Pls help me chose right fund in Scottish Widows

muffinek

Hello

I have just started new job and my employer uses Scottish Widows for pension.

If I had a choice, I would like to invest in global tracker like Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap. Unfortunately this is not available, below are all the funds available to me under Equities.

I would like recommendation, which of the below would be closest match to Vanguard option.

Option 1: I did some research and I believe it would be SW L&G World Equity Index CS1. I am just looking for a reassurance this is correct.

Option 2: Alternatively, I believe I could do SW Vanguard ESG Developed World All Cap Equity Index CS7 at 92% and SW Aquila Emerging Markets Equity Index CS1 at 8% to mimic Vanguard Global All Cap as closely as possible with whats available to me.

Again, I am looking for a reassurance this is correct and perhaps some advise whether Option 2 is worth it having in mind I would need to remember to rebalance it at least one a year.

Ideally I am looking for set it and forget it solution but not if it would mean noticeable impact on returns over the next 20 years.

Scottish Widows Environmental CS7
Scottish Widows UK Equity Tracker 5 CS1
Scottish Widows Shariah CS7
SW Aquila 40/60 Global Equity Index CS1
SW Aquila Emerging Markets Equity Index CS1
SW Aquila Global Minimum Volatility Index CS1
SW Aquila Pacific Rim Equity Index CS1
SW Artemis UK Special Situations CS1
SW AXA Framlington Biotech CS7
SW Baillie Gifford Emerging Markets Leading Companies CS1
SW Baillie Gifford Japanese CS1
SW Baillie Gifford Positive Change CS7
SW Baillie Gifford UK and Worldwide Equity Fund CS1
SW Baillie Gifford UK Equity CS1
SW BlackRock 30/70 Currency Hedged Global Equity Index CS1
SW BlackRock 50/50 Global Equity Index CS1
SW BlackRock 60/40 Global Equity Index CS1
SW Blackrock ACS Climate Transition Screened and Optimised World Equity CS7
SW BlackRock European Equity Index CS1
SW BlackRock Japanese Equity Index CS1
SW BlackRock UK Equity Index CS1
SW BlackRock US Equity Index CS1
SW BlackRock World ex UK Equity Index CS1
SW BNY Mellon Global Equity CS1
SW BNY Mellon Global Income CS1
SW BNY Mellon Higher Income Fund CS1
SW BNY Mellon UK Equity CS2
SW CT American CS1
SW CT American Smaller Companies CS1
SW CT European CS1
SW CT Global Select CS1
SW CT Japan CS1
SW CT UK Smaller Companies CS1
SW FTSE4Good Developed Equity Index CS1
SW HSBC Islamic CS1
SW Impax Global Equity Opportunities CS7
SW Janus Henderson Global Sustainable Equity CS1
SW Jupiter Ecology CS1
SW Jupiter UK Income CS1
SW Legal & General 30/70 Global Equity Index Currency Hedged CS1
SW Legal & General Global Equity Fixed Weights 60/40 Index CS1
SW Legal & General World (ex UK) Developed Equity Index - GBP Currency Hedged CS1
SW Legal & General World (ex UK) Developed Equity Index CS1
SW Legal & General World Equity Index CS1
SW Legal and General FTSE Developed Core Infrastructure Index CS1
SW LGIM Future World Global Equity Index CS1
SW Liontrust Global Equity CS1
SW Morgan Stanley Global Brands CS1
SW Passive Emerging Market Equity CS1
SW Passive Global Equity CS1
SW Passive UK Equity CS1
SW Passive World ex-UK Equity CS1
SW Pension Portfolio One CS1
SW Schroder Global Emerging Markets CS1
SW Schroder Global Equity CS1
SW Schroder QEP Global Active Value CS1
SW Schroder QEP Global Core CS1
SW Schroder Sustainable Multi-Factor Equity CS7
SW Shariah CS1
SW Vanguard ESG Developed World All Cap Equity Index 2 CS7
SW Vanguard ESG Developed World All Cap Equity Index CS7

Newbie_John

I think most similar is SW Passive Global Equity CS1, the L&G is much more narrower.

But tbh, for 20 year investment it probably doesn't matter much.

OldScientist

As far as I can tell, the L&G World fund tracks the FTSE World index which, AFAIK, only includes developed and 'advanced emerging', so is not quite a full global tracker (but may be a good enough approximation).

