Investment Funds
Invest from £500 or from £50 a month – discounted charges
Why invest with Standard Life?
To help make investment choice easier, we have selected 5 investment funds designed to meet a level of risk you are comfortable with. Managed by Standard Life Investments these funds are specifically designed to maximise potential returns for a given level of risk. If you’re comfortable with investing and want to be more involved you can choose from over 1800 mutual funds in our full fund range.
Benefit of buying direct
Investing with Standard Life gives you access to competitive prices, dedicated support and professional management.
- Simpler investment choice – Our selected range of 5 risk based funds designed to make investment choice easier. Or over 1800 funds in our full fund range are also available. Keep track of your investments online.
- Discounted initial charges – No initial charges on the selected range of funds. On our full fund range (over 1,800) where there is an initial charge you will typically receive a discount of 3%.
Please see charges section for more information and examples
- Easy to apply – Choose the option that meets your needs and apply online through our straightforward, quick online application form or over the phone.
- Support when you need it - When you need to speak to an expert, Standard Life Direct are at the end of the phone to discuss your options. Where advice is provided, there may be an additional cost.
| Remember your tax efficient ISA allowance You may wish to use your maximum ISA allowance to maximise your tax efficient investment potential. See our Stocks and Shares ISA for more information. |
Investment returns
Investment returns aren’t guaranteed. The value of your investment can go up or down so you may get back less than you paid in.
Find out more
Apply online for Investment Funds or to find out more call Standard Life Direct on 0845 272 8810. (Call charges may vary)
Standard Life Direct is provided by Standard Life Client Management Limited and only advises on and sells products from subsidiaries of Standard Life plc and some external providers. Where advice is provided, there may be an additional cost.
How it works
Investment choice
- Simpler investment choice with one of the five funds in our selected range designed to meet a range of risk appetites. There is no initial charge on these funds and they are expertly managed by Standard Life Investments.
- Choose from our full range of funds (over 1,800 Mutual funds) if you want to be more involved with your investments. Where there is an initial charge you will typically receive a discount of 3%. See ‘Charges’ section for more information.
- Choose to invest for growth, income or a mixture of both.
- For full risks and commitments please refer to the ISA and Investment Fund Key Features
Minimum and maximum amounts
- Minimum lump sum investment – an initial lump sum of £500 or further lump sum of £250.
- Minimum regular investment – £50 a month.
Eligibility
- You are 18 years of age or over.
- You are resident and ordinarily resident in the UK for tax purposes, a Crown employee serving overseas or the spouse or civil partner of a Crown employee serving overseas who, in either case, has a UK address. Please see the Key Features Document for more information.
Adding and withdrawing money
- Make lump sums – you can make these any time
- Make regular payments – you can start, stop or change these any time you like
- Take lump sums – Subject to limits you can withdraw your money at any time. Minimum of £250 and you will need to keep £500 invested to allow one-off withdrawls
- Take regular withdrawals – from once a month to every 12 months
Switching funds
You can invest in as many funds as you like from our full range. There’s a charge if you’d like to switch funds. Please read the ISA and Investment Fund Key Features
Keeping track of your investments
You will be able to follow the performance of your investments through our online platform - FundZone.
Tax
- Income tax – we deduct the equivalent of basic rate tax before any income is paid out or reinvested. Higher and Additional rate tax payers will have additional tax to pay.
- Capital gains tax – you may have to pay capital gains tax depending on your personal circumstances when you cash-in all or part of your investment
Tax rules may change.
Investment returns
Investment returns aren’t guaranteed. The value of your investment can go up or down so you may get back less than you paid in.
Find out more
Apply online for Investment Funds or to find out more call Standard Life Direct on 0845 272 8810. (Call charges may vary)
Standard Life Direct is provided by Standard Life Client Management Limited and only advises on and sells products from subsidiaries of Standard Life plc and some external providers. Where advice is provided, there may be an additional cost.
Investment choice
Our customers tell us the choice of funds available and where to invest their money can feel daunting. To help make this easier we have chosen our selected range of five investment funds designed to meet a range of risk appetites. If you think this approach is right for you, all you need to do is pick one of the following selected range of investment funds.
Alternatively, if you prefer to choose from a wider range of investments you can access over 1800 funds via the full range.
Option 1 - Our selected range
Standard Life Investments MyFolio Managed Funds
- The selected range is made up of 5 expertly constructed funds actively managed by Standard Life Investments. These have been specifically designed to maximise potential returns for a given level of risk.
- The funds invest in a wide range of other investment funds, so you’re not putting all your eggs in one basket.
