L&G UK Equity Index Lifestyle Profile

hyposmurf

Just thought I'd enquire about my pension and have a look at hows its performing and what its investing in.Heres an extract from the online info regarding my stakeholder pension with L&G

Quote:
Some or all of your contributions are invested in the L&G UK Equity
Index Lifestyle Profile which currently invests your contributions in
the fund or funds shown above. As you approach retirement your fund
holding will gradually be switched into the Fixed Interest and Cash
Funds or in certain profiles the Index-Linked Gilt Fund. For further
details please see your key features document.
Here's a link to a portfolio bnreakdown:
http://customer.morningstareurope.co...estmentType=SA
Its with L&G UK equity index fund
Does this look a wise investment or should I change over to another invesment?Maybe I am best to keep to low risk investments with this fund as I will be investing in higher risk funds otherwise.

Heres a link to my options: (funds are on page two)
https://www80.landg.com/DocumentLibraryWeb/Document?reference=W10577IndSHPInvestmentFund.pdf

I dont have a huge amount in this pension fund as I started it later in life Im now 32,this pension pays out when I'm 65.I intend to keep some other savings for retirement as well as this pension and state pension if I'm elligable.I just like the idea of being able to get at my savings should I desperately need it in the future,rather than being tied to a crap pension.
Also I was thinking maybe of starting up a income fund maybe Invesco perpetual.Is this best to start up now and have the income reinvested up until I need it?

OK some additional info I started my pension fund in 05/02 and theres about £5500 in it at present.It was on one of those increment payment lans where it increases my direct debits up until a certain point.I started it at a time I was on peanuts, well peanut crumbs and was saving for a deposit on my first place.I noticed looking at some funds that people mention,they arent far off my age and have income funds,are you reinvesting the income until you need it in retirement?By now would make sense as units are likley to be increase over time and the earlier I start theres the benefit of compound interest.
Unable to find much info on this fund,has it changed name is this it?
http://www.h-l.co.uk/funds/security_details/sedol/B0CNH72
If not anyone know where I can find some more performance data on this?

turbobob

Its an FTSE All Share tracker fund. As this suggests, it mirrors the performance of the FTSE All Share Index. Its a pension fund, not the FTSE-100 tracking unit trust you linked to, see here. The "lifestyle profile" bit is the auto fund switching at the end.

Its against board rules for someone on here to give you actual advice on what funds to invest in. But generally, investing totally in a UK tracker is putting all your eggs in one basket - its 100% in equity, and its 100% in the UK. I've tried to diversify my investments, so theres some money is going into property, some going into various overseas funds, some going into bonds etc. Diversifying should help to reduce the risk and volatility. Alternatively maybe a combination of balanced managed funds would be an OK alternative. Theres a fairly limited choice of funds with most SHP's because the charges have to be capped. But the L&G one has a few external funds as well as its own which might be worth looking at.

I *think* this link will have all of the stakeholder compliant funds in one place if you want to do a bit more research - http://www.trustnet.com/pen/funds/perf.asp?txtSearch=&universe=ut&nsUniverse=UT&sec=all&status=all&def=1&txtS=&txtSS=&sort=2&page=0&ss=0&columns=

hyposmurf

Thanks for your reply.I have this pension but am also saving into funds via my ISA allowance.Maybe I should diversify slightly from wehat this pension is currently investing in.Also another question.Can I make a one off payment into my pension?Would it be better to invest currently as I would be able to buy more units rather than later when the market starts to recover?

turbobob

With a long term view, investing more when the market is at a relative low point is a good idea - in my opinion. As you say, buy when the units are cheap. Yes you can make single/one off contributions. Diversifying is a good idea. As an example, the FTSE has barely returned to its high point in 1999 in the years since. On the other hand, markets like Russia and China have soared since then. By investing only in the UK, you miss out on the potential for growth in other areas like this.