Legal & General (L&G) has announced that it will introduce its Lifetime Advantage Funds as the new core default strategy for contract-based defined contribution (DC) clients beginning in 2025.

Launched in July 2024, the Lifetime Advantage Funds are a ‘to and through’ target date fund range offering members extended access to diverse growth assets, including private market assets.

Through the new fund, members will have exposure to 100 per cent growth assets until 15 years before retirement, including a 15 per cent allocation to the L&G Private Markets Access Fund, which has direct exposure to assets such as affordable housing, university spinouts, and renewable infrastructure.

The firm said this would be supplemented by an 85 per cent exposure to environmental, social and governance (ESG) and factor-based equity strategies, including the Sustainable Focus Equity Strategy, the Climate Action Global Equity Fund, and a technology sleeve.

As the member moves towards retirement, the Lifetime Advantage Funds will transition gradually into a more income-focused portfolio to protect growth and deliver the flexibility members increasingly seek in decumulation, they added.

The new funds have the potential to deliver value for money and better outcomes in retirement, according to L&G.

Research comparing the Lifetime Advantage Funds with the firm’s current Multi-Asset Fund default found that, based on median projections, a 20-year-old member would have a 40 per cent better retirement outcome.

L&G head of DC, Rita Butler-Jones, said: “We’re really excited to be introducing the Lifetime Advantage Funds as the new core default for our contract-based DC scheme clients.

"In our view, the funds offer members access to an innovative, growth-oriented portfolio of investments with the potential to deliver excellent performance and value over the long term.”

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