Soon, the way your pension is invested will change.

After a thorough review, Creative Pension Trust’s Board of Trustees have decided to change the investment options available to members of our Creative Auto Enrolment Pension plan. If you’ve just received a communication about this from us, this page will explain more about the changes, what they mean, and the options you have.

What’s changing?

  • In 2022, Creative Pension Trust became part of Cushon Group, a leading UK provider of workplace savings, investments and pensions. Since then, we’ve been working with Cushon Group to update your investment options.
  • If we’re investing your money and making investment decisions for you (this applies to most of our members), we’ll automatically move you to a new investment approach called Cushon Core.
  • If you’re making your own investment decisions, you will have a new range of investments to choose from.
  • The content of this page is relevant to you if you’re in our Creative Auto Enrolment Pension plan. If you’re not sure, you can find the name of your plan displayed prominently at the top of the page when you log in to the Creative Pension Trust Member Portal.

Creative Pension Trust is now part of Cushon Group, a leading UK provider of workplace savings, investments and pensions.

Learn more about these changes and what they mean for you:

About Cushon

Who are Cushon?

Cushon Group is a provider of workplace savings, investments and pensions. They operate throughout the UK and Northern Ireland.

They also manage the Cushon Master Trust which, like your current pension scheme with Creative Pension Trust, is chosen by many employers to help members save for the future.

Cushon is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and The Pensions Regulator.

Visit Cushon's website

What is the relationship between Cushon and Creative Pension Trust?

In 2022, Creative Pension Trust and Creative, sponsor of Creative Pension Trust, became part of the Cushon Group. Cushon owns a number of national workplace pension schemes including Cushon Master Trust and Workers Pension Trust.

About Cushon Core, our new default investment strategy

What is Cushon Core?

Cushon Core is our new default investment strategy – a way to invest your money automatically according to your age. Cushon Core‘s primary aim is to give your money the opportunity to grow over the long term, and to do so in a sustainable way that reduces carbon emissions and benefits the environment and society.

What is a default investment strategy?

A default investment strategy is chosen by our Trustees to invest your money automatically, so you don’t need to make any decisions about where your money is invested if you don’t want to.

If you haven’t chosen your own investments before or aren’t comfortable making investment decisions, you will likely be in our existing default investment strategy, which is changing to Cushon Core.

How does Cushon Core work?

A default investment strategy like Cushon Core is designed to grow your money over the long term in a sustainable way.

While you are younger, and until you get to within 7 years of your Target Retirement Age, your pension pot is invested in a well-diversified mix of global equities and bonds. These investments are chosen to provide long-term growth potential.

When making investment decisions, our Trustees also consider how the organisations issuing these investments positively impact on the environment, people and society. This is called responsible investing and is an important element of Cushon Core. Our investment managers have been selected because they offer strong support for these considerations.

Want to learn a little more?

This short video can help clarify what happens to your money when you pay into a pension with Creative Pension Trust:

How does Cushon Core change my investments as I get older?

Once you start getting nearer towards the time you may want to access your pension, your investments will switch to focus less on growing your money and more on conserving it.

We will start changing the way your pension is invested once you get to 7 years before your Target Retirement Age. Your Target Retirement Age is when you think you might want to start accessing your pension pot.

These changes aim to reduce the likelihood of large changes in the value of your pension as you approach your Target Retirement Age. Although there are no guarantees, this can help to smooth out some of the larger ups and downs in the value of your pension.

 

How do I change my Target Retirement Age?

You can change your Target Retirement Age using the Creative Pension Trust Member Portal.

You can change it any time and it’s really important that you review it regularly if your plans change. This helps us invest your pension optimally for your age. If you don’t tell us your Target Retirement Age, we’ll assume it’s 65.

Just so you know, you don’t have to take your pension when you reach your Target Retirement Age. You can keep it until you need it.

Learn how to change Target Retirement Age

A step-by-step guide to updating your planned retirement age:

Need some help to update your planned retirement age on the Creative Pension Trust Member Portal? Check out this step-by-step video:

Who looks after my money?

Although the Trustees are ultimately responsible for looking after your pension, they appoint fund managers who invest your money in different ways. We work with a range of respected, specialist fund managers like Macquarie, Lombard Odier, Ninety One and Wellington.

What costs do I pay?

If you are in our existing default investment strategy, the costs you pay today do not change when you move to Cushon Core.

These consist of a fixed monthly membership fee and a Fund Management Charge. For Cushon Core, the Fund Management Charge is 0.4% per annum.

If you choose to select your own investments, your Fund Management Charge will vary. These are provided in your plan’s Investment Choices Guide, which is available in the Creative Pension Trust Member Portal.

What these changes aim to achieve for you

What are the reasons for this change?

The Trustees are responsible for how your pension pot is invested. After a thorough review, the Trustees have concluded that a move to Cushon Core will improve the likely financial outcomes for you and all members in our Creative Auto Enrolment Pension plan.

Additionally, the Trustees are responsible for overseeing a credible plan for transitioning Creative Pension Trust to Net Zero. As part of their review, they have concluded that the move to Cushon Core provides this plan.

How does Cushon Core lessen our impact on the climate?

We want to give you the best pension possible whilst also helping make the world a better place for you to retire into. This includes helping to tackle climate change. In the last two years, we’ve heard from many members who want to see us do more – so we are.

