Historic fund changes

We’re changing the benchmark of the RLP Global Managed fund to 35% UK Equities, 55% 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 between now and the end of January 2021.
We are writing to all affected policyholders informing them of this change and how their investment is affected.

What’s changing?

• The benchmark will change from 50% FTSE All Share/50% FTSE All
World ex UK to 35% FTSE All Share/55% FTSE World/10% MSCI
Emerging Markets ESG Leaders Index.
• The investment aim will change 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 the Total Expense Ratio
(TER) will remain unchanged.

Why are we replacing the benchmark?

As part of our governance process the Royal London Investment Advisory Committee (IAC) review the benchmark every three years. This move is the next step in an established direction to increase exposure to emerging markets and reduce exposure to UK equities and is in line with our current tactical position which is overweight in both global and emerging market equities and underweight in UK equities.

We’re changing the benchmark of the RLP Global Growth fund to 35% UK Equities, 55% 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 between now and the end of January 2021.
We are writing to all affected policyholders informing them of this change and how their investment is affected.

What’s changing?

• The benchmark will change from 50% FTSE All Share/50% FTSE All
World ex UK to 35% FTSE All Share/55% FTSE World/10% MSCI
Emerging Markets ESG Leaders Index..
• The Investment Aim, Annual Management Charge (AMC) and Total Expense Ratio
(TER) will remain unchanged.

Why are we replacing the benchmark?

As part of our governance process the Royal London Investment Advisory Committee (IAC) review the benchmark every three years. This move is the next step in an established direction to increase exposure to emerging markets and reduce exposure to UK equities and is in line with our current tactical position which is overweight in both global and emerging market equities and underweight in UK equities.

We’re changing the benchmark of the RLP BlackRock ACS Global Blend fund to 35% UK Equities, 55% 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 between now and the end of January 2021.
We are writing to all affected policyholders informing them of this change and how their investment is affected.

What’s changing?

• The benchmark will change from 50% FTSE All Share/50% FTSE All
World ex UK to 35% FTSE All Share/55% FTSE World/10% MSCI
Emerging Markets ESG Leaders Index..
• The Investment Aim, Annual Management Charge (AMC) and Total Expense Ratio
(TER) will remain unchanged.

Why are we replacing the benchmark?

As part of our governance process the Royal London Investment Advisory Committee (IAC) review the benchmark every three years. This move is the next step in an established direction to increase exposure to emerging markets and reduce exposure to UK equities and is in line with our current tactical position which is overweight in both global and emerging market equities and underweight in UK equities.

We are replacing the underlying fund held within the RLP Japan Specialist (Invesco Japan) pension fund. This is one of our Matrix Funds, a group of equity funds categorised by sector and risk relative to a benchmark index. As a result, we’re replacing the underlying fund to the Baillie Gifford Japanese fund from the week commencing 7 December 2020.

We’re writing to all affected policyholders informing them of this change and how their investment is affected. Please note that we initially communicated in August that the RLP Japan Specialist (Invesco Japan) fund would be replaced with the T. Rowe Price Japanese Equity fund however there has been a change in circumstances and we can no longer link to this fund.

What’s changing?

• The fund name will change to RLP Japan Specialist (Baillie Gifford Japanese) pension fund
• The Annual Management Charge (AMC) will reduce from 1.70% to 1.57%

Why are we replacing the underlying fund?

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

We are replacing the underlying fund held within the RLP Japan Core Plus (Schroder Tokyo) pension fund. This is one of our Matrix Funds, a group of equity funds categorised by sector and risk relative to a benchmark index. As a result, we’re replacing the underlying fund to the Baillie Gifford Japanese Income Growth fund from the week commencing 7 December 2020.
We have written to all affected policyholders informing them of the change and how their investment is affected.

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 underlying fund held within the RLP UK Equity Specialist (Invesco UK Growth) pension fund. This is one of our Matrix Funds, a group of equity funds categorised by sector and risk relative to a benchmark index. As a result, we’re replacing the underlying fund to the Fidelity UK Opportunities fund from the week commencing 7 December 2020.
We have written to all affected policyholders informing them of the change and how their investment is affected.

