On 19 November 2020, we closed the Scottish Equitable Absolute Insight Equity Market Neutral fund, available as part of our insured pension, life and Aegon Retirement Choices (ARC) fund ranges.
When the fund closed, we moved remaining investors into the Aegon ASI Global Absolute Return Strategies fund, free of any switch charges.
We’ll be writing to all those affected to let them know about the closure. Due to the circumstances behind this fund closure, in this case it’s not been possible to give our standard notice period of 60 days. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
The Fund Charge* for ARC investors increased from 0.86% to 0.91%.
The Total Charge** for pension and life investors increased from 1.86% to 1.91%.
* This is on top of any product or adviser charge and includes a fixed management fee plus expenses that vary with the day–to-day costs of running the fund.
**This includes a standard 1% product charge, a fixed management fee and expenses that vary with the day to day costs of running the fund. You may pay a different product charge.
Why we closed the fund
The underlying fund manager, Insight Investments, decided to close the underlying fund on 24 November 2020.
In preparation for this, on 19 November we closed the Scottish Equitable version of the fund and moved existing investors into the Aegon ASI Global Absolute Return Strategies fund.
More about the Aegon ASI Global Absolute Return Strategies fund
We’ve selected the Aegon ASI Global Absolute Return Strategies fund as we believe it to be the most comparable fund available within our fund range, in terms of what the fund invests in and what it aims to do.
This fund aims to achieve positive investment returns in all market conditions over the medium to long term. It invests in a combination of traditional assets (such as shares and bonds) and derivative techniques resulting in a highly diversified portfolio. The fund uses derivatives to gain exposure to the returns of the specified equity and bond markets without having to directly own the underlying securities. You would therefore expect the fund to experience similar (allowing for charges) returns and risk to the markets it invests in.
For more information on the alternative fund you can view the fund factsheet via the 'Fund performance and prices' page.
There’s no guarantee the fund will meet its objectives. The value of an investment can fall as well as rise and is not guaranteed. Investors could get back less than they originally invested.
What current investors need to do
If current investors are happy for their investment to remain in the Aegon ASI Global Absolute Return Strategies fund, they don’t need to do anything.
However, if investors feel that this fund isn’t suitable for them, they can switch their investment and redirect any future investment, free of any switch charge, into an alternative fund or funds of their choice. They can do this by filling in and returning an ‘Alteration of fund choice’ form.
If you would like more information, please speak to a financial adviser. If you don’t have one you can find one in your area at moneyadviceservice.org.uk