Your investment

The Order Insurance Fund (OIF) is an actively managed fund which aims to provide growth over the medium to long term.

This is the fund our adult and child Tax Exempt Saving Plans, Junior ISA, Lifetime ISA, Stocks & Shares ISA, Investment Bond, Inherited ISA Allowance Plan and Over 50s Life Cover invest in.

Fund information as at 30th September 2023.

If there are any terms you do not understand, some useful definitions are provided at the bottom of this page.

The Order Insurance Fund invests in a mix of assets including property, equities, cash and UK government bonds, to help minimise risk and increase the potential for returns. Our in-house expert investment team, alongside our external investment managers, will manage the fund on your behalf – and make all the investment choices for you.

Please see the Principles and Practices of Financial Management (PPFM) for the latest information on our investment strategy.

Strategic & Current Asset Allocations

Top 10 holdings

Please note that percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.

Sector weightings and top ten holdings are subject to change. Investments in the Order Insurance Fund will vary, for example as new opportunities arise or if economic conditions or investment markets change.

Our with profits Order Insurance Fund provides your plan with the potential for growth by way of bonuses. The better the fund does, the more bonuses you could potentially see. Any profits generated by the fund are used to add an annual bonus to your plan and possibly a final bonus when the plan reaches the end of its term. The addition of bonuses is not guaranteed.

To find out more about the addition of bonuses and how we manage our fund please read our Principles and Practices of Financial Management (PPFM).

We may vary the design of a product to best meet the needs of our policyholders which may affect the timing and size of future bonuses. Therefore the above rates are provided for information purposes only and should not be considered an indication of likely future performance.

Various things affect investment values. Since 2020, there have been a number of global challenges that have had an impact on investment returns.  Issues like the state of the global economy, increased energy costs driving up the prices of goods and services, political developments such as the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the mini-budget turmoil more recently plus the impact of COVID-19 have all contributed to stock market volatility.

Investment volatility is not unique to Foresters and is being experienced by all investment providers and their customers.

During periods of extreme investment market volatility, we might need to apply a Market Value Reduction (MVR) when you withdraw some or all of the money in your plan in order to protect remaining members within our Order Insurance with profits Fund.

An MVR is an adjustment that can be applied to the value of your investment if you choose to cash-in or withdraw from your plan during volatile investment conditions, reducing how much you get back.  It ensures that everybody gets their fair share of the returns from a with profits fund and is designed to protect members who do not take their money out of the fund during poor market conditions.

An MVR is only applied in exceptional circumstances and is implemented as a last resort. The circumstances include periods of high market volatility and/or increased surrenders.

You will only see the effect of an MVR should you wish to withdraw your money at the time there is an MVR in place. An MVR can be added, removed, increased or decreased at any time.

It’s important to remember that your savings plan is a longer-term investment, which is designed to be held over many years. So, while short-term investment value changes can be unsettling, it’s important not to panic. Maintaining a longer-term view can help you make better investment decisions.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results however stock market and alternative investments have historically tended to outperform money held in cash savings accounts, e.g. cash ISAs, over the longer term.

You should consider your options carefully and you may wish to seek advice from a financial adviser who may charge for their services.

If you need money in the short to medium term and have cash savings that could be used instead, such as cash ISAs or bank accounts, you might want to consider taking some money from those alternative sources. This may be an option, rather than to realise losses from any long-term investments you hold.

When markets fall, people may be tempted to withdraw their money to protect it. However, this can lead to the investment being sold at a loss that might have been avoided if the investment were held for the long-term.

Your plan is designed to be held for the long-term. If you cash-in when the market is down, you will likely suffer a loss in the value of your investments and might miss out on any increases in value in the future if/when markets recover.

If you continue to make your regular contributions, you will be able to invest at lower prices than before the market downturn.

It’s important to remember that your savings plan is a long-term investment, and that whilst events such as the current market volatility can have a short-term impact, this often does not affect the long-term picture.

