QUESTION AND ANSWERS

We’d normally write to financial advisers about the fund suspensions, but because they’re unlikely to be working at their office at this time, we may not manage to contact them.

This letter (PDF, 186KB), will be sent to customers who are invested in any of the suspended funds.

No. No new payments (whether one off or regular payments) can be made into a fund while it is suspended.

Any money already invested in a suspended fund will remain invested there. Any new payments we receive after the date the fund was suspended will be held in the Retirement Account Control Account unless we’re asked to invest it in another fund. The interest rate we pay on money invested in the Control Account is currently 0%.

Choosing where to invest is a very important decision to make and we strongly recommend customers should speak to their financial adviser before making any investment decisions. Financial advisers will be able to change investments through our online services. Advisers will normally charge for any advice.

• No switches can be made in or out of a fund while it is suspended. We can however invest any new money received, after the fund was suspended, into another fund or funds.
• If we do receive a request to switch into or out of a suspended fund, we will let the financial adviser know the fund is suspended and explain that we can’t carry out the switch request.
• If the suspended fund is included in an adviser portfolio (Portfolio Management System) rebalancing of that portfolio will no longer work. Advisers should not use this functionality during the time of the fund suspensions if any of their clients has any suspended property funds in their portfolio.
• If a customer is invested in a suspended fund and the adviser tries to rebalance the funds using our End State Switching option, the rebalance won’t work. Advisers shouldn’t use this function during the time of the fund suspension. Instead Advisers should consider what fund switches they would want to make, instead of a full re-balance.

• If the money is invested in a suspended fund, it won’t be possible to sell any units in that fund to take a lump sum/income while the fund is suspended. However, customers will still be able to sell units in any other funds which are not suspended, to take lump sum/income payments. If we receive a request to sell units in a suspended fund, we’ll contact the adviser and let them know the fund has been suspended and ask for a new instruction.
• It will still be possible to re-register (designate) suspended funds from Retirement Planning to Retirement Income as there is no buying or selling involved.

It won’t be possible to sell any units in a suspended fund until the suspension is lifted. We’ll contact the financial adviser and tell them we are unable to sell the fund holding. We will ask if they want to proceed. If they do, we will transfer out the value of the open funds. We will advise the receiving scheme that the additional funds will follow at a later date when the fund suspension is lifted.

If, however, the request is to transfer a Retirement Income (Drawdown) plan, we won’t be able to proceed with a partial transfer as legislation doesn’t allow this.

It won’t be possible to sell any units in a suspended fund until the suspension is lifted. We’ll contact the adviser and tell them we are unable to sell the fund holding and that we will have to wait until the suspension has been lifted. Annuity providers (including Scottish Widows) can’t accept additional small amounts where an annuity has already been purchased.

• Partial UFPLS – It won’t be possible to sell any units in the suspended fund(s) until the suspension is lifted. We’ll contact the adviser and tell them the fund is suspended and can’t be sold at this time. We’ll ask them how they want to proceed. If they want to proceed we will pay out the value of the open fund(s).
• Full UFPLS – It won’t be possible to sell any units in the suspended fund(s) until the suspension is lifted. We’ll contact the adviser and tell them the fund is suspended and can’t be sold at this time. We will ask them how they want to proceed. If they want to proceed we will pay out the value of the open fund(s) as a partial UFPLS. Once the fund suspension is lifted we will contact the adviser again to check if they want to proceed with the balance of the payment.

• Partial ad hoc payments – It won’t be possible to sell any units in the suspended fund(s) until the suspension is lifted. We’ll contact the adviser to let them know the fund is suspended and can’t be sold at this time. We’ll ask them how they want to proceed. If they want to proceed we will pay out the value of the open fund(s).
• Full ad hoc payments – It won’t be possible to sell any units in the suspended fund(s) until the suspension is lifted. We’ll contact the adviser to let them know the fund has been suspended and can’t be sold. We will ask the adviser how they want to proceed. If they want to proceed, we will pay out the value of the open fund (i.e. a partial ad hoc income payment). Once the fund is unsuspended we will contact the adviser again to check if they wish to proceed with the balance of the income payment.