Our ref: <xxx>
<Date>
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- Wealth
Old Mutual House
Portland Terrace
Southampton
SO14 7AY
United Kingdom
T +44 (0) 23 8033 4411
F +44 (0) 23 8022 0464
www.oldmutualwealth.co.uk
Dear <Salutation>
Important - Temporary suspension of property funds in which you have a large holding
This is an important letter about your investments and we strongly recommend you speak to
your financial adviser about it. If you don’t have a financial adviser there are details at the end of
the letter about how to find one.
A number of fund managers have recently taken the decision to suspend their property funds. A
list of all the suspended funds is at the end of this letter. As you hold most or all of your Old
Mutual Wealth investments in one or more of these funds I wanted to explain the situation and
what this means.
What does the suspension mean for you?
As most / all of your investments through Old Mutual Wealth are invested in the affected funds
this restricts what you can do with your plan for the duration of the suspension. You will not be
able to buy, sell or switch units in any of these funds until the suspension is lifted.
If you are invested for the long term and not drawing or planning to draw income, this is unlikely
to cause you major problems, since the suspension will be lifted at some point in the future. If
you have non-property related investments with another provider, then these funds may still be
available to you.
What do you need to do?
The most important thing you can do is to speak to your financial adviser.
Whilst we don’t know if you have other investments with different providers we are very
conscious that this could have a serious impact on you if you are experiencing difficulty
accessing your money at a time of need. If this is the case then I would encourage you to speak
with your financial adviser.
Recent transactions on these funds
If you have had any recent transactions involving these funds it is possible that they may have
been rejected by the fund managers (if they occurred at the time the funds were suspended). If
this is the case, we will be in touch separately as we may need revised instructions from you or
to carry out adjustments on your plan.
Why have the managers suspended these funds?
As you may know, a lot has been happening in the markets since the recent EU referendum.
Property funds are an area being particularly impacted at present, where more investors than
usual have been requesting withdrawals, with the knock-on effect of reducing the funds’
liquidity. This is because these funds rely on being able to sell property to make payments to
departing investors; something that can take time to achieve.
As a result, a number of fund managers have taken the decision to temporarily suspend their
property funds, with the aim of maintaining liquidity and therefore protecting the interests of all
investors.
When will the suspensions be lifted?
The fund managers will decide when to lift the suspensions. They will do this when it is
practicable and in the best interests of investors.
We are in regular communication with the fund managers concerned and will be providing
updates on our website www.oldmutualwealth.co.uk/propertyfunds. The site also provides
details concerning specific transaction types and how they are impacted by the suspensions.
If you haven’t registered for our online services you can visit the website above, click the
‘Customer login’ button, then ‘Register’ and follow the instructions shown.
Any questions?
If you have any questions about this letter please contact your financial adviser in the first
instance. If you don’t have a financial adviser, you can search for one in your area by visiting
www.oldmutualwealth.co.uk/find-an-adviser.
Alternatively, you can call our Customer Contact Centre on Freephone 0808 171 2600, or email
us at ask@omwealth.com, but please remember we are not authorised to give you any
investment advice.
Yours sincerely
Anthony Scammell
Director of Customer Experience
List of the suspended funds:
Aviva Investors Property Trust*
Henderson UK Property PAIF Feeder
M&G Feeder of Property Portfolio
Threadneedle UK Property Authorised Trust (Feeder)
Standard Life UK Real Estate Feeder
* The Aviva Investors Property Trust fund was due to merge on 18 July 2016. As the fund is
now suspended, the merger will not go ahead.