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.

The RLP Property Fund was put into deferral on 30 March 2020. This meant that some transactions were deferred over this period. The decision has now been made to end this restricted period.

What's changing?

Our property surveyors removed the material uncertainty clause from their valuations at the mid-September valuation date. This follows guidance from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors as property market transactions are returning to pre-COVID levels providing sufficient transactional evidence on which to base valuations. This means we can remove the restrictions on the fund with effect from 29 September 2020. 

If any of your client’s transactions were affected by these restrictions, then we will contact both you and your client to discuss the next steps.

Why are we making this change?

The COVID-19 pandemic meant that the valuers weren’t seeing the level of market transactions that enabled them to confidently value the properties owned by the fund and due to this they attached a material uncertainty clause to their property valuations (MUC). They have now removed this clause, and this has allowed us to remove the restrictions that had been in place during this period.

We are replacing the underlying fund held within the RLP Emerging Markets Specialist (Stewart Investors Global Emerging Markets Leaders) pension fund. This is one of our Matrix Funds, a group of equity funds categorised by sector and risk relative to a benchmark index. As a result, we’re replacing the underlying fund to the Fidelity Emerging Markets fund from the week commencing 2 November 2020.

We have written to all affected policyholders informing them of the change and how their investment is affected.

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.

We are replacing the underlying fund held within the RLP UK Equity Specialist (Schroder UK Alpha Plus) pension fund. This is one of our Matrix Funds, a group of equity funds categorised by sector and risk relative to a benchmark index. As a result, we’re replacing the underlying fund to the Baillie Gifford UK Equity Alpha fund from the week commencing 2 November 2020.

We have written to all affected policyholders informing them of the change and how their investment is affected.

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.

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

We've replaced the underlying fund held within the RLP Global Blend Core Plus (Rathbone Global Alpha) pension fund. This is one of our Matrix Funds, a group of equity funds categorised by sector and risk relative to a benchmark index. As a result, we’ve replaced the underlying fund to the RLP Global Growth fund from the week commencing 29 June 2020.

We have written to all affected policyholders informing them of the change and how their investment is affected.

What’s changed?

• The fund name will change to RLP Global Blend Core Plus (RLP Global Growth) pension fund
• The Annual Management Charge (AMC) has reduce from 1.45% to 1.00%
• The Total Expense Ration (TER) has 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 18^th May. 

The RLP Property Fund has been put into deferral effective from 30 March2020. This means that some transactions will be temporarily restricted from the fund. 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 replacing the underlying fund?

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.

We are replacing the underlying fund held within the RLP UK Equity Specialist (Artemis UK Special Situations) pension fund. This is one of our Matrix Funds, a group of equity funds categorised by sector and risk relative to a benchmark index. As a result, we’re replacing the underlying fund to the Baillie Gifford UK Equity Alpha fund from the week commencing 23 March 2020.

We have written to all affected policyholders informing them of the change and how their investment is affected.

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 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 are we replacing 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.

Columbia Threadneedle, the manager of the underlying asset has closed this fund effective 26 July 2019. As a result, we’re switching existing and future plan investments into the RLP Absolute Return Government Bond fund.

We have written to all affected policyholders informing them of the change and how their investment is affected

Why are we making this change?

After reviewing their range of funds, Columbia Threadneedle Investments, the manager of the underlying asset, decided to close the fund due to its relatively small size, giving the following explanation:

“The Fund’s assets have fallen to a level which makes it economically unviable to manage and we consider that the Fund is unlikely to attract new investors. On this basis, we believe closure of the Fund is in the best interests of investors and we have received permission from the Financial Conduct Authority to take this action.”

As the underlying asset is no longer available, we have chosen to switch your investment to the RLP Absolute Return Government Bond fund as we believe this provides the closest match to your current investment and is also available at a lower charge.

More information about this fund change can be found in the letter attached.

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.  

