Investing my AVCs
As a deferred member of the Fund, you’re still in charge of deciding how your AVCs are invested.
Unlike the contributions you made to the Fund when you were an active member, your AVCs went into an individual account just for you, which is managed by Aviva. Your AVC account contains only your contributions and is invested to help those contributions grow over time.
You decide how your AVCs are invested, but don't worry - you don't have to be an investment expert. Whether you are a confident investor, a risky investor, a cautious one, or you're completely unfamiliar with investments in general, there's an investment option for you.
The Abbott pension team can give you information and explanations of the investment choices available to you. However, if you require financial advice you will need to seek it from a regulated financial adviser. You can find an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) on Money Helper.
Whatever investment fund or funds you select, you can also use the 'lifestyling' facility. If you choose lifestyling, over the five years leading up to your retirement date your investments will be gradually moved into the cash fund. This helps to protect you against any sudden falls in investment values before you access your funds at a time when exposure to market volatility might be less suitable for you. Remember to tell Aviva if you intend to access your AVC account either before or after age 65 to ensure your lifestyling is tailored to your plans.
You can find out more about this in this How your contributions are invested booklet.
Pensions are invested for the long term. Investing your account in the right funds at the right time gives it the opportunity to grow over time rather than it sitting static at the risk of losing value. However, there's always an element of risk involved with investing and the value of your account could go up or down.
Want to find out more about pension investments? Read an overview on Money Helper.
To find out about the different AVC investment options available to you through Aviva, or to make changes to the way any of your existing Abbott AVCs are invested, log in to your Aviva member portal.