Aviva's Pension Assured Fund adds bonus units monthly behind a £1-a-unit guarantee; its with-profits pension funds pay regular and final bonuses instead.
Aviva pension assured fund bonus rates work differently depending on which fund holds your plan: Aviva's Pension Assured Fund, or a with-profits sub-fund holding older Aviva, Norwich Union or Commercial Union pensions. Pension Wise offers free guidance, and for your own plan, especially one with a guarantee, complete the enquiry form below so an FCA-authorised adviser can talk your Aviva plan through by phone, without charge.
Aviva Pension Assured Fund: how its bonus rates and guarantee work
Aviva's guide (SP99124, February 2026) describes the Pension Assured Fund as a unit-linked fund, no longer available to new investors. Your payments buy "basic" units, and profits are added each month as "bonus" units, which are not taken away except to meet charges or when you change your retirement date.
There can be two bonus rates each month, one for basic units and one for bonus units. The basic-unit rate is reviewed monthly and linked to a benchmark fund reflecting deposit-type returns, not directly to the fund's own performance, so a bonus may be added in a month when the fund has not grown. Bonus units earn a bonus only when the fund's assets are worth more than the total number of units.
Every unit, basic and bonus, is guaranteed to be worth £1 at your chosen retirement date or on your earlier death, a guarantee Aviva says stock market falls do not affect. To support it, the mix of investments shifts: as at February 2026 the fund held 62% UK fixed interest, 32% overseas equity, 4% property, 1% UK equity and 1% cash. The value of basic units can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invested.
Leaving early is where the guarantee stops. If you move out before your chosen retirement date, by taking money, switching or transferring, Aviva may pay less than £1 a unit through a Market Depreciation Discount (MDD), set as a percentage for each year left to that date and smaller as it nears. Aviva will never apply an MDD at your chosen retirement date or on earlier death. A new retirement date must be at least two years away; postpone with under six months to go and your units move to another fund you choose, or to a deposit fund, when you reach the original date.
How an Aviva with-profits pension fund works
The with-profits sub-funds are a different product. Aviva describes a with-profits fund as "a type of investment which pools all investors' money together", classed as "a low to medium risk fund" and invested in shares, bonds, property and money market investments. Gains from good years are partly held back to support bonuses when returns are lower, a process Aviva calls smoothing.
Most sub-funds are closed to new investment, though some pension scheme members can still pay or switch in, and Aviva describes with-profits as an investment for "ideally at least five to ten years". None of the figures below predicts what your own plan will pay. Aviva's current personal pension is covered in the Aviva pension plan.
Aviva pension with-profits bonus rates: regular bonus and final bonus
The regular bonus is the one Aviva publishes as a rate. Its FLC sub-fund guide says "We decide regular bonus rates at least once a year", that a regular bonus "isn’t the same as interest from a bank or building society" and that one is not guaranteed each year; on most unitised policies it is added at least monthly through the unit price. Where a policy guarantees a minimum payout, regular bonuses raise that minimum.
The other kind is the final bonus, which Aviva also calls the terminal bonus. Its guide describes the aim as paying "any balance" between the regular bonuses already added and what the fund earned over the whole time you were invested, and says it can be added on death, on a transfer or cash-in, and on the chosen retirement date for pensions. Final bonus rates "can change at any time, aren’t guaranteed and could be zero".
The rates Aviva published for 2026
Aviva's mid-year questions and answers sheet for financial advisers (GN07103, July 2026) says the new rates took effect on 1 July 2026 and that regular bonus rates "remain unchanged from those announced at the 2025 year-end (31 December) bonus review". It gives some of the 2026 regular bonus rates for pension products:
| Aviva product and fund (as Aviva labels it) | Regular bonus rate, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Pensions, Old & New With-Profits Sub-Funds (explicitly charged; before management charges) | 5.50% |
| Stakeholder Pensions, Old & New With-Profits Sub-Funds | 5.25% |
| FLAS With-Profits Sub-Fund, With-Profits Pensions RP accumulation | 7.00% |
| FLC With-Profits Sub-Fund, With-Profits Pensions RP accumulation (FLAS2 style) | 6.50% |
| FP With-Profits Sub-Fund, Pensions (Main Series 21, 22 & 24) | 5.75% |
| Secure Growth Fund | 5.00% |
Source: Aviva, Mid-year 2026 With-profits bonus review: Questions and Answers, July 2026. The list is partial, and Aviva's FLC PPFM (1 January 2026) says every policy in a "bonus series" gets the same regular bonus rate, so a rate here does not show what your own plan received. Unless markets move sharply, Aviva expects the next change at its normal year-end review; policies in the WL With-Profits Sub-Fund are reviewed on 1 October and 1 April instead.