The RLP Emerging Markets Equity Tracker fund is changing its name to RLP Emerging Markets ESG Leaders Equity Tracker fund.  The name change will take effect 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 fund is benchmarked against an MSCI Index and MSCI have changed the name of the index and we have changed our fund name to reflect this. 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 are replacing the underlying fund held within the RLP UK Equity Core Plus (Schroder UK Equity) pension fund and the RLP UK Equity Core Plus (Schroder Core UK Equity) pension fund. These are both Matrix Funds, a group of equity funds categorised by sector and risk relative to a benchmark index. As a result, the underlying fund for both will change to the RLP UK Equity Core Plus (JPM UK Equity Growth) pension fund from the week commencing 3 December 2018.

We have written to all affected policyholders informing them of the change and how their investment is affected

What’s changing?

• The fund name will change to the RLP UK Equity Core Plus (JPM UK Equity Growth)
• The Annual Management Charge (AMC) will remain at 1.70%
• The fund’s investment objective is to provide long-term capital growth through investment primarily in a growth style biased portfolio of UK companies.

Why are we making this change?

The Royal London Investment Advisory Committee (IAC) raised concerns about the consistent underperformance of the Schroder funds over significant time periods. After extensive analysis into alternative funds, the IAC has decided it is appropriate to replace the underlying fund with the JPM UK Equity Growth fund.

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

M&G Investments are merging the RLP/M&G Global Leaders fund into the RLP/M&G Global Themes fund.  The change to the fund will take effect 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 Investments 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.  

Following approval from our Investment Advisory Committee (IAC), we issued letters to all our customers invested in the RLP US Specialist (JPMorgan US) fund, to let them know that in June 2018, their assets would be moved to the RLP US Core Plus (Old Mutual North American) fund.

JPMorgan Funds Limited recently announced their intention to merge the JPMorgan US fund with the JPMorgan US Select fund. This merger will occur on 28 April 2018; before the movement of assets to the Old Mutual fund in June.

What's changing?

In accordance with the merger, on 28 April 2018 the underlying investment for the RLP US Specialist fund will change from JPMorgan US to JPMorgan US Select. This will result in the following changes:

• The Annual Management Charge (AMC) will reduce to 1.45%.
• The fund objective will change to invest in a portfolio of North American securities.

Following due consideration of the JPM US Select fund and as per our recent correspondence, the assets will be moved to the RLP US Core Plus (Old Mutual North American) in the week commencing 18 June 2018.

Why are we making this change?

The JPM US fund had suffered from poor long-term underperformance and sector positioning on a risk-adjusted basis. The fund’s rating was downgraded by Morningstar. The Royal London Investment Advisory Committee (IAC) raised concerns and felt recent performance provided no comfort of an upturn.

After extensive research the committee agreed with the recommendation to place the assets held in the RLP US Specialist (JPM US) fund into the RLP US Core Plus (Old Mutual North American) fund.

The movement of assets to the Old Mutual fund will proceed despite the merger of the JPMorgan US and the JPMorgan US Select fund on 28 April.

The Old Mutual North American is silver rated by Morningstar and has a strong performance track record coupled with a robust investment process.

You should be mindful that the value of your client's investment can go down as well as up, which may mean they could get back less than the amount invested.

JPMorgan Funds Limited is making changes to the RLP/JPMorgan Emerging Europe Equity fund. On the 28April 2018 the fund will be merged with the JPMorgan Emerging Markets fund. This merger will change the investment objective and policy, risk factors and benchmark. There is no change to the annual management charge (AMC).

What’s changing?

• The fund name will change to the RLP/JPMorgan Emerging Markets fund.

• The investment objectives and policy will change to seek to provide long term capital growth by primarily investing in Equity and Equity-Linked Securities of Emerging Markets companies.
• The RLP/JPMorgan Emerging Markets fund invests in emerging markets in general, including emerging European markets. 

• The fund may now invest in China A-Shares through the China-Hong Kong Stock Connect Programmes which may result in increased counterparty risk.

• The benchmark will change to MSCI Emerging Markets Index (Net).

Why are we making this change?

