The ability to invest in a wide range of assets once again benefits the With-Profits Fund despite uncertain economic conditions

In 2024 concerns over interest rate expectations continued as geopolitics and ongoing military conflict dominated the news. Overall, many markets saw growth in an unpredictable environment. Our With-Profits customers have benefitted from investing in a large, multi-asset, globally diversified fund during this period, with our fund managers seeking out opportunities across a wide range of different asset types. A positive return of 7.3% (gross of tax) was achieved.

2024 was a year of positive performance and economic growth in an uncertain economic environment. Some key themes were:

• Continually changing interest rate expectations.
• Political uncertainty including the UK and US elections and ongoing military conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East.
• Strong equity performance in many markets, particularly the US and India. Notably, the AI boom pushed another year of large gains in technology stocks.

Meanwhile bond markets, while mostly positive, were more muted. Our With-Profits Fund invests in a wide range of globally diversified assets so was able to capture positive returns in some places and avoid difficulty in others. The Fund’s performance has added to its already strong longer-term record, relative to its peers.

We’ll continue to source and invest in assets that build diversification and help meet the objective of securing the highest total return for the Fund (after any tax and investment expenses) while maintaining an acceptable level of risk and protecting our customers. We’ll also continue to consider our Environmental, Social and Governance aims as they apply to the Fund.

The value of any investment can go down as well as up so your customer might not get back the amount they put in. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

What the Fund is invested in

As at 31 December 2024 and 2023, the main asset pool within the Prudential Assurance Company Limited With-Profits Fund, which is relevant to the vast majority of our customers, had the following asset allocations:

Source: Prudential

Clive Bolton, Chief Executive Officer, M&G Life, said: “The Prudential With-Profits Fund delivered a strong return in 2024 despite ongoing uncertainty due to political events, conflicts and higher interest rates. Our global diversification paid off as most of our fixed income and regional equity portfolios performed well and we saw positive returns from UK real estate. Our careful, long-term investment approach keeps providing good customer outcomes and looks to protect those customers from short-term adverse movements in markets.

The Fund is the biggest With-Profits fund in the UK, giving us the ability to continue to invest in a wide range of assets and companies. We will monitor markets and understand any opportunities or risks that emerge over 2025 to best position the Fund to deliver for our customers.”

Read more information on the 2025 With-Profits Bonus Declaration.