Recent fund changes

What’s changing?

On 22 March 2022, we were notified by Fidelity that they were temporarily suspending all transactions into their Emerging Europe, Middle East and Africa fund, which the above Royal London pension fund links to. This was due to the sanctions imposed on Russia affecting market trading conditions.

Fidelity has lifted the suspension on transactions into this fund which means the newly renamed RLP/Fidelity Sustainable Emerging Markets Equity fund will be re-opened to new money from 15/08/2023. 

In addition to the name change there are some further changes to the fund: 

• Investment Objective - This has changed from ‘the fund aims to achieve long term capital growth’ to ‘the fund aims to increase the value of investments over a period of 5 years or more’.
• Performance Benchmark - The fund’s performance benchmark has changed to MSCI Emerging Markets TR index from the MSCI Emerging EMEA NR Index.  The new benchmark is representative of the geographical locations the fund will invest in.
• Sustainable Process - The fund is part of the Fidelity Sustainable Family of funds and adheres to the Fidelity Sustainable Family framework under which at least 70% of the fund’s net assets will be invested in companies deemed to maintain sustainable characteristics. Investments with sustainable characteristics are those which the Investment Manager believes have effective governance and management of environmental and social issues, and deliver long-term sustainable outcomes through positive societal impact.

Why has the suspension been lifted?

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has put in place regulation aimed at ‘protecting investors in authorised funds following the Russian invasion of Ukraine’ which is referred to as ‘side pockets’. This now means that fund managers are able to create side pockets and move suspended assets (in this case assets held within Russia, Ukraine and Belarus) into a newly created share class, while leaving the remaining assets open and available to be valued and traded as normal.

The creation of the side pocket allows fund managers to continue managing the fund in keeping with its new investment objective. As an investor, you’ll benefit from the ongoing performance of the fund’s non-Russian assets as normal, while still keeping an interest in the suspended Russian assets through the creation of the new side pocket. Any switch out of the fund will also remove the units held in the Russian assets.

What impact do these changes have?

Since February 2022, following the Russian invasion into Ukraine, the total value of the RLP/Fidelity Sustainable Emerging Markets Equity fund has fallen by approximately 40%. This is primarily due to the value of Russian assets falling following sanctions imposed on trading Russian assets. If these sanctions were to be lifted in the future, then by withdrawing from the fund now your clients would lose any potential recovery in value. Please remember that like any other investment, the value of the non-Russian assets in the fund can go down as well as up.

You are now able pay money into this fund if you wish. Due to change of fund objective and benchmark, you may wish to review whether this fund is still suitable for you.

What about any regular contributions that have been paid into this fund?

Any regular contributions received after 22 March 2022, which would normally have been allocated to the RLP/Fidelity Emerging Europe Middle East and Africa fund, would instead have been allocated to the RLP Deferral Alternate fund while restrictions applied to the fund.  
 
The RLP Deferral Alternate fund invests in money market instruments. These may include cash, bank deposits and very short-term fixed interest investments. There may be periods when the return available from money market instruments is less than the plan charge which will result in a negative return from this fund. 
 
For those who have rebalancing in place, these payments will automatically move into the new RLP/Fidelity Sustainable Emerging Markets Equity fund the next time your policy is rebalanced after restrictions are lifted. 
 
For those who do not have rebalancing in place, these payments will remain in the RLP Deferral Alternate fund unless we receive alternative instructions for this money, which can be done at any time.

Further information

For details of the RLP/Fidelity Sustainable Emerging Markets Equity fund please see the factsheet available on this page.

For further information about these changes, please see the following communication (opens in a new window) from Fidelity.

If you would like any further information on how this affects you, please contact us on 0345 605 0050.

What’s changing?

On 2 March 2022, we were notified by JPMorgan that they were temporarily suspending all transactions in or out of their Emerging Europe Equity fund, which the above Royal London pension fund links to. This was due to the sanctions imposed on Russia affecting market trading conditions.

JPMorgan has lifted the suspension on transactions out of their fund which means that, from 15/08/2023, you can access the money you have invested in the RLP/JPMorgan Emerging Europe Equity fund. However, this fund remains closed to new premiums (both single and regular) and switches in. 

Why has the suspension been lifted?

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has put in place regulation aimed at ‘protecting investors in authorised funds following the Russian invasion of Ukraine’ which is referred to as ‘side pockets’. This now means that fund managers are able to create side pockets and move suspended assets (in this case assets held within Russia, Ukraine and Belarus) into a newly created share class, while leaving the remaining assets open and available to be valued and traded as normal.