The RLP/JPMorgan Emerging Europe Equity fund has been experiencing significant outflows, providing limited potential for growth. As well as providing a broader investment universe and increased diversification, JPMorgan believe that investing in a larger fund provides the prospect of stronger growth in the future.

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:

January 2018

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

M&G Investments are making changes to the RLP/M&G Global Basics fund. The change to the fund will take effect on 17^th November 2017.

We have issued letters to all our customers invested in the fund detailing the change and what this means for their investment. We have also written to all advisers with clients invested in the fund with a list of those clients affected by the change.

What’s changing?

• The fund name will change to the RLP/M&G Global Themes fund.
• The investment policy will change to allow the fund to invest at least 80% in global equities with no restriction on sector, size or geography.
• The benchmark will change to MSCI All Country World Index.
• The fund’s objective will change to aim to provide a higher total return (the combination of capital growth and income) than that of the MSCI All Country World Index over any five-year period.

Why are M&G Investments making this change

This change will allow the fund managers to take full advantage of a wide range of themes developing in an ever evolving global economy.

You should be mindful that the value of your client's investment can go down as well as up, which may mean they could get back less than the amount invested.

The RLP UK Ethical pension fund is changing its name to the RLP Sustainable Leaders pension fund along with the  investment and stock selection process and fund objective This change will take place week commencing 30 October 2017.

We have issued letters and an insert - Important changes to the RLP UK Ethical pension fund to all our customers invested in the fund detailing the change and what this means for their investment. We have also written to all advisers with clients invested in the fund with a list of those clients affected by the change

What’s changing?

• The fund name will change to the RLP Sustainable Leaders fund
• The investment and stock selection process will change. Every holding within the fund will now have to meet strict ESG criteria and there will be active engagement with the companies in which we invest to champion best practise and challenge companies on ESG matters.
• The fund’s objective will now change to the following – A UK growth fund focusing on the core themes of the environment, human welfare and sustainability to generate superior investment returns. The fund aims to provide first quartile performance over a rolling three year period measure against the UK All Companies sector. The Fund also aims to outperform the FTSE All-Share index.
• The fund can now hold up to 20% in overseas holdings.
• There is no change to the fund’s annual management charge (AMC), benchmark or sector.

Why are we making this change?

ESG issues such as corporate governance, board structure and management incentives are becoming an increasingly more important aspect for ethical investors. Environmental risks and opportunities are growing and social issues such as taxation are becoming financial and reputational risks. Companies managing these ESG risks well will provide the best risk adjusted returns over the long-term in our view.

You should be mindful that the value of your client's investment can go down as well as up, which may mean they could get back less than the amount invested

We’re replacing the above underlying investment and as a result, the fund will change to RLP US Core Plus (Old Mutual North American Equity) pension fund. This change will take place week commencing 30 October 2017.

We have issued letters to all our customers invested in the fund detailing the change and what this means for their investment. We have also written to all advisers with clients invested in the fund with a list of those clients affected by the change.

What’s changing?

• The Annual Management Charge (AMC) will reduce from 1.95% to 1.70% and the Total Expense Ratio (TER) will reduce from 2.15% to 1.90%.
• The investment description of the underlying fund will change to the following - The fund’s investment objective is to seek to achieve long term capital growth, through the active management of a diversified portfolio invested primarily in North American stock markets. It is not proposed to concentrate investments in any one industry or sector.

Why are we making this change?

The Fidelity fund has suffered from poor long-term underperformance as well as a series of fund manager changes. Our Investment Advisory Committee (IAC) has concerns around the level of risk and positions being adopted by the fund coupled with the performance issues. After extensive analysis into all the alternative solutions available, the IAC has decided it is appropriate to replace the underlying investment with the Old Mutual North American Equity Fund. This fund is bronze rated by Morningstar and has a strong performance track record coupled with a robust investment process. We believe this fund is a more appropriate offering for a US core plus fund.

You should be mindful that the value of your client's investment can go down as well as up, which may mean they could get back less than the amount invested.

