Is this approach right for you?
Cautious by name, cautious by nature. The lowest risk choice out of our three growth approaches, aiming for modest returns.
Our experts invest your money globally to give it more chances to grow and to spread the risk. They use Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations to help select what to invest in.
Download Key Information
Highlights
Reduces risk
Likely to be a less 'bumpy' ride, compared with higher risk investments.
Aims for gradual growth
A slower, cautious approach to growing your money in the longer term.
All done for you
Managed for you by our dedicated team of investment experts. All in one neatly packaged approach.
Investment Mix
Close Modal
- Higher potential returns and risk
- Lower potential returns and risk
The Investment Mix shows you how much of your money typically goes into higher risk investments with higher potential returns, and how much goes into lower risk investments with lower potential returns.
For more info, check out our guide.
Investing money and the risks.How your money's invested
Typically 40% of your money goes into higher risk investments with higher potential returns and 60% into lower risk investments with lower potential returns.
Our experts review this mix regularly within the adjustment range, for higher growth potential.
Investment Mix
Typically 40%
invested for higher potential returns with higher risk
Typically 60%
invested for lower risk with lower growth potential
Remember, the value of investments can go up and down, so you may get back less money than you put in. Tax depends on your individual circumstances and the regulations may change in the future.
Where your money's invested
Our experts manage the mix of investments, within the adjustment range and to achieve the approach objectives.
Here’s the detail at 30 September 2024.
Higher risk
- 7% - Shares (emerging markets)
- 3% - Shares (UK)
- 2% - Real estate investment trusts
- 19% - Shares (overseas developed)
- 0% - Bonds (emerging markets)
- 4% - Bonds (high yield)
Lower risk
- 1% - Cash
- 15% - Short maturity bonds
- 0% - UK Government bonds (Gilts)
- 19% - Global government bonds
- 6% - UK corporate bonds
- 24% - Global corporate bonds
What do these terms mean?
Close ModalBonds: These are like IOUs, used by companies and governments to raise money. The buyer effectively lends money to the seller, in return for interest on their investment over a set amount of time. When that time’s up, the value is paid back.
Gilts: These are just a type of bond. But instead of lending money to a company, it’s lent to the UK Government.
Shares: A share is a tiny bit of a company. Share owners are called shareholders. If a company does well, shareholders are rewarded with a proportion of the profits, paid out as dividends. The value of shares rises and falls according to the company’s performance, and other factors.
Real estate investment trusts (REITs): These are pools of money gathered by a company from investors. They’re used to buy, manage or invest in property and land (real estate) to generate income – a way of investing in commercial property without needing millions.
How the fund invests
Your money is invested in a group of funds, rather than directly in stocks and shares. This is known as a fund of funds.
Top holdingsThe following is up-to-date as of 30 September 2024.
- abrdn Global Corporate Bond Screened Tracker Fund
- abrdn Global Government Bond Tracker Fund
- abrdn Sustainable Index World Equity Fund
- abrdn Short Dated Sterling Corporate Bond Tracker Fund
- iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ESG Enhanced UCITS ETF
- iShares ESG Sterling Corporate Bond Index Fund
- iShares Continental European Equity ESG Index Fund
- abrdn SICAV I - Responsible Global High Yield Bond Fund
- Vontobel Fund TwentyFour Sustainable Short Term Bond Fund
- L&G ESG Emerging Markets Government Bond Index Fund
What you could've earned already
The graph below gives you an indication of how much you could've earned, after charges, if you had invested £10,000 in this approach five years ago. Remember, past performance isn't a reliable guide to future performance.
The following is up-to-date as of 30 September 2024.
