What is Freestyle?

A bond investment is a loan made to companies (bonds) or governments (gilts). Investors typically receive a fixed return on their investment or ‘interest’ on their loan. There are also index-linked gilts, linked to inflation – they don’t offer a fixed return.

Bonds and gilts typically give lower returns over a longer period than equities, but their performance is typically steadier than equities over the long term. This means they are often used to protect against the changing price of annuities.

Cash funds provide returns from short-term loans, such as cash deposits. Unlike bank deposits, prices can go up and down over time.

Such funds offer protection against stock market falls rather than offering long-term growth

Diversified growth funds spread investment risk by investing in a wide range of assets, which can include equities, bonds, property and cash.

They are expected to go up and down less in value than pure equity funds, but have a lower potential return.

An equity is another name for a share in a company. Equities are traded on stock exchanges and the prices can go up and down.

They are expected to generate higher returns over the long term than bonds or cash, but carry a higher investment risk because their value may rise and fall rapidly.

These funds attempt to make money by buying, selling and leasing commercial property.

Returns from property funds are generally higher than bonds, but lower than equities. They’re normally used as part of a long-term investment strategy.