The Lemon Fool

I have a SIPP with AJ Bell and recently accessed my pension and need to invest my drawdown pot. I am considering buying the AJ Bell Cautious fund. When I tried to buy, I found 3 different funds:

BYW8RV9 VT AJ Bell Cautious I Acc (FUND:BYW8RV9) ISIN GB00BYW8RV97
Start Date:18/04/2017 Price: 114.42

BKY6962 VT AJ Bell Cautious IP2 Acc (FUND:BKY6962) ISIN GB00BKY69622
Start Date: 26/01/2021 Price: 1.02

BKY6984 VT AJ Bell Cautious IP4 Acc (FUND:BKY6984) ISIN GB00BKY69846
Start Date:26/01/2021 Price: 1.02

These funds are identical in respect of fund asset allocation and fund holdings. The only difference is the start date and price.

Is it better to buy the IP2 or IP4 funds, which have a lower price but have been only operating since 2021 or is it better to buy the fund which has been operating since 2017 at a higher price?

I'd be inclined to 'phone AJB and ask them to explain the differences between the 3 versions of the fund

The "IP" stands for "Investment Pathway", and refers to your intention for the money over the next 5 years. This seems to be the place to start reading about them:
https://www.youinvest.co.uk/pensions-an ... t-pathways
https://www.youinvest.co.uk/faq/how-do- ... thway-fund

EthicsGradient wrote:The "IP" stands for "Investment Pathway", and refers to your intention for the money over the next 5 years.

Investment Pathway option 1 – I have no plans to touch my money in the next 5 years
Investment Pathway option 2 – I plan to use my money to set up a guaranteed income (annuity) within the next 5 years
Investment Pathway option 3 – I plan to start taking my money as a long-term income within the next 5 years
Investment Pathway option 4 – I plan to take out all my money within the next 5 years

I'd suspect the pathways will have various mixtures of bond funds and equity funds, and within equity funds, those designed for growth and those designed for income.