On 25 October 2022, we’re closing the below funds, which are available as part of our insured Pension and Aegon Retirement Choices (ARC) fund ranges.
When this happens, we’ll move remaining investors into the below alternative funds, unless they tell us to move them elsewhere before then:
- Investors in the Scottish Equitable Janus Henderson Absolute Return fund will move to the Aegon Stability fund
- Investors in the Scottish Equitable Lazard UK Alpha fund will move to the UK Equity Tactical fund
We’ll be writing to all those affected in advance to let them know about the closures.
Why the funds are closing
We constantly monitor and refine our fund ranges. The funds haven’t grown in size as we’d expected, so we’ve decided to close the funds.
What this means for investors
Investors can stay invested and continue to pay in any regular contributions until the funds close. Then, on 25 October 2022, we’ll automatically switch their existing investment and all future contributions into the alternative funds, free of any switch charges.
Further details on the alternative funds, including charges, can be found in the tables below:
| Closing fund | Alternative fund |
|---|---|
| Scottish Equitable Janus Henderson Absolute Return fund | Aegon Stability fund |
| Total Charge* (for Pension investors) | |
| 1.94% | 1.86% |
| Fund Charge** (for ARC investors) | |
| 0.94% | 0.86% |
| Aegon Stability fund | |
| The fund aims to preserve the pension pot you have built up over the years by investing in a wide variety of investments including equities (company shares), and bonds (corporate or government), currencies, money market instruments, commodities and alternative investments from all over the world, directly or using derivative strategies. The fund aims to deliver a better return than you’d achieve from a bank deposit account over 3 to 5 years even if markets go down in value. In addition, if there’s a sudden fall in markets, we wouldn’t expect this fund to fall by more than 5%, although this is not guaranteed. | |
| Closing fund | Alternative fund |
|---|---|
| Scottish Equitable Lazard UK Alpha fund | UK Equity Tactical fund |
| Total Charge* (for Pension investors) | |
| 1.65% | 1.10% |
| Fund Charge** (for ARC investors) | |
| 0.65% | 0.41% |
| UK Equity Tactical fund | |
| This fund aims to outperform the FTSE All Share index by investing in a concentrated portfolio of UK equities (company shares) across all major industrial sectors of the UK equity market. | |
*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. Investors may pay a different product charge, in which case the Total Charge would be different.
**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 running of the fund.
For more information on the alternative funds above you can view the fund factsheet via the ‘Fund prices and performance’ page and viewing ‘Other fund ranges’ or ‘Aegon Retirement Choices (ARC)’.
There’s no guarantee the funds will meet their objectives. The value of an investment can fall as well as rise and is not guaranteed. Investors could get back less than they pay in.
What current investors need to do
If current investors are happy for us to move their investment into the alternative funds above, they don’t need to do anything. However, if investors feel that these funds aren’t suitable, they can switch their investment and redirect any future investment, free of any switch charge, into an alternative fund or funds of their choice.
If investors wish to do this they should complete an alteration of fund choice form and return it to us as soon as possible.
If you would like more information, please speak to a financial adviser. If you don’t have a financial adviser, you can visit moneyhelper.org.uk/choosing-a-financial-adviser to find the right one for you.