1. Home
  2. Pensions
  3. Investment options
  4. Investment pathways

Investment pathways

Investment pathways were introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to help improve retirement outcomes for customers who want to flexibly access their pension savings.

We offer a choice of four investment pathways, based on what you intend to do with your pension savings over the next five years (from the point you start flexibly accessing your savings).

Each investment pathway invests in a mix of funds and asset classes and aims to meet different retirement needs, as shown below.  

Option 1: I have no plans to touch my money in the next 5 years

Investment pathway 1: aims to deliver growth above inflation for a customer who has no short-term plans to access their savings.

Download factsheet (PDF, 140KB)  

Option 2: I plan to use my money to set up a guaranteed income (annuity) within the next 5 years

Investment pathway 2: aims to maintain annuity buying power for a customer looking to buy an annuity in the short-term.

Download factsheet (PDF, 140KB)  

Option 3: I plan to start taking my money as a long-term income within the next 5 years

Investment pathway 3: aims to deliver growth above inflation to support sustainable income withdrawal.

Download factsheet (PDF, 152KB)  

Option 4: I plan to take out all my money within the next 5 years

Investment pathway 4: aims to offer the potential for above inflation growth while supporting short-term withdrawal needs.

Download factsheet (PDF, 141KB)  

Our investment pathways bring you a range of benefits:

  • Experts monitor each pathway at no extra cost
  • Designed to match how you want to use your money  
  • Ongoing fine-tuning
  • Hands-on supervision
  • Easy online access

You should remember that investment returns are never guaranteed. So while there’s a chance your savings could grow, their value can also go down. This means you could get back less than you started with. 

Speak to an adviser

We recommend that you speak to a financial adviser before choosing your own investments as selecting an unsuitable investment could significantly reduce the value of your pension savings.

Value of advice

Risk profiler

Get an idea of your attitude to risk by answering 12 simple questions.

Start questionnaire