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2019Sep-19: £10,000Sep-19: £10,000
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Oct-19: £9,926Oct-19: £9,915
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Nov-19: £9,958Nov-19: £9,975
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Dec-19: £9,997Dec-19: £9,983
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Jan-20: £10,055Jan-20: £10,085
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Feb-20: £9,914Feb-20: £10,013
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Mar-20: £9,209Mar-20: £9,567
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Apr-20: £9,546Apr-20: £9,923
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May-20: £9,783May-20: £10,134
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2020Jun-20: £9,954Jun-20: £10,268
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Jul-20: £9,962Jul-20: £10,313
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Aug-20: £10,018Aug-20: £10,385
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Sep-20: £10,054Sep-20: £10,418
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Oct-20: £9,978Oct-20: £10,341
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Nov-20: £10,360Nov-20: £10,653
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Dec-20: £10,475Dec-20: £10,741
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Jan-21: £10,408Jan-21: £10,670
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Feb-21: £10,320Feb-21: £10,570
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Mar-21: £10,404Mar-21: £10,667
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Apr-21: £10,542Apr-21: £10,814
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May-21: £10,542May-21: £10,795
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2021Jun-21: £10,682Jun-21: £10,970
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Jul-21: £10,723Jul-21: £11,066
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Aug-21: £10,828Aug-21: £11,168
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Sep-21: £10,716Sep-21: £11,020
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Oct-21: £10,752Oct-21: £11,112
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Nov-21: £10,813Nov-21: £11,206
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Dec-21: £10,855Dec-21: £11,222
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Jan-22: £10,550Jan-22: £10,963
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Feb-22: £10,391Feb-22: £10,777
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Mar-22: £10,445Mar-22: £10,742
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Apr-22: £10,223Apr-22: £10,418
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May-22: £10,151May-22: £10,399
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2022Jun-22: £9,817Jun-22: £10,128
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Jul-22: £10,088Jul-22: £10,510
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Aug-22: £9,963Aug-22: £10,326
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Sep-22: £9,508Sep-22: £9,901
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Oct-22: £9,569Oct-22: £9,958
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Nov-22: £9,893Nov-22: £10,249
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Dec-22: £9,799Dec-22: £10,006
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Jan-23: £10,074Jan-23: £10,300
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Feb-23: £9,952Feb-23: £10,140
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Mar-23: £10,017Mar-23: £10,319
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Apr-23: £10,033Apr-23: £10,345
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May-23: £9,973May-23: £10,321
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2023Jun-23: £10,013Jun-23: £10,410
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Jul-23: £10,147Jul-23: £10,487
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Aug-23: £10,039Aug-23: £10,435
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Sep-23: £9,923Sep-23: £10,287
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Oct-23: £9,781Oct-23: £10,159
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Nov-23: £10,151Nov-23: £10,536
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Dec-23: £10,533Dec-23: £10,897
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2024Jan-24: £10,465Jan-24: £10,904
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Feb-24: £10,495Feb-24: £11,012
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Mar-24: £10,701Mar-24: £11,189
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Apr-24: £10,565Apr-24: £10,978
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May-24: £10,627May-24: £11,121
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Jun-24: £10,775Jun-24: £11,287
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Jul-24: £10,850Jul-24: £11,436
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Aug-24: £10,956Aug-24: £11,527
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Sep-24: £11,072Sep-24: £11,627
| September 2019 to September 2020 | September 2020 to September 2021 | September 2021 to September 2022 | September 2022 to September 2023 | September 2023 to September 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This fund | 0.5% | 6.6% | -11.2% | 4.4% | 11.6% |
| Performance Comparator* | 4.2% | 5.8% | -10.2% | 3.9% | 13.0% |
*The fund doesn’t use a benchmark as a guide for investing or as a target to beat. But we do use a performance comparator which investors may want to compare the fund’s performance against. This comprises 30% shares and 70% bonds. Shares are represented by the MSCI All Countries World Index GBP, whilst bonds are represented by the Bloomberg Global Aggregate Bond Index – GBP Hedged. The fund invests differently to the performance comparator therefore returns will always be different. For example there are differences in the way the fund is built vs. the comparator, along with the cost of investing, which is included for the fund return, but not the comparator. You cannot invest in the performance comparator.
Source: Lipper, year on year, 30 September 2019 to 30 September 2024, bid to bid with net income reinvested.
Key information
In our important documents you’ll see our Cautious Growth approach referred to as the Virgin Money Growth Fund 1. Before applying, please make sure you’ve read the following:
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Got a question?
We've got the answer:
We make things easy to help you understand and choose the approach that’s right for you. There are guides to get you started and if anything needs a bit more explanation, just give us a call on 03455 28 88 52.
We can’t give you financial advice though, so if you need advice you could try:
Our ready-made investment approaches put your money into a wide range of investments, so you only need one. Just choose the approach that gives you the mix of risk and potential reward you're happy with – and we'll do the rest.
If your needs change after you've opened your account, it's simple to switch to a different approach or add a new one.
Yes. It's a good idea to review your investments regularly – and it's simple to switch all or part of your money to a new approach. Just sign in to Online Service and follow the on-screen instructions.
More about our assumptions
Close ModalWhat you’ll pay in
We assume you’ll keep making the same regular payments throughout the time you’re investing with us.
Imagining the future
We consider past performance when estimating possible outcomes for your investment based on how much you invest, for how long and how the market might perform. However, past performance isn’t a reliable guide to future performance – investments can go up or down.
To work out this estimate we do lots of calculations behind the scenes. To keep it reasonable, we ignore both the highest and lowest 5% of results when we show you the estimated value rangeWhat your investment could be worth. and the low and high selected market scenarioHow stock markets perform generally..
Cash returns
To estimate the equivalent potential cash returns we based our forecast returns from a cash (or near cash) investment fund. This simulates the effects of holding cash as an asset, instead of holding cash with a bank.
Considering inflation
We show what your investment might be worth in today's money, after allowing for inflation. We consider lots of possibilities for inflation, rather than a single fixed % because the rate of inflation can rise and fall over time. Inflation reduces the value of what you can buy in the future as well as the value of your savings.
Deducting our charges
We remove our two charges (Account Charge and Annual Management Charge) from the returns as we calculate your estimate, assuming they’ll stay the same throughout the time you’re investing with us.
Rounding things off
Finally, we round our estimates down a bit, just to make the numbers a bit easier to read - remember they’re only a guide and the estimated returns aren’t guaranteed. But we hope they help.
So that’s how we work out your estimate.
Remember, these are only indications. What you get back will depend on how the funds perform, if you make changes to the length of time you’re investing, and if you change the amount you put in.