distribution to Professional Clients only and should not be relied upon by any other persons.

Issued by BlackRock Life Limited (“BLL”), which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority. The Fund described in this document is available only to trustees and members of pension schemes registered under Part IV of the Finance Act 2004 via an insurance policy which would be issued either by BLL, or by another insurer of such business. BLL’s registered office is 12 Throgmorton Avenue, London, EC2N 2DL, England, Tel +44 (0)20 7743 3000. Registered in England and Wales number 02223202. Please refer to the Financial Conduct Authority website for a list of authorised activities conducted by BlackRock.

Rates of exchange may cause the value of investments to go up or down. Fluctuation may be particularly marked in the case of a higher volatility fund and the value of an investment may fall suddenly and substantially. Any objective or target will be treated as a target only and should not be considered as an assurance or guarantee of performance of the Fund or any part of it. The Fund objectives and policies include a guide to the main investments to which the Fund is likely to be exposed. The Fund is not necessarily restricted to holding these investments only. Subject to the Fund’s objectives, the Fund may hold any investments and utilise any investment techniques, including the use of derivatives, permitted under the Financial Conduct Authority’s New Conduct of Business Sourcebook which contain the rules by which investment of the Fund is governed. The BlackRock Life Limited’s notional fund units have a single unit price. The unit prices are normally calculated on each business day. For performance reporting, notional units are valued at special closing prices on the last working day of each quarter to enable comparison with the relevant benchmark index.

Any research in this document has been procured and may have been acted on by BlackRock for its own purpose. The results of such research are being made available only incidentally. The views expressed do not constitute investment or any other advice and are subject to change. They do not necessarily reflect the views of any company in the BlackRock Group or any part thereof and no assurances are made as to their accuracy.

This document is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer or invitation to anyone to invest in any BlackRock funds and has not been prepared in connection with any such offer.

© 2020 BlackRock, Inc. All Rights reserved. BLACKROCK, BLACKROCK SOLUTIONS, iSHARES, BUILD ON BLACKROCK and SO WHAT DO I DO WITH MY MONEY are registered and unregistered trademarks of BlackRock, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and elsewhere. All other trademarks are those of their respective owners.

Your updated fact sheet will soon be available to download in the BeeHive. If you’d like to ask a question in the next update or share your thoughts, you can get in touch with PensionBee via email or Twitter.

As with all investments, past performance is not indicative of future performance and you may get back less than you start with.

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Hi, I’m Dom Byrne from BlackRock, and I’m here to give you an update about the Tailored Plan, which you are invested in.

How did the plan perform compared to the market, over the last three months? Did we have a good quarter or a bad quarter?

With stock markets coming off one of the sharpest and deepest declines in history, the second quarter of 2020 was characterised by a broad recovery. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the most difficult situation the world’s economy has faced in modern history. Economies globally are still struggling with the impacts of the pandemic and the accompanying lockdown restrictions that brought activity to a virtual standstill, with several countries likely to record a recession in the first half of 2020.

However, encouraging signs have started to emerge amid a predominantly challenging outlook. Some data suggests that the economic contraction across developed countries has bottomed and there are hopes for a potential coronavirus vaccine (which does not exist yet). Financial markets have moved ahead on expectations of an economic rebound and, as a result, stock markets recorded strong positive returns over the last three months.

Portfolios delivered positive returns, particularly for younger customers with over 20 years to retire (for example). For those younger customers, this is mainly because they are more heavily invested in global stock markets, which have outperformed bond investments over the most recent period (source: BlackRock, as of 30 June 2020. Performance gross of fees in GBP). The results were particularly encouraging given the sharp losses experienced in the first quarter of 2020. Over the longer-term (i.e. over the last five years), the portfolios have delivered strong positive returns.

Looking more deeply into the drivers of return, all the markets that the plan invests in delivered positive returns but there were some key themes. Firstly, it was beneficial to own stocks from developed markets outside of the UK, both in terms of large and small companies. Secondly, it was beneficial to own a wide range of fixed income (bonds) exposures as inflation linked, corporate and emerging bonds outperformed traditional UK government bonds (UK gilts).

Despite the recent recovery in stock markets, we still advocate the use of diversification within portfolios to help better manage risk as we approach retirement. This doesn’t mean we can eliminate risk entirely, but we aim to build a portfolio that has a range of sources of risk and return, as opposed to being reliant on one single market. We expect that, despite lower long-term return potential, owning diversifying strategies such as bonds can help in periods of market stress. For example, UK bonds have significantly outperformed UK shares so far in 2020. Finally, timing markets is very hard particularly when trying to respond to periods of severe shock. Therefore, having a plan to de-risk as you approach retirement is critical. For example, de-risking our portfolios after the recent sell-off would have meant missing out on the subsequent recovery.

What can savers expect for the next quarter?

The initial COVID-19 contraction is larger than the great financial crisis of 2008, but we believe its cumulative impact on the economy will likely be less as long as the policy response remains strong enough to cushion the blow. Normal economic crisis and recovery cycle does not apply, so we are tracking three signposts: how successful economies are at restarting activity while controlling the virus spread; whether stimulus is still sufficient and reaching households and businesses; and whether any signs of financial vulnerabilities or permanent scarring of productive capacity are emerging. Markets are laser-focused on changes in any of these three “known unknowns,” and a possible second wave of infections and policy fatigue are major risks in the second half of 2020.

The shock will have long-term consequences that are starting to play out. Policymakers are funneling money directly to the (non-financial) private sector, with debt monetisation, which is a way for the central banks to finance the government spending, being a possibility down the road. The pandemic is reinforcing structural trends such as ecommerce and sustainability; amplifying deglobalisation and geopolitical fragmentation; and may deliver a generational shock to the emerging world.

