Historic fund changes

We are replacing the above underlying investment and as a result, the Schroder fund will change to the Baillie Gifford Japanese Income Growth pension fund. This change will take place week commencing 7 December 2020.

What’s changing?

• The fund name will change to RLP Japan Core Plus (Baillie Gifford Japanese Income Growth) pension fund
• The Annual Management Charge (AMC) will reduce from 1.70% to 1.57%
• The Total Expense Ratio (TER) will reduce from 1.86% to 1.58%

Why are we replacing the underlying fund?

The IAC raised concerns about the consistent underperformance from Schroders coupled with the retirement of a fund manager with a proven track record. The Baillie Gifford fund offers a strong performance track record and a significant reduction in charges.

We are replacing the above underlying investment and as a result, the Invesco fund will change to the Fidelity UK Opportunities pension fund. This change will take place week commencing 7 December 2020.

What’s changing?

• The fund name will change to RLP UK Equity Specialist (Fidelity UK Opportunities) pension fund
• The Annual Management Charge (AMC) will reduce from 1.60% to 1.34%
• The Total Expense Ratio (TER) will reduce from 1.76% to 1.51%

Why are we replacing the underlying fund?

The IAC raised concerns about the consistent underperformance from Invesco whereas the Fidelity  fund offers a strong performance track record and a significant reduction in charges.

We made the decision to restrict some transactions from our RLP Property fund effective from 30 March 2020. The decision has now been made to end this restricted period.

What’s changing?

The restricted period will end with effect from 29 September. If any of your transactions were affected by the restrictions then we will contact both you and your adviser to advise the next steps.

Why are we making this change?

The COVID-19 pandemic had caused the valuers of the properties owned by the fund to have more uncertainty in their valuations and to reflect this they attached a material uncertainty clause to their valuations. This clause has now been removed and this has allowed us to remove the restrictions that had been in place.
For more details on delayed transactions and more, read our list of questions and answers.

We are replacing the above underlying investment and as a result, the Stewart Investors fund will change to the Fidelity Emerging Markets pension fund. This change will take place week commencing 2 November 2020.

What’s changing?

• The fund name will change to RLP Emerging Markets Specialist (Fidelity Emerging Markets) pension fund

• The Annual Management Charge (AMC) will reduce from 1.80% to 1.70%

Why are we replacing the underlying fund?

The IAC raised concerns about the consistent underperformance from Stewart Investors, coupled with the fund being soft closed meaning no new Royal London customers could invest. The Fidelity fund offers a strong performance track record and opens the fund up to all members.

Please see an example of this letter here (PDF).

We are replacing the above underlying investment and as a result, the Schroder fund will change to the Baillie Gifford UK Equity Alpha pension fund. This change will take place week commencing 2 November 2020.

What’s changing?

• The fund name will change to RLP UK Equity Specialist (Baillie Gifford UK Equity Alpha) pension fund

• The Annual Management Charge (AMC) will reduce from 1.70% to 1.50%

• The Total Expense Ratio (TER) will reduce from 1.86% to 1.51%

Why are we replacing the underlying fund?

The IAC raised concerns about the consistent underperformance from Schroders coupled with above average charges making it difficult to justify the fund from a value for money perspective. The Baillie Gifford fund offers a strong performance track record and a significant reduction in charges.

Please see an example of this letter here (PDF).

The following funds and fund managers changed their name in July. Please note that the fund charges remain the same.

We’ve replaced the above underlying investment and as a result, the Rathbone fund has changed to the RLP Global Growth pension fund. This change took place week commencing 29 June 2020.

What’s changed?

• The fund name has changed to RLP Global Blend Core Plus (RLP Global Growth) pension fund

• The Annual Management Charge (AMC) reduced from 1.45% to 1.00%

• The Total Expense Ratio (TER) reduced from 2.2% to 1.87%

Why have we replaced the underlying fund?

The IAC raised concerns about the consistent underperformance from Rathbone coupled with above average charges making it difficult to justify the fund from a value for money perspective. After numerous engagements with Rathbones to discuss the reasons for performance the IAC agreed to bring the management of the fund in-house. This will result in a significant reduction in charges with no change to the fund objective.

