The illustrations in your statement are based on a number of general and specific assumptions. There is therefore no guarantee that you (or any beneficiary in the event of your death) will receive the pension in your illustration. Your actual pension could be higher or lower than the amounts shown on your statement.
Assumptions about investments
- We are now required to use projected annual growth rates set by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), based on the volatility of the returns of each investment fund over the previous 5 years.
- This is intended to improve consistency, as previously different companies could set their own assumptions, but it does mean that the rate used may be different from previous years and your projected value may have gone up or down as a result. Remember, these are only estimates and the actual fund or pension you receive could be different.
- We assume that your choice of investment funds will stay the same until your normal retirement date.
- More information on how the FRC have set these assumptions can be found by clicking the link below:
Actuarial Technical Memorandum TM1
Please see the table below for the growth rates assumed for the statements issued in 2025 for each of the investment funds available.
|
Fund name |
Annual growth assumption |
|---|---|
|
BlackRock Aquila Life Balanced Fund S3 |
6% |
|
BlackRock Aquila Life Cash Fund S2 |
2% |
|
BlackRock Aquila Life Corporate Bond Index Fund Over 15 Years S3 |
7% |
|
BlackRock Aquila Life Overseas Consensus Equity Fund S3 |
6% |
|
BlackRock Aquila Life 60:40 Global Equity Fund S3 |
6% |
|
BlackRock Aquila Life Over 5 Years UK Index Linked Gilt Index Fund S3 |
7% |
Further assumptions about your investments
- We base the accumulation rate used for your statements on the investment fund or funds that you are currently invested in
- We assume that your choice of investment funds will stay the same until your normal retirement date
When providing the illustrations shown in your statements we make assumptions in order to estimate your future benefits. For more details see below.
Financial assumptions
- The cost of purchasing an annuity is 4% of the value of your pension account
- The interest rate used to calculate the cost of your annuity is currently 4.4%
- No further AVCs being paid
- Inflation is assumed to be 2.5% p.a
About your future benefits
We assume:
- You will buy a pension that does not increase in payment which does not pay a pension to a spouse or other dependant after your death
- We assume that the benefit and contribution limits from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will not require your benefits to be restricted or be adjusted for any tax charges.
- We do not take into account any benefits subject to an outstanding pension sharing order or earmarking/pension attachment order.
Please note, you are able to take the benefits in a different form to those shown in your illustration, including using them to contribute to any tax-free lump sum you may be able to take when you start to receive your main pension from Rothesay.
The assumptions are calculated in accordance with the Actuarial Standards Technical Memorandum 'AS TM1: Statutory Money Purchase Illustrations' issued by the Financial Reporting Council, version 4.2 dated October 2016, which is to be used for illustrations issued after 6 April 2017 and the relevant Technical Actuarial Standards, namely TAS 100 (Principles for Technical Actuarial Work).