Market leading active investments
Today in Ireland, most company pension scheme assets are invested in multi-asset funds. Through our market leading and award-winning active investment managers, Zurich delivers the two key requirements for successful multi-asset investing – out-performance and peace of mind.*
Delivering out-performance
For company pension schemes, consistent fund out-performance is key as it leads to better retirement outcomes for members. As active fund managers, Zurich make investment decisions every day that we think will lead to a better outcome for pension scheme members. We have been voted number one for investment excellence for the last eight years by Brokers Ireland at the Financial Excellence Awards, most recently in 2022.*
Peace of mind for scheme members
We deliver peace of mind through our investment solution which gradually de-risks members’ assets based on their age and time to retirement. Our default investment strategy is a ‘life styling’ strategy, that automatically ensures members’ are invested in the most appropriate asset mix based on the particular phase of their working life. Choosing Zurich is a good decision, one that your employees will thank you for when they retire.
Default investment strategy
If you choose Zurich Master Trust for your company pension scheme, all trustee duties are carried out by Zurich Ireland Master Trustee DAC (ZIMT), including selecting the default investment option, Personalised GuidePath.
Personalised GuidePath has won an innovation award** for its design and is transforming the way trustees, employers and members engage with their scheme investments. One of the key advantages of Personalised GuidePath is the flexibility members have to personalise their benefits while investing in the default investment strategy.
With Zurich's Prisma multi-asset funds as the bedrock, Personalised GuidePath invests members in higher risk funds when members are a long way from retirement and then gradually moves them into lower risk funds as they approach their retirement age.
The flexible design and online tools available with GuidePath will increase your employee's engagement with their pension, helping to broaden their understanding of how their pension is invested.
Active asset management
Our goal is to add value through our expertise, and investments are selected to take advantage of opportunities throughout the economic cycle, utilising a disciplined and flexible approach. We believe that active asset allocation is the main driver of returns and financial markets will always give opportunities to good active managers like Zurich.
Sustainability and Responsible Investment
As an investment manager, Zurich is conscious of the need to ensure that we invest policyholder and shareholder funds responsibly. As a global Group, Zurich is committed to Responsible Investment and is a signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment. For Zurich, Responsible Investment is all about ‘doing well and doing good’.
The Zurich investment team
Working as a close-knit team in Blackrock, Dublin, our investment team has amassed years of experience in fund management. Our team of investment professionals’ share market insights daily to help make decisions every day that we think will lead to better outcomes for our customers. Allocation decisions are made by the Asset Allocation Group, which meets formally on a weekly basis. However, as all members work together on the same investment dealing floor, discussion is ongoing, which allows for immediate analysis of, and reaction to, market changes.
*Source: Brokers Ireland, November 2022
** Awarded ‘Best Innovation in Financial Services 2017’ at the Longboat Analytics awards.
