Smart Pension investment options: a ready-made strategy, by default starting in the Smart Sustainable Growth Fund, or your own pick from 22 funds.
Where your Smart pot sits depends on your employer's set-up and on whether you have ever chosen for yourself. Pension Wise offers free guidance, covered in what Pension Wise is. Holding Smart beside older pots? An FCA-authorised adviser can compare how each one is invested; a free call to talk it through starts with this page's form. Investments can fall as well as rise, so you may get back less than you paid in.
Smart Pension default investment strategy: where you start
The default is a strategy, not one fund. Smart's member guide says "We will invest your money automatically (if not told otherwise) into the default investment strategy, which initially invests your money in to the Smart Sustainable Growth Fund." The fund aims "to deliver long-term growth while also benefiting from ESG factors by investing in companies that help solve environmental and social challenges". Its return objective is inflation (CPI) + 3.5% a year, according to Smart's May 2026 investment guide, an aim and not a promise.
Which strategy you get is set by your employer: "Your employer will choose an investment strategy for you, unless you choose otherwise, based on their pension scheme setup." A colleague at another firm may be in a different one.
Growth is only the first phase. Money is moved gradually towards lower-risk holdings as your planned retirement age nears, and the guide says "If you are not sure which one to choose, we will select the ‘flexible income (drawdown)’ target by default". Annuity and cash targets are the alternatives, so keep your retirement age up to date in your account.
Smart Pension investment options: a strategy or your own funds
There are two routes, and the guide says "You cannot choose an investment strategy and your own investment funds at the same time."
A strategy suits "members who want an easier, more hands-off approach to investing". Smart's website says there are seven. Its May 2026 guide shows how each is built: a growth fund for the early years (the guide names the Sustainable Growth Fund and a lower-charge Core version), then one of three retirement targets: flexible income, annuity or cash. The Halal Investment Strategy, managed by Wahed, is offered beside these.
Your own selection suits "members who want a more active role in managing their pension investments". Smart offers 22 funds. You decide the mix and when to change it, with no automatic move towards retirement. What the retirement choices mean is in your options at retirement.
Smart Pension fund list by type
Smart's funds page groups its funds as follows. Smart's investment guide also rates each fund for risk on its own scale; those ratings "are only meant to be a guide and are for comparison against other Smart Pension funds only", so they cannot be set against another provider's funds.
| Group | Funds listed |
|---|---|
| Multi-asset | Sustainable Growth Core; Sustainable Growth; Growth Lower Risk; Growth Higher Risk |
| Equity | World (ex UK) Developed, North America, UK, World Emerging Markets, Europe (ex-UK) and World Small Cap index funds; Active Impact Equity |
| Specialist | Ethical and Climate; Sharia; Wahed Balance, Growth and Growth+ |
| Fixed interest | All Stocks Index-Linked Gilts Index; Global Bond Index; Active Impact Bond |
| Cash | Smart Cash |
| Pre/at-retirement | Smart Income; Smart Annuity |
Smart says the Lower Risk growth fund has a lower likelihood of a high return, while the Higher Risk one offers growth potential "though this is not guaranteed". The Cash Fund aims to keep capital and match money-market rates; Smart's guide says cash offers little potential for growth. Income and Annuity funds are built for the years around retirement.
Sharia, halal and ethical funds at Smart Pension
Smart's Sharia Fund "aims to create long-term appreciation of capital through investment in a diversified portfolio of securities which meets Islamic investment principles". Three Wahed funds, designed by Wahed to meet Islamic investment principles according to the guide, sit beside it, and the guide also says a Halal Investment Strategy, created with Wahed, is also available. The fund is spelt Sharia on Smart's funds page and Shariah in its investment guide.
For other values there is the Ethical and Climate Fund, which tracks a filtered index excluding companies in industries that breach certain ethical criteria. Whether a fund fits your beliefs is for you, or someone you trust in your faith community, to judge; halal pensions in the UK covers how such funds are screened.
What do Smart Pension funds cost?
The charge depends on the fund. Smart says "Charges vary based on the selected investment choice you make"; the guide points to the Investments section of your account, at the foot of the page under Charges for investments. Smart adds that "Small transaction costs may arise when investments are bought or sold, or when funds are changed."
Default-structure figures and the monthly fee are in Smart Pension fees, with the wider picture in pension charges. For other schemes' ranges see The People's Pension funds and Scottish Widows pension funds; Scottish Widows against Smart sets the providers side by side.
How to switch Smart Pension funds in the app
Smart says "Yes, you can review and change your investments at any time in the Smart Pension app or your online account." Its member guide names the member app and the online account as the places to choose.
Weigh a few things first. Leaving a strategy for your own funds means giving up the automatic move towards retirement. Switching can bring small transaction costs. Past performance, Smart reminds readers, is not an indication of future performance. Before a switch, consider using this page's form to arrange a call: an FCA-authorised adviser, speaking to you for free, can show how your Smart funds compare with the way your other pensions are invested.
Smart Retire is Smart's option for keeping savings invested while you take a flexible income; income options are compared in pension drawdown.
Smart Pension funds: what people ask
Which is the best Smart Pension fund?
There is no single answer: it turns on your age, comfort with risk and retirement plans. Smart's guide gives general information only and says anyone wanting a recommendation for their own circumstances should see a regulated financial adviser.
Is there a Smart Pension income fund?
Yes. The Smart Income Fund aims to grow savings up to retirement and support flexible income afterwards, taking ESG factors into account.
Where are Smart Pension fund factsheets?
Smart's investment guide says fund factsheets are on its website and in your online account; on the funds page, each fund's Download link opens its factsheet.
Choosing with the whole picture
Your login shows which strategy or funds you hold. When the question goes beyond your login, you can leave your number for a call-back; an FCA-authorised adviser can lay your Smart funds beside your other pensions, and you pay nothing for it.
Sources: Smart Pension, Your pension investments and Our investment funds (pages read 29 October 2026), Investment guide (May 2026) and Member Guide (April 2026).