YOUR INVESTMENT OPTIONS
To give your retirement savings the best chance to grow, the LA Retirement Fund has a formal proven investment strategy and implements that strategy with the help of the top asset managers locally and internationally. The Board of Trustees and professional investment consultant, constantly monitors the performance of these managers to make sure that they are giving you the best possible returns over time.
Depending on how long you have been a member of the Fund, the bulk of your savings at retirement will comprise investment returns. As a member of a defined contribution fund, you carry the investment risk. This means that your invested member share is directly affected by any positive or negative returns earned by the investments you have chosen. The good news is, that all the Fund’s Risk Profiled Solutions have a proud history of continuing to outperform the broader industry of retail (Unit Trusts) and institutional (Large Segregated Funds) retirement fund products. Over time, this yearly investment outperformance can add up to a lot of extra money for your retirement.
We realise that investment needs, expectations and risk appetites, differ from one member to another. LA Retirement Fund is a Fund of choice, you can choose the Funds default life stage model or the individual member choice model that also includes a Shari’ah portfolio.
The Life Stage Model
The strategy ensures that your member share is automatically invested according to how many years you have left until your normal retirement age. The younger you are, the longer you have to invest until retirement. As a result, your investment can be exposed to more risk and is placed in more aggressive investment portfolio to earn higher returns. The older and closer to retirement you are, the more protection your retirement savings need. As such, your investment is shifted to less risky strategies, which may deliver lower growth, but will also keep your capital safe.
The life stage investment strategy automatically moves you through these phases – while you are younger than 60, your money is invested in the Accumulation portfolio. This is a more aggressive portfolio designed to grow your money. The Accumulation portfolio targets a return of inflation plus 6%.
After the age of 60, it becomes very important to protect the money you have saved, so your member share is at this point slowly transferred into the Consolidation portfolio, which is designed to protect your investment from market ups and downs, while still growing it at a targeted rate of inflation plus 4%. All new contributions from this age are automatically invested in the Consolidation portfolio.
Importantly, this strategy ensures your easy transition at retirement, enabling you to choose to have your retirement savings automatically invested in a living annuity in the fund when you retire. The In-Fund living annuity will provide you with a cost-effective pension income during your retirement years.
The two phases of the life stage portfolio are illustrated in the following diagrams:
Below are some of the benefits that life stage investing gives you:
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Cost effectiveness and simplicity of design that requires minimal intervention from you.
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Protection of your retirement benefits against the effects of inflation.
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Enhanced or optimal returns during your pre-retirement cycle or protected returns during the transition phase close to your retirement.
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Acceptable risk levels given your time horizon to retirement.
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Access to funds managed by top investment managers.
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Easy and seamless transition of your member share into the In-Fund living annuity when you retire.
To prevent you from being prejudiced by sudden or adverse market movements, your member share, when being switched from the Accumulation phase to the Consolidation phase, will be transferred in fourteen tranches over a period of 3.5 years:
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The first tranche will be processed at the beginning of the month following your attainment of age 59.5 years;
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14% of your member share will thereafter be transitioned to the Consolidation phase every 3 months.
Your member share will be fully invested in the Consolidation phase exactly 2 years and 3 months from your normal retirement age (i.e. 3 months before turning age 63).
| TRANSITION PERIOD TRANCHES | ACCUMULATION PHASE | CONSOLIDATION PHASE | TOTAL | AGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 100.00 | 0.00 | 100.00 | |
| 1 | 92.86 | 7.14 | 100.00 | 59.50 |
| 2 | 85.71 | 14.29 | 100.00 | 59.75 |
| 3 | 78.57 | 21.43 | 100.00 | 60.00 |
| 4 | 71.43 | 28.57 | 100.00 | 60.25 |
| 5 | 64.29 | 35.71 | 100.00 | 60.50 |
| 6 | 57.14 | 42.86 | 100.00 | 60.75 |
| 7 | 50.00 | 50.00 | 100.00 | 61.00 |
| 8 | 42.86 | 57.14 | 100.00 | 61.25 |
| 9 | 35.71 | 64.29 | 100.00 | 61.50 |
| 10 | 28.57 | 71.43 | 100.00 | 61.75 |
| 11 | 21.43 | 78.57 | 100.00 | 62.00 |
| 12 | 14.29 | 85.71 | 100.00 | 62.25 |
| 13 | 7.14 | 92.86 | 100.00 | 62.50 |
| 14 | 0.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 62.75 |
All contributions made during the 3.5 years transitional period will be invested in the Consolidation phase.
The phasing process is automated and is handled by the Fund Administrator, so no actions are required from members.
The following figure illustrates the transition process.
Individual Member Choice Model
preservation portfolio with a focus on capital preservation or the cash plus option or the Shari’ah compliant investment portfolio. The cash plus option addresses capital risk and may be considered by members who are very close to retirement and who do not wish to be exposed to negative returns in the short period leading up to their retirement and may be considered by members planning to take a large part of their benefit as a cash lump sum. The Shari’ah portfolio complies with Islamic investment principles and the investment managers satisfy the guidelines and standards as set from time to time by the Islamic Accounting and Auditing Organisation.
The risk profile of this portfolio is moderate aggressive and can therefore be compared to the Fund’s Consolidation and the Accumulation portfolios. The Shari’ah compliant Balanced Fund is not utilised for the Fund’s default Defined Contribution or Pensioner investment strategies and is a stand-alone portfolio for members wishing to invest in this portfolio.
Asset allocation
Please click here see the latest asset composition and investment returns earned within each portfolio and the applicable investment targets.
Changing your investment selection
You can change your investment selection while you are a fund member. You are allowed a maximum of two switches per fund year (i.e. between 1 July and 30 June) and the first of these switches is free. A switching fee is charged for the second switch. This fee is taken from your member share being switched. It is recommended that you speak to a financial adviser before making the decision to switch your retirement investments. The switch fee may change from time to time, contact the Fund to obtain the current switching fee.
