Your investment choices include shares, property, bonds and cash. These different types of investments have different characteristics.
Some are riskier than others. The riskier funds may experience greater changes in value (both up and down) in the short term, but they aim to produce higher returns in the long term. Others are more stable, but less likely to produce as high returns in the long term. The chart below shows how investment types are generally expected to perform in terms of their riskiness and likely returns.
Please note, there is no guarantee of how investments will perform, these are general rules that have applied in the past.
Through the Mastertrust you can invest in:
Cash – This is similar to putting your money in a savings account and earning interest on it. Cash is lower risk than equities or bonds, but the expected return is lower too.
Bonds and gilts – Bonds are loans issued by companies and governments and pay interest for a set period. UK Government bonds are called gilts. Bonds and gilts are generally low risk and have lower expected returns than equities.
Property – This can be residential or commercial and the returns will be based on rent and property values. Property tends to be lower risk than investing in equities but higher risk than cash and bonds.
Diversified growth funds – These invest in a range of assets, some riskier than others, with the aim of spreading the risk and generating regular good returns. A diversified growth fund tends to be lower risk than an equity fund but higher risk than bond and cash funds.
Equities – These are shares in companies, either in the UK, Europe, or worldwide. In the long term, equities have higher expected growth than bonds or cash. In the short term equities may change in value (both up and down) dramatically. This makes them a higher risk than the other investment types.
Where am I invested?