VIRGIN MONEY PENSION BOND FUND

This fund puts your money into bonds issued by the UK Government and highly rated companies.

Pie to show Bond and Gilt fund, 50% bond and 50% gilt.

Typical Fund Mix

50% in UK Government bonds (gilts).
50% in corporate bonds.

Where your money's invested

This fund invests 100% in bonds, which typically means lower potential returns and lower risk than shares.

Typically around 40-50% of your money is invested in GBP denominated bonds issued by companies and supranational organisations, such as the European Investment Bank, with relatively strong credit ratings.
Up to 10% can be invested in higher yielding bonds with less strong credit ratings.
The remainder will be invested in government bonds, mostly UK.
We won’t invest in bonds issued by companies that make more than 5% of their earnings from the sale of tobacco products, thermal coal, the manufacture of controversial weapons or those that violate the UN Global Compact principles of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption.
Most bonds will be between 5 and 15 years in maturity, but we may also invest in shorter / longer bonds.

Which regions?

The following is up-to-date as of 30 September 2023

60.9%	UK
21.9%	Europe (excluding UK)
14.9%	North America
0.9%	Asia Pacific
1.4%	Latin America

Top bonds

The following is up-to-date as of 30 September 2023

49.0%	UK Treasury*
1.1%	Vodafone Group 5.9% 2032
0.8%	Telefonica Emisiones SAU 5.445% 2029
0.7%	European Investment Bank 3.875% 2037
0.7%	AT&T 4.737% 2029
0.7%	Lloyds Banking Group Plc 2.707% 2035
0.7%	Barclays Plc 8.41% 2032
0.7%	Northumbrian Water Finance Plc 5.625% 2033
0.6%	KPN 5.75% 2029
0.6%	National Grid Electricity Transmission Plc 2.75% 2035

*The total value invested in UK Treasury Bonds (Gilts), split across 5 to 15 year maturities

How has this fund performed in recent years?

This fund changed strategy on 1 December 2022. The performance shown below relates to the previous strategy and benchmark. It shows year-on-year performance for the past 5 years compared with the fund benchmark.

Remember, past performance is not a reliable guide to the future. The value of your investment can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. This is a medium to long term investment so you should be prepared to invest your money for at least 5 years.

Percentage growth

	Sept 2018 to Sept 2019	Sept 2019 to Sept 2020	Sept 2020 to Sept 2021	Sept 2021 to Sept 2022	Sept 2022 to Sept 2023
Virgin Money Pension Bond Fund	8.8%	2.4%	-4.0%	-22.0%	3.7%
Benchmark	9.9%	3.0%	-3.4%	-21.8%	5.2%

Source: Lipper, year on year, 30 September 2018 to 30 September 2023, bid to bid with net income reinvested.

If you had invested £10,000 in the Virgin Money Pension Bond Fund on 30 September 2018, it would be worth £8,650 after charges on 30 September 2023.

Charges and account information

Charges

With this fund you'll only pay the annual ongoing charge.

Annual ongoing charge	0.60%
Other fees	None

Other information

Min balance	From £1
Tax relief	All contributions automatically topped up by 25%. You may be able to claim more. Show risk vs reward help Close risk vs reward help Tax relief means the taxman tops up each pension payment by 25%, whether you're employed, self-employed or not employed. Each year, most people can contribute tax-free up to the lower of 100% of your salary or £40,000. However the rules can be complicated so if you are unsure visit HMRC's Tax On Your Private Pension Contributions Link opens in a new window for more information. If you earn £200,000 or more the rules for you are different and you should read about the Government’s new tapered annual allowance Link opens in a new window. Tax depends on your individual circumstances and may change in the future.
Regular payments	Start and stop your payments or change your payment amount whenever you need to.
Pay in additional lump sums	At any time
Switch funds	At any time
Employer contributions allowed	Yes
Transfers allowed	Yes
Service	24/7 online access and UK-based call centres
FSCS protection	Up to £85,000 of your pension savings are protected by the FSCS

Please bear in mind, the value of your investment can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invest. Tax benefits and tax rules depend on individual circumstances and may change in the future. The earliest you can normally take your pension savings is your 55th birthday. If you stop or reduce your payments you will reduce the amount you get back from your pension.

You do not have the right to cancel stock market based investments like the Virgin Stakeholder Pension that are sold over the phone or online.

You can invest in any of our funds within your pension, in any combination, and switch between them whenever you like, for no extra charge.

Take a look at our other funds