News Publication date October 15, 2020

Property funds no longer suspended

In our notification on the website on 20 March 2020 informing policyholders of the suspension of the Utmost Property Funds, we confirmed that we would update you when this situation changed.

With effect from 1st October 2020 the underlying Schroders Property Fund is no longer suspended therefore we can now process withdrawals, switches and other transactions in our Ex Reliance Property Funds.

The situation with ASI Property Funds remains unchanged and therefore the ex-Equitable Property Fund remains suspended. We will notify you when this situation changes.

If you would like further information, do visit our unit-linked website or email us on enquiries@utmost.co.uk in first instance. Alternatively Contact Us.

We have added some frequently asked questions below to help you understand the suspension of the Property Fund.

These Questions and Answers below are only in relation to the Utmost Property Funds.

The Ex-Equitable property fund remains suspended.

Are you allowed to suspend funds?

Financial Conduct Authority rules allow funds to be suspended, to protect the fund and the policyholders invested in it. A fund suspension is not necessarily a bad thing, if used to protect the fund for those selling, as well as those remaining invested. It also stops people trying to take advantage of buying into the fund at a reduced value, at the expense of the existing investors.

Why did you suspend the Property fund?

We had to take this action as the underlying assets were suspended and no price to value the fund was available.

Could this happen again?

If high levels of market volatility continue, further suspensions may be necessary. Our guide on how we manage our unit-linked funds is available on our website and it explains that there may be exceptional circumstances where it is not possible to price a fund in the usual way.

My claim has been affected by the suspension, will you be contacting me about this?

We have contacted those policyholders who have been directly affected by the suspension and we will be back in contact with them over the coming days, to check how they would like to proceed.

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