The creation of the side pocket allows fund managers to continue managing the fund in keeping with its existing investment objective. As an investor, you’ll benefit from the ongoing performance of the fund’s non-Russian assets as normal, while still keeping an interest in the suspended Russian assets through the creation of the new side pocket. Any switch out of the fund will also remove the units held in the Russian assets.

What impact does this change have?

Since February 2022, following the Russian invasion into Ukraine, the total value of the RLP/JPMorgan Emerging Europe Equity fund has fallen by approximately 72%. This is primarily due to the value of Russian assets falling following sanctions imposed on trading Russian assets. If these sanctions were to be lifted in the future, then by withdrawing from the fund now you would lose any potential recovery in value. Please remember that like any other investment, the value of the non-Russian assets in the fund can go down as well as up.

Transactions out of the fund will no longer be delayed and will take place according to our standard terms and conditions.

What about any regular contributions that have been paid into this fund?

Any regular contributions received after 2 March 2022, which would normally have been allocated to the RLP/JPMorgan Emerging Europe Equity fund, would instead have been allocated to the RLP Deferral Alternate fund while restrictions applied to the fund.

The RLP Deferral Alternate fund invests in money market instruments. These may include cash, bank deposits and very short-term fixed interest investments. There may be periods when the return available from money market instruments is less than the plan charge which will result in a negative return from this fund.

This will continue whilst the JP Morgan fund remains closed to new money, unless we receive alternative instructions, which can be done at any time.

Further information

For details of the RLP/JPMorgan Emerging Europe Equity fund, please see the factsheet available on this page.

For further information about these changes, please see the following communication (opens in a new window) from JPMorgan.

If you would like any further information on how this affects you, please contact us on 0345 605 0050.

We’re changing the benchmark of the RLL Global Managed Pension fund to 25% UK Equities, 65% Global Developed Market Equities and 10% Emerging Market Equities. This change is designed to improve the long-term outcomes for our customers and will be implemented week commencing 12th July 2023. 

What’s changing? 

• The benchmark will change from ‘ABI UK – Global Equities –life sector average’ to ‘25% FTSE All Share Index, 65% FTSE World Index & 10% MSCI Emerging Markets ESG Leaders Index’. 
• The investment aim will change from ‘The fund is designed to outperform it’s benchmark’ to ‘The fund aims to deliver capital growth, over an investment cycle of approximately 6 to 7 years, by investing in a diversified portfolio of UK and global equities’’. 
• The Annual Management Charge (AMC) and Total Expense Ratio (TER) will remain unchanged. 

Why are we replacing the benchmark? 
 
As part of our governance process, we review the benchmark at least every three years to ensure it remains appropriate. This change aligns the geographical focus of the fund to appropriate benchmark indices.  

We’re changing the benchmark of the RLP Global Managed Pension fund to 25% UK Equities, 65% Global Developed Market Equities and 10% Emerging Market Equities. This change is designed to improve the long-term outcomes for our customers and will be implemented week commencing 12th June 2023.

What’s changing?

• The benchmark will change from 35% FTSE All Share, 55% FTSE World & 10% MSCI Emerging Markets ESG Leaders Index to 25% FTSE All Share, 65% FTSE World and 10% MSCI Emerging Markets ESG Leaders Index.
• The investment aim will change from ‘The fund is designed to outperform it’s benchmark’ to ‘The Fund aims to deliver capital growth, over an investment cycle of approximately 6 to 7 years, by investing in a diversified portfolio of UK and global equities’.
• The Annual Management Charge (AMC) and Total Expense Ratio (TER) will remain unchanged.

Why are we replacing the benchmark?

As part of our governance process, we review the benchmark at least every three years to ensure it remains appropriate. This change is the next step in an established direction to increase exposure to global markets.

We’re changing the benchmark of the RLP Global Growth Pension fund to 25% UK Equities, 65% Global Developed Market Equities and 10% Emerging Market Equities. This change is designed to improve the long-term outcomes for our customers and will be implemented week commencing 12th June 2023.

What’s changing?

• The benchmark will change from 35% FTSE All Share, 55% FTSE World & 10% MSCI Emerging Markets ESG Leaders Index to 25% FTSE All Share, 65% FTSE World and 10% MSCI Emerging Markets ESG Leaders Index.
• The Annual Management Charge (AMC) and Total Expense Ratio (TER) will remain unchanged.

Why are we replacing the benchmark?

As part of our governance process, we review the benchmark at least every three years to ensure it remains appropriate. This change is the next step in an established direction to increase exposure to global markets.

We’re changing the benchmark of the RLP BlackRock ACS Global Blend Pension fund to 25% UK Equities, 65% Global Developed Market Equities and 10% Emerging Market Equities. This change is designed to improve the long-term outcomes for our customers and will be implemented week commencing 12th June 2023.

