By the close of play on 18 March, the following funds had been suspended. We expect more to follow and will provide regular updates here.

The suspensions are effective from the previous valuation point to the effective date listed for each fund above. The decisions to suspend the funds have been attributed to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) situation and the ongoing Brexit talks. Details of each fund suspension can be found here.

The length of the suspensions haven’t been confirmed, only that the positions will be reviewed on a regular basis. We’ll provide any updates received from the investment managers here.

Property funds by their very nature are comparatively illiquid as they invest in properties. The investment manager will retain a percentage of the fund in cash to maintain a degree of liquidity, however, where there is an increase in outflows the liquidity will reduce as the cash is used up.

In periods of uncertainty, a fund manager can opt to initiate a ‘fair value’ adjustment to their fund if they decide that market conditions are likely to have changed the underlying value of the fund as a result of the market uncertainty. In this situation, a fair value is assessed by the fund manager as being a better representation of the value of the underlying assets until an independent assessment of the impact of the market conditions on the properties values can be assessed. In these situations, we will notify you of any move to fair value pricing on the platform noticeboard.

The suspension applies to dealing, so buys and sells cannot be placed. Please see the investment manager updates for more details.

No. All trades have been suspended including regular investments. If your client has one of the affected funds within a regular contribution, the instruction into that fund will not be sent and will remain in cash. Any other assets in a regular contribution will be instructed as normal. For regular investments into pensions the tax relief portion will follow the same investment pattern as the regular contribution.

Different investment managers are taking different approaches with some not accepting any dealing instructions and others accepting instructions but ‘queuing’ them.  Based on conversations with each manager they have all given assurances that they will give adequate notice of the fund re-opening to allow new dealing instructions to be placed in reasonable time. They all recognise their responsibilities under the COLL rulebook and their duty to treat customers fairly in this respect. Queued orders will not therefore get any special treatment or early price, all orders taken when the fund re-opens will be priced the same.  It is simpler therefore not to send any instructions at this stage than take different approaches for different managers.

Yes. The funds will still have a value and be priced accordingly throughout.

Yes, the funds will continue to operate as normal in all other respects and income payments will continue to be paid.

The investment managers have taken different positions on this. In some cases if the investor has chosen to re-invest any growth then this will be paid in cash, rather than re-invested.
In other cases accumulation units will continue to operate as normal. Where income is being taken and the cash reinvested then no. No further cash is being accepted into the funds.

Please check the specific investment manager information here.

This will vary depending on the investment manager. Please check the details here.

Any non-settled trades will be rejected if they are received any time after the valuation point previous to the effective date. So if a fund has a midday VP and suspended on 18/3, any dealing instructions received after midday on 17/3/20 will be rejected.

In this situation the cash received will be allocated to assets selected within the new business application as normal with the exception of the suspended asset in which case the investment will remain in cash.

This is dependent on the funds reopening. When this happens an individual’s investment value will depend on the share price of the portfolio’s underlying holdings. Where the price of those assets has risen, the value will be higher than it was at the point of suspension. Where the price of those assets has fallen, the value will be lower than it was at the start of the suspension.

We’re checking with investment managers on the their approach in these situations and will provide details as soon as possible.

The suspension of these funds will impact rebalancing within model portfolios and we recommend removing any affected fund from a model, otherwise there will be an impact on other trades. A rebalance will continue to fail until the suspended fund is removed from the model portfolio or the fund suspension is lifted. We’ll continue to monitor and provide updates, but it’s important that when the fund suspensions end the fund is returned to the model before the next rebalance, as any subsequent rebalance will sell 100% of this fund due it not being in the model.

Yes. The fund has been excluded from auto-disinvest which means no instruction will be generated to sell down the suspended asset. In this case, the auto-disinvest will proportionately sell down across the remaining assets in the instruction to achieve the required income amount unless or until there are no other assets to sell.

No. All assets other than the suspended asset will be sold as directed unless an additional or amended instruction is received.

Certain investment managers have indicated a willingness to review these type of exceptional circumstance cases but not all. Each case will, therefore, be treated on best endeavours, case by case basis with each fund manager.

In this situation, this fund will be excluded from the sell down before allocating assets.

If you’re a client, please speak to your adviser or contact us at client.relations@nucleusfinancial.com.

For advisers, please contact your regional account manager.