Investments

We offer a default fund and 7 self-select funds as investment options to suit your personal circumstances and preference to investment risk. Your Retirement Savings will automatically be invested in the default fund. However, you may decide that you wish to self-select investments to better match your savings goals.

Each fund has a charge to cover the investment of your Retirement Savings which vary depending on the fund your contributions are invested in. Details of each fund’s investment charge can be found on the fund factsheets.

All of our funds are closely monitored by the Trustee, its Investment Committee, and Investment Consultant, who ensure the funds are managed effectively and perform in line with the Trustee’s expectations to provide Members with the best value for money.

When selecting the funds in which your contributions are to be invested in, you should consider the importance of spreading the risk across different types of funds and how risky each type of investment is. Actively managed funds aim to outperform the market by taking additional risk, while passive funds aim to track the market whilst taking as little risk as possible. If you are in any doubt you may wish to seek independent financial advice.

If you wish to change your investment selection, please complete the Investment Options form which can be found on evoLink.

Crystal offers 5 first-class drawdown options for you to choose from when you decide to begin taking your Retirement Savings including Opal, our low-cost default fund for those who are not ready to begin drawing their Retirement Savings.

All of our funds are closely monitored by the Trustee, its Investment Committee, Investment Consultant, who ensure the funds are managed effectively and perform in line with the Trustee’s expectations to provide our Members with the best value for money.

All funds benefit from:

• Pre-retirement communication, planning and guidance,
• No rushed decision,
• Continued ‘ownership’ of the Retirement Savings,
• No long-term ties,
• Access to evoLink for individuals to view the value of your Retirement Savings, make updates, and view your payment history where applicable,
• Ability to pass on Retirement Savings on death to a Directed Beneficiary in the form of an extended drawdown or a lump sum payment at the discretion of the Trustee to the Estate.

We believe that abiding by Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) guidelines gives the potential to add value when integrated into the investment process for long-term investors and specifically, we believe it helps control risk.

Following a review of the funds available to Members, the Trustee implemented a change to ensure that the Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) Lifestyle funds now have a much improved ESG score. In addition to the Lifestyle, all other funds including the Target Date Funds and Self Select range have been fully assessed for ESG considerations and the Trustee continue to work with the Investment Managers to ensure they are suitable for Members’ retirement savings.

The Trustee maintains a close relationship with the Investment Managers to ensure that its instructions are being accurately reflected and frequently request updates to see how the position has improved over time.

The Trustee continues to improve the ESG rating of funds with a current focus on exploring a wholly ESG centred fund available to Members as a Self-Select option.

Read the Climate-related financial disclosures report here.

Crystal offers a default fund and 7 investment strategies as self-select investment funds. All investment funds are monitored by the Trustee, Investment Committee and the Investment Consultant.

Whichever investment option(s) you choose for your Retirement Savings, will expose your savings to investment risk. This means that there is a risk that you may get back less than you invested. This could be a result of the market going down or because investments do not perform as well as expected.

If you decide to select your own investment funds, you should review your funds regularly to make sure that your investment choices remain suitable. The value of your Retirement Savings will fluctuate, it is important to keep an eye on how they are performing and remember that this is a long-term investment.

You cannot eliminate risk completely, but you can manage it. We recommend that you speak to an Independent Financial Adviser before deciding about your investments.

It is important to remember that:

• Exchange rate fluctuations may have an adverse effect on the value of non-UK shares,
• In extreme market cycles, income may not increase in line with inflation and the spending power of income will reduce,
• The investments and/or investment services referred to may not be suitable for all investors. If individuals are unsure of the suitability of any retirement investment, they should contact an Independent Financial Adviser for further information,
• The investment options provided by Crystal are held on the Mobius Life platform and with Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM). All assets are owned by either Mobius Life or LGIM as the policyholders and not Evolve Pensions Limited or The Crystal Trust,
• AllianceBernstein funds and LGIM funds are offered under a pooled custody arrangement. The Trustee access the service by entering into a discretionary investment management arrangement with both AllianceBernstein and LGIM. Each account in the series is comprised of a combination of underlying funds managed by AllianceBernstein and LGIM, along with other fund managers and direct investments,
• All funds are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).