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 to all our customers invested in the fund detailing the change and what this means for their investment. We have also written to all advisers with clients invested in the fund with a list of those clients affected by the change.

What’s changing?

• The Annual Management Charge (AMC) will reduce from 1.70% to 1.65% and the Total Expense Ratio (TER) will reduce from 1.80% to 1.73%.
• The investment description of the underlying fund will change to the following - The fund’s investment objective is to grow the amount you invested. The fund invests at least two thirds of its assets in shares of companies in Continental Europe or companies that have significant operations there and that have growth prospects. The fund’s investment approach means it can invest significantly in particular companies, industries and countries. This means it will typically hold fewer investments than other funds.

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.

After extensive analysis into alternative funds, the IAC has decided it is appropriate to replace the underlying fund with the Columbia Threadneedle European Select Fund. This fund has a strong bottom-up approach and will tend to perform better in a falling market.  Itis bronze rated by Morningstar and we believe this is a better fit for the European specialist category.

You should be mindful that the value of your client's investment can go down as well as up, which may mean they could get back less than the amount invested.

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.

On the 21 July 2017 the following funds changed their name and the Towry funds changed their fund manager to Tilney. Please note that the fund charges remain the same.

We are removing the RLP/CF Miton Strategic and RLP/CF Miton Special Situations pension funds from our fund range in the week commencing 9 November 2015.

Why are we removing these funds?

As part of our ongoing review process, we have identified that the underlying investment has experienced a sustained period of underperformance and no longer have confidence in the manager's investment process and ability to deliver strong future performance.

Where are we moving existing investors?

We have written to all affected policyholders informing them of the change and how their investment is affected. View a copy of the letter we have issued here.

In October 2015 we're making some changes to the Target Lifestyle Strategy (Annuity), so that it can continue to meet its objective.

The strategy is designed to move from higher risk investments at the start of the plan, to lower risk investments as the customer moves towards their retirement date.

This currently means that when they reach their retirement date and want to purchase an annuity, the money will be invested in 25% deposit and 75% index linked.

What's changing?

In the final five years to retirement, the mix of investments is changing and will now be split between deposits, gilts, index linked and corporate bonds.

Currently, the investment mix at retirement date looks like this:

This is changing so at retirement date, it will look like this:

The Annuity Fund invests in a mixture of fixed interest and cash investments and is managed by Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) on an ongoing basis. This means the holdings within the Annuity Fund can be tactically changed to reflect current markets.

Why are we making these changes?

Since the government introduced the pension reforms in April 2015, the retirement market and the choices people make at retirement have changed. The performance of the current strategy (25% deposit, 75% index linked) has been good since 2012 and we still feel the annuity option is the most appropriate default strategy.

However, current and expected market conditions are now making it harder to confidently deliver above inflation growth in those final five years before retirement where customers are typically invested in lower-risk assets.

We're introducing a more diverse range of investments in the final five years of the lifestyle strategy through the introduction of our Annuity Fund.

In an environment of low interest rates and expensive index linked investments, we believe that investing in a mixture of deposits, gilts, index linked and corporate bonds provides more flexibility and better value for money for our customers.

Sample letters and leaflet:

• Customer letter
• Customer leaflet

We are removing the RLP/UBS UK Equity and RLP/UBS Managed Equity pension funds from our fund range with effect from 31 July 2015.

Why are we removing these funds?

UBS have made the decision to close the underlying funds and merge the assets into equivalent tracker funds. This is due to a reduction in the fund sizes of each fund which makes them no longer commercially viable to manage.

The tracker funds have different investment objectives and we feel that the best course of action is to close these funds rather than allow existing policyholders to invest in the new funds.

Where are we moving existing investors?

We have written to all affected policyholders informing them of the change and how their investment is affected. View a copy of the letter we have issued here.

Please note that the endorsement wording and notice are not relevant for group pension plans.

With effect from 17^th November 2014 the charging structure on the SL HSBC Amanah Global Equity Index Fund will change to reflect changes to the charging structure of the underlying fund.

