UUPS - About United Utilities

InvestmentYou have a number of choicesas to how your contributions(including AVCs), and thosemade by the Company, areinvested.WHY YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS NEED TOBE INVESTEDRegular Contributions and AVCs areused to provide you and your dependantswith pension benefits in the future.Generally, this will be when you retirefrom work. By that time you want yourPersonal Account and AVCs to havegrown as big as possible to maximiseyour pension benefits.Therefore you want your RegularContributions and AVCs to be investedso as to achieve the best possible rate ofreturn without taking undue risk. Thereare many different types of investmentavailable, company shares (or equities),bonds issued by governments orcompanies, property, various types ofcash deposit. There are many differenttypes of funds offered by investmentproviders with some attempting to‘smooth’ the impact of fluctuatingmarket returns.Some types of investments generallyprovide higher returns than others overa reasonable period of years. However,those which look most likely to providethe highest returns in the long term arealso the ones with the most variablereturns and where the value of theinvestments is most likely to fluctuate.Remember that the value of manyinvestments can move down as well asup; the values of overseas investmentsalso vary with fluctuations in exchangerates.INVESTMENT FUNDS AVAILABLEThe investment funds available relateto shares, bonds, property, cash or acombination of these.The Trustee has divided the fundsavailable into ‘Core Funds’ and ‘Non-CoreFunds’. Core Funds are expected tomeet the needs of the majority of UUPS’members whilst Non-Core Funds arefor members who want to invest moreactively and feel comfortable selectingfrom a wider variety of investmentoptions.Please refer to the separate ‘InvestmentChoices’ leaflet for guidance on eachinvestment type and details of the CoreFunds and Non-Core Funds.CHOOSING YOUR INVESTMENT FUNDYou can choose to invest in any or all ofthe available Funds. Please refer to theseparate ‘Investment Choices’ leaflet fordetails of the Funds currently availableand issues to consider when making yourinvestment choices.THE LIFESTYLE OPTIONThere can be no guarantee that anyparticular strategy will result in thebiggest possible Personal Accountand AVCs over your membership ofUUPS. However the Trustee provides aLifestyle Option which aims to maximisereturn by investing in shares via anequity fund, until five years before youranticipated date of retirement, and thenprogressively switches over that fiveyear period, from the equity fund to anindex-linked bond fund and deposit fund.Please note that the Lifestyle Optionis the default if you do not make aninvestment selection when you firstjoin UUPS.The Scheme’s Normal Retirement Dateis 65, which means - if you select theLifestyle Option for your contributions- the switching periods detailed belowwill start when you reach age 60. If yourplans change and/or you would like toretire before age 65, you may requestthat the switching periods begin earlierto ensure that it is completed by thetime you retire.If you are considering early retirementyou should contact the SchemeAdministrator (see page 25) to changeyour selected retirement age. This willbe done on a confidential basis. Yourinvestments will then be adjusted sothat the end of the switching period cancoincide with your retirement.Note: this Lifestyle Fund will notnecessarily be appropriate forunexpected events such as death orearlier than anticipated retirement.It may also not be appropriate for allindividuals who have different personaland financial circumstances. You arestrongly encouraged to consider yourown circumstances when making yourinvestment decision.For further details, please see the‘Investment Choices’ leaflet (available atwww.unitedutilities.com/pensions).YOUR CHOICEYou can choose any of the availableFunds – or any combination of the Fundsin whatever proportions you decide – atany stage of your membership of UUPSfor both your Personal Account andAVCs. You can switch Funds on the 1stof any month. For further details pleasesee the separate ‘Investment Choices’leaflet.12