At PensionBee we’ve carefully curated a range of plans to meet different savings needs. Whether you’re looking to invest in line with your values or according to your risk profile, our plans are all diversified. This means they invest across different countries and asset types (such as company shares and bonds).
When you first sign up to PensionBee, you’ll be automatically put into one of our default plans unless you choose a specific plan (more on this below!). But you can easily switch plans at no extra cost any time.
Let’s take a closer look at our pension plans.
Our default plans
When signing up for your PensionBee pension, if you don’t choose a specific plan, you’ll be invested in one of our default plans based on your age. If you’re under 50 and are still saving for retirement, you’ll be invested in the Global Leaders Plan. If you’re 50 or over when you sign up, you’ll be invested in the 4Plus Plan.
Global Leaders Plan
The Global Leaders Plan invests in around 1,000 of the world’s largest and most recognised public companies. This approach offers customers a greater opportunity to grow their pension savings before they retire.
It’s a higher-risk plan. This means most of your money will be invested into equities (company shares that are traded on stock markets) or corporate bonds (a type of loan guaranteed by a company). Equities have higher growth potential than other types of assets, but can also fall in value if the company or market performs poorly.
To find out more about the Global Leaders Plan, watch the plan video.
4Plus Plan
The 4Plus Plan aims to grow your pension savings by 4% per year above the Bank of England’s base rate over a minimum five-year time period. Its holdings may be adjusted weekly depending on market developments, as it seeks to balance growth and stability.
This is a medium-risk plan, with a balanced approach to growth. It’ll invest your money into a mix of assets, including equities (company shares that are traded on stock markets) and bonds (a type of loan guaranteed by a company or government). Equities have higher growth potential but are more susceptible to market volatility. Whereas bonds offer more modest but more stable returns.
To find out more about the 4Plus Plan, watch the plan video.
Our responsible plans
If you’re keen to invest in line with your values, PensionBee offers both a Shariah Plan - for those that want to invest according to their faith - and a Climate Plan - which invests in companies that are actively reducing their carbon emissions.
Shariah Plan
PensionBee’s Shariah Plan invests exclusively in Shariah-compliant companies. It’s suitable for anyone looking to invest responsibly or according to their faith.
The plan is composed entirely of equities and invests in the HSBC Islamic Global Equity Index Fund, managed by HSBC Global Asset Management and State Street Global Advisors (SSGA).
To maintain Shariah compliance, all investments in the fund are approved by an independent Shariah committee. The process is transparent to ensure that investors can be confident that their fund aligns with Islamic principles.
Regular reviews of the fund and ongoing compliance, including purification of non-compliant revenue, are an integral part of the process of maintaining Shariah compliance.
To find out more about the Shariah Plan, watch the plan video.
Climate Plan
Investing in a sustainable pension plan, like our Climate Plan, puts you at the forefront of the transition to a low carbon economy. The plan invests in more than 800 publicly listed companies globally. These are actively reducing their carbon emissions and leading the transition to a low-carbon economy.
The Climate Plan is designed to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 through an accelerated decarbonisation strategy. The plan’s objective is to align with the goals of the Paris Agreement to keep the rise in global surface temperature well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. It does this by continually reducing the total intensity of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced by companies in the plan by at least 10% each year. So even if the global economy uses more carbon over time, the Climate Plan will move in the opposite direction.
To find out more about the Climate Plan, watch the plan video.
Our other plans
Tracker Plan
The Tracker Plan invests your money in global shares and bonds and follows the world’s markets as they move.
It’s a medium-risk plan, with a balanced approach to growth. It’ll invest your money into a mix of assets, including equities (company shares that are traded on stock markets) and bonds (a type of loan guaranteed by a company or government). Equities have higher growth potential but are more susceptible to market volatility.
To find out more about the Tracker Plan, watch the plan video.
Pre-Annuity Plan
The Pre-Annuity Plan aims to provide a return that broadly corresponds to the cost of purchasing an annuity. An annuity pays you a guaranteed income for a fixed period or for the rest of your life. This financial product can be purchased at retirement in exchange for some of - or the whole value of - your pension pot.
The Pre-Annuity Plan works by investing your pension into corporate bonds, which are a type of long-term loan taken out by large organisations to raise money. The returns of corporate bonds are used by annuity companies to fund your annuity.
If corporate interest rates decrease, bond prices rise and your pension balance would increase. That’s helpful because a decrease in corporate interest rates typically results in a drop in annuity rates. Corporate bonds are considered to be higher-risk investments.
Preserve Plan
The Preserve Plan makes short-term investments into creditworthy companies. This reduces risk and preserves your money.
It’s a lower-risk plan that’ll invest more of your funds into assets which typically experience smaller fluctuations in their value, such as bonds, relative to the assets in our higher-risk plans, such as equity. However, the value of your savings may still go down as well as up, especially during market volatility. The potential for returns on your investment will likely be more modest over the long-term compared to our higher-risk plans.
To find out more about the Preserve Plan, watch the plan video.
Have a question? Get in touch!
It’s important that your investment option aligns with your goals, values, and circumstances. You may wish to consider switching if it doesn’t. If you’re uncertain about investment options or risk, you can seek guidance or advice from a qualified Independent Financial Adviser (IFA).
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 about our plans 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.