A small proportion of plans that have invested in our Order Insurance Fund in previous years have an MVR applied to them but no MVR is currently in place for plans taken out in 2023.   Investment volatility is not unique to Foresters and is being experienced by all investment providers and their customers.

The MVR does not affect all plans invested in the fund, only a small proportion, depending on how long the plan has been held for and the investment experience over its duration.  The plans that may have an MVR in place currently are some Investment Bonds, ISAs, Lifetime ISAs, Junior ISAs and Child Trust Funds.  It does not affect Tax Exempt Savings Plans, POIS Plans or other plans not invested in the Order Insurance Fund.  Your last bonus statement will confirm what fund your plan invests in.

You will only see the effect of an MVR should you wish to withdraw your money at the time there is an MVR in place. An MVR can be added, removed, increased or decreased at any time.

It’s important to remember that your savings plan is a longer-term investment, which is designed to be held over many years. So, while short-term investment value changes can be unsettling, it’s important not to panic. Maintaining a longer-term view can help you make better investment decisions.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results however stock market and alternative investments have historically tended to outperform money held in cash savings accounts, e.g. cash ISAs, over the longer term.

We don’t deduct MVRs under certain circumstances – please refer to your plan conditions for full details of any guarantees applicable to your plan. Some examples of these circumstances are:

• no MVR on death, for applicable plans; and
• no MVR at point of maturity plus 3 months for Child Trust Fund policies.

Please rest assured that our expert internal Investment Management team, alongside our external investment managers, AXA IM, are constantly monitoring the situation.

It’s important to remember that your savings plan is a long-term investment, and that whilst events such as the current market volatility can have a short-term impact, this often does not affect the long-term picture.

As an institutional investor, our allocation to alternatives, also known as private markets, means that you invest in a fund which gives you access to asset classes and investment opportunities not directly available in the retail market.

Alternatives tend to behave differently to typical equity and bond investments, benefitting from lower volatility, broader diversification, and enhanced returns.  They typically offer a stable flow of income and the opportunity for higher returns over a long timeframe.  Our expertise and the breadth of the different investments that we have within this asset class gives us a distinct advantage over our competitors.

Our investment team are continually looking for additional opportunities to improve returns whilst remaining within risk tolerance levels.

You won’t have to make any investment choices, our expert investment team manage the fund on your behalf, keeping it simple for you to invest.

Our team of experts will continue to work in your best interests to support your savings goals during this time of market uncertainty.

If you hold a savings plan with us, you’ll automatically have access to Foresters Extras, our member benefits package. After 6 months of membership, discretionary grants are available to assist members of any age in times of hardship. For example, we’ve been able to help members affected by floods and members facing illness. We have also been able to support members who have been impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic and the cost of living crisis more recently.

To make a claim for a discretionary grant, please complete a claim form and send it to our helpdesk.  Claims forms can be found here.

In 2022, we paid out over £1.65m paid in discretionary grants to members and charitable donations.

Should you wish to speak with one of our UK based team, we can be contacted in the following ways:

Email

[email protected]

Telephone

0800 101 8312

Fund information as at 30th September 2023.

If there are any terms you do not understand, some useful definitions are provided at the bottom of this page.

Strategic & Current Asset Allocations

Top 10 holdings

Asset allocations and top ten holdings are subject to change. Investments in the Tunstall Fund will vary, for example as new opportunities arise or if economic conditions or investment markets change.

Fund information as at 30th September 2023.

If there are any terms you do not understand, some useful definitions are provided at the bottom of this page.

Strategic & Current Asset Allocations

Top 10 holdings

Asset allocations and top ten holdings are subject to change. Investments in the PEF Fund will vary, for example as new opportunities arise or if economic conditions or investment markets change.

Fund information as at 30th September 2023.

If there are any terms you do not understand, some useful definitions are provided at the bottom of this page.

Strategic & Current Asset Allocations

Top 10 holdings

Asset allocations and top ten holdings are subject to change. Investments in the Leek Fund will vary, for example as new opportunities arise or if economic conditions or investment markets change.