UUPS - About United Utilities

How the Defined Contributionsection of UUPS worksThe following sectionsummarises how yourpension benefits are built up.More detail is contained inlater sections of this Guide.The Defined Contribution sectionof UUPS operates on the definedcontribution (or money purchase)principle. This means that your RegularContributions are invested by theTrustee in your Personal Account.If you make Additional VoluntaryContributions (AVCs) these are investedin the same way.Alternatively, you may ask the Trustee toinvest your Personal Account and AVCsin a ‘Lifestyle’ fund described on page 12.You should then choose the investmentFund or Funds in which you wouldlike your Personal Account and AVCsinvested, and put your choice on theUUPS Application Form.At retirement your Personal Account isused to buy a pension for you and yourdependants.The pension you will receive on yourretirement depends on four factors:Regular Contributions paid by youand the Company and AVCs paid byyou;investment growth on those RegularContributions and AVCsthe cost of securing benefits for youand your dependants when you retire;andyour age at retirement.The more contributions paid whileyou are working and the greater theinvestments have grown, the higher yourretirement pension will be.INVESTMENT OPTIONSThe Trustee has made available a choiceof investment Funds in which you caninvest your Personal Account and AVCs.Each Fund has different objectives,characteristics and charges. The riskprofile and investment return achievedon each Fund is therefore likely to bequite different. The investment optionsare described in the Investment sectionon page 12 and the separate ‘InvestmentChoices’ leaflet. Please read thesecarefully.It is for you to choose how your PersonalAccount and AVCs are invested betweeneach Fund. We hope the Investmentsection, the separate ‘InvestmentChoices’ leaflet and additionalinformation on the pension website (e.g.investment performance) give you all theinformation you need to make a choice.However, if you need further help youshould contact an Independent FinancialAdviser. The Trustee is not authorised togive you any investment advice.You should note that the Trustee willnot be liable for any loss arising fromyour investment choices (including the‘Lifestyle’ option).Your investment options should bereviewed by you on a regular basis. Youmay change your investment options andthe way in which your Personal Accountand AVCs are invested from time to time.At present, there will be no charge fordoing this. Further details are given inthe ‘Investment’ section on page 12.The Trustee will regularly monitor theperformance of the investment fundsoffered to members and reserves theright to change investment managers, orthe funds made available to members,at any time. You will be told if yourinvestments are affected by any changes.5