What’s changing?

• The benchmark will change from 35% FTSE All Share, 55% FTSE World & 10% MSCI Emerging Markets ESG Leaders Index to 25% FTSE All Share, 65% FTSE World and 10% MSCI Emerging Markets ESG Leaders Index.
• The Annual Management Charge (AMC) and Total Expense Ratio (TER) will remain unchanged. 

Why are we replacing the benchmark?

As part of our governance process, we review the benchmark at least every three years to ensure it remains appropriate. This change is the next step in an established direction to increase exposure to global markets.

The following fund name changes took place in November:

Please note that the fund charges remain the same.

The following fund name changes took place in May:

Please note that the fund charges remain the same.

Royal London have made changes to the RLP Cash Plus and RLP Enhanced Cash Plus funds

The names of the funds will change as per below. This is as a result of RLAM changing the names of their equivalent funds to closer align to their investment process.

The description of the fund objectives will also change. The objectives themselves aren’t changing and the funds will continue to be managed with the same process they have previously, however the changes below provide more clarity around the process.

RLP Short Term Fixed Income

The Fund’s investment objective is to achieve a total return over rolling 12-month periods by mainly investing in cash and cash equivalents and government securities. The Fund’s performance target is to outperform, before the deduction of charges, the Bank of England Sterling Overnight Interbank Average (SONIA) by 0.5% per annum over rolling 12-month periods.

A minimum of 50% of the Fund will be invested in a combination of money market instruments, including cash, time deposits, certificates of deposit and commercial paper and floating rate notes. Government bonds are also included in this segment of the Fund. In exceptional circumstances the Fund may invest up to 100% in money market instruments.

The Fund will also invest in a range of securities, including corporate bonds and supranational & agency bonds, asset backed securities and/or transferable securities. The Fund may also make use of reverse repurchase agreements. 

The Fund may also hold a small amount of its portfolio in derivatives (investments that derive their value from another closely related underlying investment) for the purposes of efficient portfolio management.

RLP Short Term Fixed Income Enhanced

The Fund is actively managed, meaning that the manager will use their expertise to select investments to meet the objective. The Fund’s performance target is to outperform, before the deduction of charges, the Bank of England Sterling Overnight Interbank Average (SONIA) by 0.5% per annum over rolling 12-month periods.

The Fund will invest at least 70% in Short Term Fixed Income Securities. Short Term Fixed Income securities are instruments, which will have a duration of 0-18 months. In a normal market environment these instruments can be easily and quickly liquidated. Examples of these include money market instruments, government bonds and corporate bonds.

A minimum of 50% of the Fund will be invested in a combination of money market instruments, including cash, time deposits, certificates of deposit and commercial paper, floating rate notes and government bonds. In exceptional circumstances the Fund may invest up to 100% in money market instruments.

The Fund will also invest in a range of other securities, which includes corporate bonds and supranational & agency bonds, covered bonds and/or transferable securities. The Fund may also hold derivatives (investments that derive their value from another closely related underlying investment) for the purposes of efficient portfolio management.

The respective factsheets will be updated will be updated with these details soon

After discussions with Dimensional we are pleased to announce the following reductions to the Total Expense Ration of the following funds:

On 22 March 2022, we were notified by Fidelity that they were suspending new money being invested in their Emerging Europe, Middle East and Africa fund which the above Royal London pension fund links to. This is due to the ongoing situation in Ukraine affecting market trading conditions.

Fidelity note:

Due to the unprecedented situation regarding the war in Ukraine, normal market trading conditions have been significantly impaired.  Fidelity International, like many other asset managers, has experienced challenges in terms of liquidity across a number of its impacted funds, including the proportion of securities currently not tradeable, which have been significantly marked down.

It is always our duty to act in the best interests of all investors and ensure fair treatment. To do this, we need to make sure that all assets continue to be valued appropriately and that all trading activity on behalf of clients is done at a fair price.

Given the current circumstances and having looked in-depth at the options available to us to protect the interests of existing shareholders, we have decided to temporarily close the Fidelity Emerging Europe, Middle East and Africa Fund (OEIC) to new subscriptions and switches-in. Existing clients in the Fund can continue to redeem or switch out of the Fund as usual.

The outcome of this is we must also suspend new money into the RLP/Fidelity Emerging Europe, Middle East and Africa fund until the suspension on the underlying fund is lifted. This delay does not apply to members looking to exit the fund.

For further details please refer to our Q&A

For details of the RLP/Fidelity Emerging Europe, Middle East and Africa Fund, please see the factsheet available on this page.

Please also see our RLP Deferral Alternate fund factsheet

If you would like any further information on how this affects you, please contact us on 0345 605 0050.