After discussions with M&G we are pleased to announce the following reductions to the Total Expense Ratio (TER) of the following funds:

These changes will take place on the week commencing 18th May.

We've taken the decision to defer some transactions from our Property Fund as of 30 March 2020. This decision has been made in the long-term interest of our customers as a whole and we will continue to closely monitor the fund and provide updates throughout this restricted period.

What’s changing?

Some transactions which involve the Property Fund will be delayed for a period of up to six months. This delay does not apply to normal retirement claims, death claims or income requirements in drawdown.

Why are we making this change?

We've seen increasing uncertainty related to the valuation of property fund assets due to the impact of the Covid-19 virus. This has caused a number of Property funds across the industry to suspend dealing. Our property surveyors have confirmed that going forward their valuations will include a material uncertainty clause. This, combined with reduced transactions in the market, means there is an increase in the likelihood of unfair outcomes to customers and has led to our decision to suspend the fund for direct investment. Throughout this period our focus is on ensuring the best possible customer outcomes, keeping these in line with both customer expectations and fairness across customers in different situations.

Read the full list of all restricted transactions and to read our questions and answers.

We've replaced the above underlying investment and as a result, the Artemis fund will change to the Baillie Gifford UK Alpha pension fund. This change took place week commencing 23 March 2020.

What’s changed?

• The fund name changed to RLP UK Equity Specialist (Baillie Gifford UK Equity Alpha) pension fund

• The Annual Management Charge (AMC) will reduce from 1.70% to 1.50%

• The fund’s new underlying investment objective is to outperform (after deduction of costs) the FTSE All-Share Index by at least 2% per annum over rolling five-year periods. The performance objective stated is not guaranteed.

Why have we replaced the underlying fund?

The IAC raised concerns about the consistent underperformance of the Artemis fund over a significant period of time. After extensive analysis into alternative funds, the IAC decided it’s appropriate to replace the underlying fund with the Baillie Gifford UK Equity Alpha fund as it has a strong performance track record coupled with a robust investment process.

The following funds and fund managers will change their name in October. Please note that the fund charges remain the same

JPMorgan have made some changes to the JPM Global Macro Balanced Fund which is the underlying fund for the RLP/JPMorgan Global Macro Balanced pension fund.

What's changing?

• The name of the fund will change to RLP/JPMorgan Global Macro
• The benchmark will change to ICE 1 month GBP Libor.
• The aim / objective of the fund will change to the following: the fund aims to provide positive investment returns over a rolling 3 year period in all market conditions by investing in securities globally, using Financial Derivative Instruments where appropriate, with a volatility level typically lower than two-thirds of the MSCI All Country World Index (Total Return Net). A positive return is not guaranteed over this or any time period and a capital loss may occur.

Why are we making this change?

The fund has moved to a more flexible investment strategy that makes greater use of derivatives for downside protection and has the potential for better performance in changing and adverse market conditions and therefore higher prospects for growth.  

We’re changing the name of the RLP Emerging Markets Equity Tracker fund to the RLP Emerging Markets ESG Leaders Equity Tracker fund. This change will take place week commencing 18 March 2019.

What’s changing?

• The fund name will change to RLP Emerging Markets ESG Leaders Equity Tracker fund.
• The investment objective has changed  to – “The Fund aims to track the net total return of the MSCI Emerging Markets ESG Leaders Index. The Fund will invest primarily in the securities that make up the MSCI Emerging Markets ESG Leaders Index and instruments that provide exposure to these securities. The Index provides coverage of companies in emerging markets which have high environmental, social and governance (ESG) scores relative to their sector peers.”

Why are we making this change?

The change in name has been made to reflect the name change to the MSCI index that the fund is benchmarked against. The fund will continue to track the same index but the name has been updated to include ‘Leaders’.

On the 30th November the following funds and fund managers will change their name. Please note that the fund charges remain the same.

We’re replacing the above underlying investments and as a result, the Schroder funds will change to the RLP UK Equity Core Plus (JPM UK Equity Growth) pension fund. This change will take place week commencing 3 December 2018.

Why are we making this change?