The fund management charge will reduce from 1.25% to 1.00%, however additional expenses of 0.25% will apply to the fund meaning that the Total Expense Ratio will remain the same at 1.25%.

There is no material impact on investors in the fund and there has been no change to the fund's objective or the assets held within the fund.

We have reduced the additional fund management charge on four of the Scottish Life/ BlackRock Aquila regional tracker funds.

The funds affected and the related charges are detailed below.

We have written a letter to all policyholders invested in the funds to inform them of the change.

In light of Schroders' acquisition of the Cazenove fund business earlier this year, we have renamed the Cazenove funds to reflect the Schroders name with effect from 22nd August 2014. Details of the new names are below.

We are making a number of changes to the SL/Sarasin Agrisar pension fund in response to changes Sarasin have made to the underlying fund.

We have written to all our customers invested in the fund detailing the changes and what this means for their investment.

What's changing?

• On 4th February 2014 the Fund Management Charge was reduced from 1.83% to 1.7%. The funds additional expenses have remained the same at 0.24%.
• On 25th August 2014 the fund’s index benchmark will change from MSCI World to MSCI ACWI.
• On 25th August 2014 the name of the fund will change to SL/Sarasin Food & Agriculture Opportunities Pension Fund.

These changes reflect recent changes made by Sarasin to the underlying fund and have no effect on the management or objective of the fund or the value of investments in the fund.

If you'd like further information on the Investment Advisory Committee (IAC) summarising the outcome of the last meeting including access to the full minutes from all of the previous meetings then visit our Investment Advisory Committee section.

Further details of our investment proposition can be found in Our investment options section.

We replaced the underlying investment and as a result the fund changed to the SL UK Income Specialist (Fidelity MoneyBuilder Dividend) pension fund. This change took place from week commencing 26 May 2014.

We issued letters to all our customers invested in the fund detailing the change and what this means for their investment. We also wrote to all advisers with clients invested in the fund with a list of those clients affected by the change.

What changed?

• The Annual Fund Management Charge (AFMC) was reduced from 1.70% to 1.30%.
• The Total Expense Ratio (TER) decreased from 1.88% to 1.47%. The TER is a measure of the overall cost of a fund to the investor and includes the AFMC plus any audit, custodian, registration or compliance fees paid out of the fund's assets.
• The investment description of the underlying fund changed to be the following - The fund's investment objective is to achieve a combination of income and long term capital growth from a portfolio primarily made up of investments in the UK, including ordinary shares, preference shares, convertibles and fixed interest securities.

Why did we make this change?

The fund manager had left Invesco Perpetual and our Investment Advisory Committee (IAC) had concerns around the new manager's process and ability to deliver outperformance given the large amount of assets the fund currently holds. After extensive analysis into all the alternative solutions available, the IAC decided it was appropriate to replace the underlying investment with the Fidelity MoneyBuilder Dividend fund.

This fund is bronze rated by Morningstar OBSR (an independent fund research company) and has a strong performance track record whilst maintaining very similar characteristics to the Invesco Perpetual Income fund.

You should be mindful that the value of your client's investment can go down as well as up, which may mean they could get back less than the amount invested.

The change took effect from week commencing 26 May 2014.

We are removing the SL Investec UK Blue Chip and SL Investec UK Blue Chip 'A' pension funds from our fund range with effect from week commencing 17 March 2014.

Why are we removing these funds?

Investec have made the decision to close the underlying Investec UK Blue Chip fund and merge the fund's assets into the Investec UK Alpha fund. This is based on their belief that in future, customers will want a different type of UK equity fund with a more focused style.

The UK Alpha fund has a different investment objective and is also more expensive than the Investec UK Blue Chip. We, therefore, feel that the best course of action is to close the fund rather than allow existing policyholders to invest in the new fund.

Where are we moving existing investors?

We have written to all affected policyholders informing them of the change and how their investment is affected.

Due to our continued good relationship with our fund manager partners, we are able to reduce the charges for various funds within the Scottish Life fund range.

The new annual management charges, the related total expenses and the effective date of the change are as follows:

We have written to all affected policyholders informing them of the change.