- Each fund holds a combination of defensive assets (lower risk investments such as cash and bonds) and growth assets (higher risk investments such as shares and property). The mixture between defensive and growth assets will depend on which of the options you choose and the make up of the funds Asset Allocation – please see the following table below.
The current typical asset split of the selected range is shown in the following table. Remember, a fund’s actual exposure to different investments will vary, due to a number of factors including the manager’s short term investment opinion and the precise make up of the underlying funds.
| Selected range – Standard Life Investments MyFolio Managed Funds | ||||
| Risk level | Fund Information | Fund's defensive assets | Fund's growth assets |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower risk | You’re conservative with your investments. | MyFolio Managed I Fund (PDF, 180kb) | 86% | 14% |
| Lower to medium | You’re relatively cautious with your investments. | MyFolio Managed II Fund (PDF, 180kb) | 59.5% | 40.5% |
| Medium risk | You’re balanced in your attitude towards risk. | MyFolio Managed III Fund (PDF, 180kb) | 34.5% | 65.5% |
| Medium to higher | You’re relatively comfortable with investment risk. | MyFolio Managed IV Fund (PDF, 180kb) | 11.5% | 88.5% |
| Higher risk | You’re very comfortable with investment risk. | MyFolio Managed V Fund (PDF, 180kb) | 1% | 99% |
| Not sure about your attitude to risk? Use our risk questionnaire (it only takes a few minutes). |
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Points to be aware of
- As with all investments, the value of money you invest can go down as well as up and you may not get back as much as you invest
- The higher the risk-level of your investment choice, the greater the potential return but also the greater uncertainty
- The lower the risk-level of your investment choice, the lower the potential return and lower the uncertainty
- Please be aware that you need to review your investments choices on a regular basis to make sure they still match your needs
Support
- When you need to speak to an expert, Standard Life Direct is at the end of the phone, to discuss your options. Where advice is provided, there may be an additional cost.
- Alternatively, you may wish to seek financial advice through a financial adviser. There may be a cost for this service
Standard Life Direct is provided by Standard Life Client Management Limited and only advises on and sells products from subsidiaries of Standard Life plc and some external providers.
Option 2 - Full range
Comfortable choosing from a wider range of investments?
If you’re comfortable choosing from a wide range of investments, you can select from our full range of over 1800 investment options. Select from the full range of funds.
Charges
We provide fund discounts for coming direct through Standard Life
Option 1 - Charges on our selected range
Standard Life Investments MyFolio Managed Funds
Selected fund range charges correct as at 22 November 2011.
No initial charge
There is no initial charge made on our selected range.
There are two charges which make up the total charge on each of our selected fund range:
Fund Management Charge (1.15% for each Fund)
The Fund Management Charge is set at an annual percentage of the value of your funds. This is a charge for the management of the fund. We deduct this charge daily before we set the fund price.
Additional Expenses (currently between 0.49% and 0.72% depending on the Fund)
The deduction of additional expenses is over and above the fund management charge. They include (but are not limited to) auditor’s fees, custodian’s fees, depositary’s fees and regulatory expenses. In addition, as the our selected range are fund of funds (a fund that holds underlying funds as its investments), the additional expenses also includes the cost of managing the underlying funds. As these expenses arise within the fund, they have been taken into account in the calculation of the fund price.
| Selected range - Standard Life Investments MyFolio Managed Fund | |||||
| Charges | MyFolio Managed I Fund | MyFolio Managed II Fund | MyFolio Managed III Fund | MyFolio Managed IV fund | MyFolio Managed V Fund |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fund management Charge |
1.15% | 1.15% | 1.15% | 1.15% | 1.15% |
| Additional expenses |
0.49% | 0.55% | 0.61% |
0.72% | 0.72% |
| Total charge |
1.64% | 1.70% | 1.76% | 1.87% | 1.87% |
Charges are regularly reviewed and may be increased to reflect increases in overall costs and/or changes in the assumptions made. Any increases in charges will not increase Standard Life’s profit margins above reasonable levels.
Option 2 - Charges on our full fund range
Discounted initial charge
The charges on individual funds vary. The fund filter tool will let you see the fact sheets for the individual funds, which outline their charges. Select from the full range of funds
By coming direct to Standard Life you will receive a discount (typically 3%) where there is an initial charge listed in the funds factsheet. Other charges will apply.
Charges are regularly reviewed and may be increased to reflect increases in overall costs and/or changes in the assumptions made. Any increases in charges will not increase Standard Life’s profit margins above reasonable levels.
