New Ireland Retirement Fund (IRIS) 2018

Retirement Fund 2018 (3) invests across a broad mix of asset classes, including equities, bonds, property, cash, alternatives, commodities and infrastructure. This diversified approach is designed to help grow and safeguard retirement savings over time. The fund uses a lifecycle approach, so the mix changes as retirement gets closer.

Retirement Fund 2018 (3) gradually switches from a higher-risk investment strategy in the earlier years to a medium/low-risk strategy as retirement approaches. This is often called a glide path, meaning the portfolio is adjusted over time to reduce risk near the target retirement date. The aim is to balance growth earlier on with more stability later.

Retirement Fund 2018 (3) is aimed primarily at pension investors who want to take a retirement lump sum and then invest in an Approved Retirement Fund (ARF) at retirement. It is part of the IRIS lifestyle investment strategy, which is built around an investor's expected retirement year. It is therefore most suitable for people planning for retirement rather than short-term investing.

Retirement Fund 2018 (3) is exposed to market movements, so its value can go up and down over time. The factsheet also highlights sustainability risks, which means environmental, social or governance issues could affect some of the investments in the fund. The fund is intended for medium- to long-term investing, which helps reduce but does not remove the risk of short-term volatility.

Retirement Fund 2018 (3) is managed by State Street Investment Management and Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM). The fund uses their investment expertise to run the lifestyle strategy and manage the changing asset mix over time. This joint management supports the fund's retirement-focused glide path.