We expect volatility to remain elevated over the near-term and, whilst we appreciate this is challenging given the uncertainty in markets, we believe savers should take a long-term perspective. This is particularly relevant for those savers with a long time to retirement. This is because, simply put, we still expect shares to outperform other assets such as cash and fixed income over the long-term and therefore believe stocks and other risky assets have the potential to help our savings grow over time.

How has BlackRock driven positive social change in the past quarter?

Sustainability considerations are at the core of our approach to how BlackRock invests, manages risk and executes its stewardship responsibilities. This commitment is based on our conviction that climate risk is investment risk and that sustainability-integrated portfolios can produce better risk-adjusted returns to investors in the long-term.

While BlackRock Investment Stewardship team (BIS) has been engaging with the companies on sustainability issues for years, this year we are focusing more on engaging with firms in carbon-intensive sectors. These include for example ExxonMobil, where BlackRock voted against directors due to significant concerns about climate risk management and supported a shareholder proposal on governance; or TransDigm, a U.S. aviation manufacturer, where BlackRock voted against a director for lack of progress on climate risk reporting and supported shareholder proposal to adopt emissions goals. These companies face material financial risks during the transition to a low-carbon economy. Together, they represent a significant proportion of market capitalisation and CO2 emissions in their respective regions. BIS is determined to maximise the impact of its climate-related engagements.

In 2020, we have identified 244 companies that are making insufficient progress integrating climate risk into their business models or disclosures. Of these companies, we took voting action against 53, or 22%. We have put the remaining 191 companies “on watch.” Those that do not make significant progress risk voting action against management in 2021.

Through this report, we hope to provide a deeper look at our engagement process and methods; how we are working to promote transparency in investment stewardship, both in our own activities and through the adoption of disclosure standards; our involvement with Climate Action 100+; and our view on the importance of social factors to the long-term health of companies and society as a whole.

The opinions expressed are as of June 30th 2020 from BlackRock and are subject to change at any time due to changes in market or economic conditions.

Risks warnings

Capital at risk. The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise and are not guaranteed. Investors may not get back the amount originally invested.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of current or future results and should not be the sole factor of consideration when selecting a product or strategy.

Changes in the rates of exchange between currencies may cause the value of investments to diminish or increase. Fluctuation may be particularly marked in the case of a higher volatility fund and the value of an investment may fall suddenly and substantially. Levels and basis of taxation may change from time to time.

BlackRock DC LifePath UK Risks

Credit Risk: The issuer of a financial asset held within the Fund may not pay income or repay capital to the Fund when due.

Equity Risk: The values of equities fluctuate daily and a Fund investing in equities could incur significant losses. The price of equities can be influenced by many factors at the individual company level, as well as by broader economic and political developments, including daily stock market movements, political factors, economic news changes in investment sentiment, trends in economic growth, inflation and interest rates, issuer-specific factors, corporate earnings reports, demographic trends and catastrophic events.

Derivative Risk: The Fund uses derivatives as part of its investment strategy. Compared to a fund which only invests in traditional instruments such as stocks and bonds, derivatives are potentially subject to a higher level of risk.

Liquidity Risk: The Fund’s investments may have low liquidity which often causes the value of these investments to be less predictable. In extreme cases, the Fund may not be able to realise the investment at the latest market price or at a price considered fair.

Counterparty Risk: The insolvency of any institutions providing services such as safekeeping of assets or acting as counterparty to derivatives or other instruments, may expose the Fund to financial loss.

Tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in the future.

Important information

Issued by BlackRock Life Limited (“BLL”), which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority. The Fund described in this document is available only to trustees and members of pension schemes registered under Part IV of the Finance Act 2004 via an insurance policy which would be issued either by BLL, or by another insurer of such business. BLL’s registered office is 12 Throgmorton Avenue, London, EC2N 2DL, England, Tel +44 (0)20 7743 3000. Registered in England and Wales number 02223202. Please refer to the Financial Conduct Authority website for a list of authorised activities conducted by BlackRock.

Rates of exchange may cause the value of investments to go up or down. Fluctuation may be particularly marked in the case of a higher volatility fund and the value of an investment may fall suddenly and substantially. Any objective or target will be treated as a target only and should not be considered as an assurance or guarantee of performance of the Fund or any part of it. The Fund objectives and policies include a guide to the main investments to which the Fund is likely to be exposed. The Fund is not necessarily restricted to holding these investments only. Subject to the Fund’s objectives, the Fund may hold any investments and utilise any investment techniques, including the use of derivatives, permitted under the Financial Conduct Authority’s New Conduct of Business Sourcebook which contain the rules by which investment of the Fund is governed. The BlackRock Life Limited’s notional fund units have a single unit price. The unit prices are normally calculated on each business day. For performance reporting, notional units are valued at special closing prices on the last working day of each quarter to enable comparison with the relevant benchmark index.

Any research in this document has been procured and may have been acted on by BlackRock for its own purpose. The results of such research are being made available only incidentally. The views expressed do not constitute investment or any other advice and are subject to change. They do not necessarily reflect the views of any company in the BlackRock Group or any part thereof and no assurances are made as to their accuracy.

This document is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer or invitation to anyone to invest in any BlackRock funds and has not been prepared in connection with any such offer.

© 2020 BlackRock, Inc. All Rights reserved. BLACKROCK, BLACKROCK SOLUTIONS, iSHARES, BUILD ON BLACKROCK and SO WHAT DO I DO WITH MY MONEY are registered and unregistered trademarks of BlackRock, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and elsewhere. All other trademarks are those of their respective owners.

Your updated fact sheet will soon be available to download in the BeeHive. If you’d like to ask a question in the next update or share your thoughts, you can get in touch with PensionBee via email or Twitter.

As with all investments, past performance is not indicative of future performance and you may get back less than you start with.

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