The Schroder funds have suffered poor performance and the Royal London Investment Advisory Committee (IAC) has raised concerns about the consistent underperformance of them over significant time periods.

The JPM UK Equity Growth fund has a strong performance track record coupled with a robust investment process.

The RLP/M&G Global Leaders fund will merge into the RLP/M&G Global Themes fund on Friday 25th May 2018.

What’s changing?

• The fund name will change to the RLP/M&G Global Themes fund.
• The benchmark will remain as MSCI AC World Index.
• There is no change to the fund’s annual management charge (AMC).
• The M&G Global Themes fund aims to provide a higher total return (the combination of capital growth and income) than that of the MSCI ACWI Index over any five-year period.
• The M&G Global Themes fund policy is to invest at least 80% of its Net Asset Value in the equity securities of companies across any sectors and market capitalisations that are domiciled in any country, including emerging markets. The Fund may also invest in collective investment schemes, other transferable securities and may hold cash for liquidity purposes. Derivatives may be used for efficient portfolio management.

Why are M&G making this change?

Following a thorough review of the M&G Global Leaders fund, it was highlighted that it had similar characteristics to the M&G Global Themes fund. M&G consider the merger to be in the best interests of investors and the recent shareholder vote upheld the decision.

What other options are there?

If you wish, you can choose another investment option available to you. You can find full information on our fund range by visiting the investment options page. If you’re unsure about the best course of action you should speak to a financial adviser

We are removing the RLP US Specialist (JP Morgan US) pension fund from our fund range. As an interim measure by JPMorgan Funds Limited the RLP US Specialist (JPMorgan US) fund will be merged with the RLP US Specialist (JPMorgan US Select) fund on 28 April 2018.

Then on the 18 June 2018 all assets held in the RLP US Specialist (JPMorgan US Select) fund will be moved to the RLP US Core Plus (Old Mutual North American).

Why are we making the change?

The JP Morgan fund has suffered from poor long-term underperformance and the fund’s rating was downgraded by Morningstar. Our Investment Advisory Committee (IAC) has concerns around the level of risk and positions being adopted by the fund coupled with the performance issues

The AMC for the underlying Columbia Threadneedle Absolute Return Bond has been reduced, so we have reduced the AMC of our RLP Columbia Threadneedle Absolute Return Bond accordingly:

Due to a change to clean share classes the following Fidelity funds have reduced their Annual Management Charge (AMC) as at 27 November 2017.

We are making a change to the RLP UK Ethical pension fund, the fund name will change to the RLP Sustainable Leaders pension fund along with the investment process and fund objective. This change will take place week commencing 30 October 2017.

We have issued letters (PDF) and an insert Important changes to the RLP UK Ethical pension fund (PDF) to all our customers invested in the fund detailing the change and what this means for their investment.

Why are we making this change?

We are making this change because we believe this will lead to better risk adjusted return over the long-term.

We’re replacing the above underlying investment and as a result, the fund will change to RLP Europe Specialist (Columbia Threadneedle European Select) pension fund. This change will take place week commencing 30 October 2017.

We have issued letters (PDF) to all our customers invested in the fund detailing the change and what this means for their investment.

Why are we making this change?

The Neptune fund has suffered from very poor performance over the last five years. The Royal London Investment Advisory Committee (IAC) has raised concerns with the magnitude of risk taken within the fund. In addition, Morningstar have lost confidence in the manager’s ability to add value over and above the benchmark.

On the 25 August 2017 the RLP/Baillie Gifford (50:50) Worldwide Equity pension fund has changed its name to the RLP/Baillie Gifford (60:40) Worldwide Equity pension fund. Please note that the fund charges remain the same.

We are replacing the underlying fund held within the RLP Europe Specialist (Neptune European Opportunities) and as a result, the underlying fund will change to the Columbia Threadneedle Select fund. This change will  take place week commencing 30 October 207.

Why are we making this change?

The Neptune fund has suffered from poor performance and the Royal London Investment Advisory Committee (IAC) has raised concerns about the consistent underperformance of the fund over a significant time period.

The Columbia Threadneedle Select fund has a strong performance track record coupled with a robust investment process.