The same sheet gives the average change in unitised pension payouts from the 1 July 2026 declaration, which ran from +1.2% for Norwich Union business in the UKLAP sub-fund to -3.8% for Friends Life business in the FP sub-fund. Aviva's July 2026 customer update said the final bonus changes, with its latest estate distribution adjustments, would have "a modest impact on most policy pay-outs".
Market value reduction and guarantees if you move your money
In the with-profits sub-funds, a market value reduction (MVR) is a cut Aviva can make when money leaves the fund at a time the policy terms do not specify, "particularly following a large or sustained fall in the stock market". It protects those who stay in from others taking "more than their fair share of the funds", according to Aviva's PPFM. MVRs apply only to unitised policies. None was applying in July 2026, though Aviva says it has applied them before and will if necessary.
For pensions in the FLC sub-fund, Aviva says it will not apply an MVR on your original retirement date, on maturity or on death, but "may apply one on your selected retirement date if you’ve made any additional single payments, transfer payments or switches into the Sub-Fund in the previous five years". Aviva's website adds that certain pensions have an "MVR Free Guarantee" at the selected retirement date, which "is paid for through the charges that apply to the with-profits fund". Some pension policies also carry guaranteed annuity options; Aviva calls a guaranteed annuity rate "a valuable benefit", and your policy documents show whether you have one. Leaving early "may be the wrong option for you, especially if you have guarantees".
For those reasons Aviva recommends seeking financial advice before withdrawing, switching or surrendering any with-profits benefits. See how to transfer a pension, and the routes at retirement in pension annuities and pension drawdown. Request a call-back via the form to have an FCA-authorised adviser check your Aviva paperwork alongside you, free.
Which Aviva fund is my pension in?
First check whether your plan is in the Pension Assured Fund or a with-profits sub-fund. For with-profits, the sub-fund depends on where the policy began: Aviva's Old and New With-Profits Sub-Funds include ex-CGU, CGNU, Commercial Union and General Accident policies, and its With-Profits Sub-Fund includes ex-Norwich Union policies. Aviva's "Which sub-fund?" sheet (March 2017) says to check the company you took your policy out with against its table; your policy documents show that company's name. The July 2026 announcement says you can tell a unitised policy from a conventional one by whether the annual statement shows units and unit prices.
Other providers' with-profits funds are covered for Standard Life, Prudential and Phoenix; charges in general are covered in pension charges.
Aviva with-profits pension: questions people ask
Is the Aviva Pension Assured Fund a with-profits fund?
Aviva's guide describes it as a unit-linked fund that shares profits through monthly bonus units with a £1-a-unit guarantee, rather than through the regular and final bonuses of its with-profits sub-funds. Its early-exit cut is called a Market Depreciation Discount, not a market value reduction.
What is the Aviva with-profits pension fund and how has it performed?
A pooled fund paying regular and final bonuses. For the six months to 31 March 2026, Aviva reported investment returns across its 10 with-profits sub-funds ranging from 0.9% to 3.4% before tax; that is past performance, which is no guide to the future, and not what any one plan received.
Is there an Aviva with-profits pension fund factsheet?
Aviva's with-profits documents are a plain-English With-Profits Summary and a Principles and Practices of Financial Management (PPFM) setting out the technical detail.
Will I lose money if I move my Aviva with-profits pension?
You could, if an MVR applies or a guarantee is lost. Aviva says it will tell you whether an MVR applies before it takes your money out of the sub-fund.
Checking an Aviva with-profits plan before you decide
Whether to stay, switch or take benefits depends on guarantees, charges and your other income, none of which a table of rates shows. Our Aviva charges page covers fees, while an FCA-authorised adviser, reached through this page's short form, can look at guarantees, charges and income together on one call.
Sources, accessed 21 October 2026: Aviva, With-profits funds; Aviva, With-Profits Customer News, July 2026; Aviva, Mid-year 2026 bonus review Q&A; Aviva, FLC With-Profits Sub-Fund guide; Aviva, FLC PPFM, 1 January 2026; Aviva, Which sub-fund?; Aviva, Pension Assured Fund guide. Aviva's terms and rates can change.