Fund Merger affecting Ninety One UK Smaller Companies Fund
We have been informed by Ninety One Fund Managers UK Limited ("Ninety One") of its intention to close the Ninety One UK Smaller Companies Fund. We feature the fund in our defined fund range.
BACKGROUND
Following a review of its fund range, Ninety One has decided to merge its UK Smaller Companies Fund (the “Affected Fund”) with its UK Special Situations Fund (the “Proposed Receiving Fund”) on 7 March 2025.
ACTION RL360 WILL BE TAKING
The Proposed Receiving Fund is not available in our Savings and Investments fund range or Protection fund range. Therefore, we will instead switch plan owner holdings into an alternative receiving fund from our fund range on 6 March 2025 (the “Switch Date”), just ahead of the merger taking place. Please see below for details on the alternative receiving funds we have selected.
For LifePlan, Oracle, Paragon, Quantum and Regular Savings Plan (including Malaysia variants) and Kudos plans:
On the Switch Date, holdings in the Affected Fund will be automatically switched into the Fidelity UK Smaller Companies A Acc GBP fund.
The Alternative Receiving Fund has been selected as it is similar to the Affected Fund. Please refer to the Appendix in the sample letter opposite for comparative information between the Affected Fund and the Alternative Receiving Fund.
| AFFECTED FUND | ALTERNATIVE RECEIVING FUND |
|---|---|
| Ninety One UK Smaller Companies A Acc GBP - GB0031075558 | Fidelity UK Smaller Companies A Acc GBP - GB00B3SW2T17 |
For Protected Lifestyle plans:
As we do not feature a similar fund to the Affected Fund in the Protection fund range, on the Switch Date we will instead switch plan owner holdings into the abrdn Liquidity (Lux) GBP A2 Acc fund. Please note that this a money market fund and therefore will have a different risk reward profile to the Affected Fund, which is an equity fund, and returns may be very different.
| AFFECTED FUND | ALTERNATIVE RECEIVING FUND |
|---|---|
| Ninety One UK Smaller Companies A Acc GBP - GB0031075558 | abrdn Liquidity Fund (Lux) GBP A2 Acc - LU0049015760 |
We have now closed the Affected Fund to new business and switches in with immediate effect. Existing investors can remain invested until the date we switch them. On the Switch Date, any holdings in the Affected Fund will be automatically switched, and any regular premium allocation redirected (if applicable), into the applicable Alternative Receiving Fund for their product.
Notification of the closure has been sent to affected clients, or their appointed investment adviser, primarily by email, with letters sent by post where we do not hold a valid email, and to those who prefer to receive letters by post. Servicing agents have also been notified.
If plan owners/investment advisers are happy with the above changes, they do not need to take any action and the changes will happen automatically within impacted plans. However, should they wish to switch to a different fund in the range, they can do so. If they would like this to happen before the Switch Date, we must receive their instructions by 12 noon on 5 March 2025. Switches can be submitted by completing and returning a Fund switch instruction form or, if registered for online switching, by conducting a switch online, fast and efficiently.
For more information on Ninety One funds visit: www.ninetyone.com