On 28 February 2022, we were notified by JPM that they were suspending dealing on their Emerging Europe Equity fund which the above Royal London pension fund links to. This is due to having the majority of its’ investments in Russian stocks and shares and the country recently closing their stockmarket due to the current conflict with Ukraine.

What’s changing?

The outcome of this is we must also suspend trading on the RLP/JPMorgan Emerging Europe Equity fund until the suspension on the underlying fund is lifted. This means that some transactions will be temporarily restricted from the fund (for up to one month). This delay does not apply to normal retirement claims, death claims or income requirements in drawdown. 

Why JPMorgan are making this change:

Due to the escalating conflict between Russia and the Ukraine, local market trading conditions are not currently operating as they normally would do and accordingly, we are unable to manage the fund in accordance with the investment objective and policy. Given these current market conditions, and in order to protect the interests of existing shareholders, JPMorgan Funds Limited has suspended the JPM Emerging Europe Equity Fund. Unfortunately, we are unable to say how long the fund will be suspended for, but the decision will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.

Will the fund charges continue to be taken?

JPMorgan have removed the investment charge from the fund during the suspension period leading to a reduction of 0.75%. The Royal London product/admin charge will continue to be taken during this period as we continue to administer and price the fund on a daily basis.

For further details please refer to our Q&A

For details of the RLP/JPMorgan Emerging Europe Equity fund, please see the factsheet available on this page.

Please also see our RLP Deferral Alternate fund factsheet

If you would like any further information on how this affects you, please contact us on 0345 605 0050.

The following fund changes took place in November/December:

Please note that the fund charges remain the same.

The following changes have been made below:

Please note that the fund charges remain the same.

RLAM have made changes to some of their passive equity funds which directly impacts the RLP American, RLP Pacific, RLP Japan and the RLP Far East (Ex Japan) pension funds as well as the RLL Pacific life fund.

The table below shows the new fund names:

The following change has been made to the fund name and fund manager of this fund:

Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) are making changes to some of their passive equity funds. The change will start to take place from 9 August and will directly impact the RLP American, RLP Pacific, RLP Japan and RLP Far East (ex Japan) pension funds.
The changes will improve the Responsible Investment profile of the funds, whilst continuing to deliver returns in line with the traditional benchmarks with no increase in charges.

What’s changing?

The funds will move to an active management style, which will be managed within a controlled risk framework meaning the performance difference shouldn’t be more than 1% relative to the benchmark over a three year period.

They will increase and reduce allocation to companies and sectors dependent on key Environmental Social Governance (ESG) metrics such as carbon intensity, executive pay and social controversies.

What impact will this change have on the funds?

In the first instance, the carbon intensity of the funds will reduce by between 10% and 30%.  This is a significant step towards achieving the global climate ambitions of being net zero by 2050 whilst continuing to deliver returns within a controlled framework.

The benchmark will remain the same, with no increase in charges. The aim of the funds will be changing to deliver returns in line with the benchmark over a 3-year period whilst incorporating Responsible Investment and ESG considerations into the investment process.

BlackRock are changing the benchmark for two of the underlying funds which make up the RLP BlackRock ACS Global Blend pension fund. The change will come into effect at the end of June 2021.

What’s changing?

The underlying funds will now move to track an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) screened index. We do not expect these changes to impact the fund aim, which is to provide returns in line with its benchmark.

Why are BlackRock replacing the benchmark?

The change will address broad sustainability related factors and reduce risks related to a low carbon transition of the global economy.
The new indices will screen out certain stocks that do not meet specific ESG criteria such as controversial weapons, small arms and United Nations Global Compact violators as well as two fossil fuel screens related to thermal coal and oil sands.

BlackRock are changing the benchmarks of the following pension funds - RLP BlackRock ACS European Index, RLP BlackRock ACS Japanese Equity Index, RLP BlackRock ACS UK Equity Index, RL BlackRock ACS US Equity Index and RLP BlackRock ACS World (ex UK) Equity Index. The changes will come into effect at the end of June 2021.

What’s changing?

The benchmarks will move to an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) screened index. We do not expect the changes to impact the aim of the funds, which is to provide returns in line with their benchmark.

Why are BlackRock replacing the benchmark?

The changes will address broad sustainability related factors and reduce risks related to a low carbon transition of the global economy.
The new indices will screen out certain stocks that do not meet specific ESG criteria such as controversial weapons, small arms and United Nations Global Compact violators as well as two fossil fuel screens related to thermal coal and oil sands.

After discussions with Dimensional we are pleased to announce the following reductions to the Total Expense Ration of the following funds:

The following fund and fund manager changed their name.

The following fund and fund manager changed their name.