Otherwise, your option 2 is also a good enough solution.

QrizB

I think most similar is SW Passive Global Equity CS1

If this is the correct factsheet, SW Passive Global Equity CS1 has a 60% UK bias.

https://documents.feprecisionplus.com/factsheet/SWCPZ/FS/0OFK_en-GB_Wrap_SWSingleBranded.pdf

The L&G fund doesn't have that bias, although as OldScientist notes it's not a whole-world tracker.

https://documents.feprecisionplus.com/factsheet/SWCPZ/FS/MAED_en-GB_Wrap_SWSingleBranded.pdf

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81958404#Comment_81958404

Which is reflected in the recent performance, where the L&G one is well ahead.

Of course the next 10 years could be different, although even the strongest supporter of home bias/ reduced US exposure would probably baulk at 60% UK.

muffinek

Thanks a lot for your input. I decided at least for now to keep it simple.and went just with L&G fund.

Bostonerimus1

This is a prime example of too much choice, it can lead to paralysis. There is a vast amount of overlap between the funds and realistically there is no "right fund" as you'll be ok with many of them. So just choose the cheapest global equity tracker bearing in mid any domestic biases that might not make it truly global.

QrizB

This is a prime example of too much choice, it can lead to paralysis.

There's an interesting (albeit rather nerdy) post to be written comparing the half-dozen or so of those fund options that could reasonably be described as "global equity trackers" but it's after nine PM here and I'm not going down that rabbit hole tonight!

Callius

Just been looking as we moved to it ,

list i got depending on what additional funds you can have, and specific costs.

For me any SW labelled funds are as is but no platform costs , and other mutual funds are + 0.29%

But im told this is company contract specific for me as below. i ignored all the generic funds, and used Copilot/Gemini/Claude to create the list.

To make all world fund you need

• 85% SW BlackRock ACS World ex‑UK Equity Tracker CS7 — 0.135%

• 4% SW BlackRock ACS UK Equity Tracker — 0.135%

• 11% SW iShares EM Equity Index — 0.195%

• OCF is 0.142% inc all fees for me which is decent ,

Category	Region / Type	Fund Name	Fee	Notes
Index	Global ex‑UK	SW BlackRock ACS World ex UK Equity Tracker CS7	0.135%	Core global equity anchor
Index	UK	SW BlackRock ACS UK Equity Tracker CS7	0.135%	FTSE All‑Share; ultra‑low fee
Index	US	SW BlackRock ACS US Equity Tracker CS7	0.135%	Broad US index; lowest fee
Index	Europe ex‑UK	SW BlackRock ACS Continental European Equity Tracker CS7	0.145%	Best Europe index option
Index	Japan	SW BlackRock ACS Japan Equity Tracker CS7	0.135%	Best Japan index option
Index	Asia ex‑Japan	SW Veritas Asian CS7	0.573%	True Asia ex‑Japan exposure
Index	Emerging Markets	SW iShares Emerging Markets Equity Index CS7	0.195%	Best EM fund; low fee; broad index
Index	Property / REITs	SW iShares Environmental & Low Carbon Tilt Real Estate Index CS7	0.270%	Global REITs; ESG tilt; no gating risk
FACTOR	Global Quality	Dimensional Global High Profitability	0.630%	Qual
FACTOR	Global Small‑Cap	Dimensional Global Small Companies	0.670%	structural Small‑Cap tilt
FACTOR	Global Value	Dimensional Global Targeted Value	0.730%	contrarian Value tilt
FACTOR	Global Momentum / Growth	SW Baillie Gifford Positive Change	0.580%	Momentum/Growth proxy
FACTOR	Global Tech Tilt	L&G Global Technology Index Trust	0.600%	Optional tech satellite
SATELLITE	China	Jupiter China I Acc	1.280%	Only specialist China option
SATELLITE	India	Jupiter India I Acc	1.280%	Only India fund available
SATELLITE	Russia	Liontrust Russia C Acc GBP	1.230%	High‑risk; geopolitical; tactical only
SATELLITE	Latin America	abrdn Latin American Equity I Acc	1.420%	high volatility
SATELLITE	Gold Proxy	SW BlackRock Gold & General CS7	1.155%	Gold miners; high‑beta gold exposure
SATELLITE	Natural Resources	SW JPM Natural Resources CS7	0.881%	Best commodity proxy on SW