With the primary goal of helping to grow your pension over the long term, Cushon Core also makes an immediate 60% reduction in carbon emissions compared to equivalent investments that that do not take into account their impact on our climate.

How can I find out more about Cushon Core?

You can download the Cushon Core factsheet below. We’ll provide you with a link to this factsheet again when we write to you by email, or we’ll provide a printed copy if we write to you by post.

Download factsheetInvestment Choices Guide

You can also access the Investment Choices Guide for your plan any time which you can easily find in the Documents section on the Creative Pension Trust Member Portal. This provides more information about investing and the choices in your plan.

About selecting your own investments

What if I am currently invested in self-select funds?

Soon, the existing range of self-select investments for your plan will be closed.

You have two choices:

  1. You can invest in Cushon Core: if you’re okay with this, you don’t need to do anything. Everything will happen automatically.
  2. You can choose from our new range of self-select investment funds from 30 August: to do this, you’ll need to select them using the Creative Pension Trust Member Portal. You’ll need to make your choices between 30 August 2023 and 27 September 2023. We’ll write to you to confirm this.

What self-select funds are available to choose from?

You can choose from any number of our self-select funds according to your wishes. If you want to select your own investments, you’ll be able to do this between 30 August 2023 and 27 September using the Creative Pension Trust Member Portal:

Self-select fund Fund Manager Charge*
Cushon Sustainable Global Equity 0.465%
Cushon Sustainable UK Equity 0.424%
Cushon Sustainable Europe (ex UK) Equity 0.473%
Cushon Sustainable Japanese Equity 0.473%
Cushon Sustainable North American Equity 0.473%
Cushon Sustainable Pacific ex Japan Equity 0.473%
Cushon Sustainable Emerging Market Equity 0.620%
Cushon Fixed Interest Gilts 0.408%
Cushon Index Linked Gilts 0.408%
Cushon Sustainable UK Corporate Bonds 0.455%
Cushon Cash 0.420%
Cushon Shariah 0.670%
Cushon Global Impact 0.770%

*Please note these fund management charges are in addition to our monthly membership fee. Some funds may also have additional expenses deducted by the fund manager – details are provided on the relevant fund fact sheets. Members can find details on the total charges that apply in their Member Guide, available to download from the Creative Pension Trust Member Portal.

If I invest in one or more self-select funds, what happens as I approach my Target Retirement Age?

Unlike Cushon Core, if you choose to invest in one or more self-select funds, your investments will not automatically change when you are 7 years from your Target Retirement Age. It’s important to keep reviewing your investments the closer you get to accessing your pension to make sure they remain suitable.

How do I choose my own self-select funds?

Between 30 August 2023 – 27 September 2023, you will be able to view and select from our range of self-select funds and switch your pension pot to one or more of these funds by using the Creative Pension Trust Member Portal.

A step-by-step guide to managing your investments online:

If you’d like some help to manage your investments on the Creative Pension trust Member Portal, view our help centre article or take a look at the following video:

How can I find out more?

You can access the Investment Choices Guide for your plan any time in the Creative Pension Trust Member Portal. This provides more information about investing and the choices in your plan.

Who manages the self-select funds?

Although the Trustees are ultimately responsible for managing your pension, they appoint fund managers who are responsible for investing money paid into our self-select fund range. We work with respected fund managers like Legal & General, HSBC and Baillie Gifford to provide our range of self-select funds. You can find the fund manager details in the factsheet for each fund in the Creative Pension Trust Member Portal.

What costs do I pay?

Today you pay a fixed monthly membership fee, which will not change.

You also pay a Fund Management Charge. For Cushon Core this is 0.40% – the same as our existing default investment strategy

If you choose to select your own investments, your Fund Management Charge will vary according to each fund. These are provided in your plan’s Investment Choices Guide, which is available in the Creative Pension Trust Member Portal.

What do I need to do?

I’m happy for Creative Pension Trust to manage how my pension is invested

You don’t need to do anything. This change will take place automatically and everything will be taken care of on your behalf.

We will write to you to confirm when these changes will be made, either by email or post.

Just so you know, you can always change your investments with us at a later date if you change your mind.

I’d like to choose how my pension is invested

You will need to select your new investments online using the Creative Pension Trust Member Portal.

You’ll need to make your new selection between 30 August 2023 and 27 September 2023. We will write to you to let you know how to do this and when you will need to have made your selection by. This will be either by email or post.

Just so you know, you can always change your investments with us at a later date if you change your mind.

Getting guidance and information

MoneyHelper

You can obtain guidance and more information about workplace pensions from www.moneyhelper.org.uk, which is a government service that offers free, impartial guidance. Alternatively, you can call MoneyHelper on 0800 011 3797.

Independent financial advice

You can also get advice from an independent financial adviser, though you may have to pay for it. To find an adviser near you visit the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) who authorise and regulate independent financial advisers: https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/finding-adviser.

Need help accessing your account?

Find out how to access the Creative Pension Trust Member Portal.

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How do I find my username?

You’ll receive your username by email after you join us and make your first contribution. If you can’t find your username, you can retrieve it through the Creative Pension Trust Member Portal log-in page.

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How do I retrieve my password?

If you’ve forgotten your password, it can be reset from the Creative Pension Trust Member Portal log-in page. You just need your current username and to be able to answer one of your security questions.

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How do I unlock my account?

For security reasons, your account will be locked if you make five unsuccessful attempts to log in. You can contact us to request that your account is unlocked.

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