Affinity Workforce | Annual Update | Library

Your annual update shows you how much you already have saved in your pension account and, importantly, what you might have when you want to retire. It’s a really useful document to help you plan your future.

So you can make the most of your annual update, here’s a click through breakdown explaining what’s inside.

The assumptions we used to calculate your annual update for 2022

The assumptions we used

These are the assumptions we’ve made to give you an idea of how much your pension account could be worth at the date you told us you plan to retire.

Inflation is 2.5% per year. If you’re still working and paying into your account then we’ve assumed that pensionable salary will increase in line with retail price inflation, which is assumed to be 2.5% per year. This means that, in real terms, your earnings are assumed to remain at today’s level. It should be noted that, on average, earnings have in the past grown faster than prices in the longer term, although the difference varies significantly between members.
If you’re not currently paying in to your account, we’ve assumed that no further contributions are paid to your account.

Otherwise we’ve assumed that you keep paying contributions as a member of Atlas until your target retirement date. In doing this, we’ve assumed that you continue to contribute at the percentage rate(s) currently in force. Where contributions are paid as a percentage of salary, and because salary is assumed to increase in line with inflation, this means we have assumed that contributions will increase on the same basis and therefore remain at today’s level in real terms.

Any extra payments that you are making are assumed to be paid at a fixed rate and not a percentage of your salary. We have also assumed that the amount of extra payments you are paying will not increase in line with your earnings.
Atlas continues to be a registered pension scheme.
Your benefits are not subject to an outstanding pension sharing order or earmarking/pension attachment order.

Investments

We’ve assumed that the money in your pension account will continue to be invested in the same funds (or Multi Asset Portfolio) you invest in now and in the same proportion until your target retirement date. Please bear in mind that the actual investment returns will depend on the types of funds you invest in and may be different from the assumptions used. The assumptions we’ve used are shown in the table below.

Fund name	Investment return (% per year)	Total expense ratio
Atlas Active Corporate Bond Fund	2.14%	0.51%
Atlas Active Emerging Markets Equity Fund	5.23%	1.17%
Atlas Active Multi Asset Fund	3.66%	0.60%
Atlas Asia Pacific (ex Japan) Equity Index Tracker Fund	5.20%	0.30%
Atlas Cash Fund	1.25%	0.25%
Atlas Corporate Bond Index Tracker Fund	2.15%	0.25%
Atlas Emerging Markets Index Tracker Fund	6.10%	0.40%
Atlas Ethical Fund	4.57%	0.93%
Atlas Europe (ex UK) Equity Index Tracker Fund	5.20%	0.30%
Atlas Flexible Access Retirement Fund	2.46%	0.56%
Atlas Flexible Pre-Retirement Fund	2.99%	0.35%
Atlas Global Equity Index Tracker Fund	5.33%	0.27%
Atlas Inflation-Linked Annuity Target Fund	1.64%	0.25%
Atlas Japan Equity Index Tracker Fund	5.20%	0.30%
Atlas Level Annuity Target Fund	1.84%	0.25%
Atlas Multi Asset Absolute Return Fund	3.35%	0.75%
Atlas Multi Asset Portfolio 1	4.33%	0.55%
Atlas Multi Asset Portfolio 2	3.65%	0.51%
Atlas Multi Asset Portfolio 3	2.98%	0.47%
Atlas North American Equity Index Tracker Fund	5.28%	0.22%
Atlas Over 15 Years Gilts Index Tracker Fund	1.25%	0.25%
Atlas Over 5 Years Index-Linked Gilts Index Tracker Fund	1.25%	0.25%
Atlas Passive Multi Asset Fund	3.91%	0.47%
Atlas Retirement Income Drawdown Fund	3.44%	0.59%
Atlas Shariah Compliant Fund	5.09%	0.45%
Atlas Sustainable Equity Fund	5.07%	0.55%
Atlas UK Direct Property Fund	2.55%	0.75%
Atlas UK Equity Index Tracker Fund	5.20%	0.30%
Atlas World (ex UK) Equity Index Tracker Fund	5.24%	0.30%

Calculating yearly retirement income

In working out the yearly income your personal account could get you, we have assumed:

An annuity rate (cost of buying each £1 per year of pension) based on your individual target retirement date, sex and date of birth.
The pension you buy will increase annually in line with increases in inflation (the Retail Prices Index), which are assumed to be 2.5% per year.
The pension will be payable monthly.
The pension will be payable for the rest of your life, for a minimum of five years.
50% of the pension will continue to be paid to a person who is three years older than you (if you are a woman) or three years younger than you (if you are a man) on your death.
That you don’t take any money from your pension account as tax-free cash when you take your benefits. If you decide to take tax-free cash, your annuity will be smaller.

For the purposes of any drawdown illustration provided, we have assumed:

Inflation is 2.5%.
An investment growth of the Atlas Multi Asset Portfolio 3 fund.
That your drawdown income increases each year in line with inflation.

The amount of any pension payable under the Scheme for you will depend on considerations that may be different from any assumptions made by us. These include the actual performance of investments and the ultimate cost of securing an income (such as an annuity) at the time you take your benefits.

Important

The projected benefits shown in your annual update are for illustrative purposes only. They’re not a guarantee.

The Trustee has taken care to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in your annual update. However, the Trustee can only pay benefits in accordance with the rules of the Scheme. In the case of any discrepancy between the information in this annual update and the rules of the Scheme, the rules of the Scheme will determine your benefit entitlement.

The information provided in your annual update is not individual financial advice and should not be used as the only basis on which you take any decision regarding your future pension arrangements or any other financial commitment. The Trustee of Atlas will always recommend that you seek independent financial advice when reviewing your pension arrangements or other financial commitments. Neither the Trustee, Atlas, nor Capita can give you financial advice. Visit www.unbiased.co.uk or www.moneyandpensionsservice.org.uk for more details on where to find an independent financial adviser.

Relevant information

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