Preservation funds are not available to investors for direct investments. This investment vehicle is only available to members of pension or provident funds who are terminating their employment and who wish to preserve their benefits for retirement. Preservation funds have the same attributes and characteristics of the pension and provident funds they emulate. The key difference is that they only take one single contribution in the form of a transfer from a pension fund or provident fund. Members are not allowed to make any further contributions. The second anomaly is that members of a preservation fund can gain access to their funds on one occasion prior to the stipulated retirement date.