Aviva property fund closure

It’s been announced that property funds where the underlying investment is managed by Aviva are being closed. This is because Aviva are closing their fund, which means our fund must close too. You may know these funds as:

• Property (former HSBC customers only)
• Aviva Investors UK Property
• OMR AVIVA Investors UK Property Feeder

Why has this happened?

Fund closures usually only happen in exceptional circumstances and are at the discretion of the fund manager – in this case Aviva. You can find out more about Aviva’s decision at www.avivainvestors.com.

What happens now that the fund is closed?

Aviva are selling the properties that the fund owns. Over time this means that Aviva can release the money invested in the fund back to us, and then we’ll invest it in a replacement fund for you. As property can take time to sell this is likely to take at least two years.

When payments are announced by Aviva we’ll write to customers to let them know how this affects them and their policy.

Where can I go to get help?

We recommend you get independent professional advice from a Financial Adviser if you’re unsure what to do. A Financial Adviser can make a personal recommendation based on your individual circumstances and the options available to you. If you don’t have an adviser, you can find one at www.unbiased.co.uk. You may have to pay for any advice you receive.

How will this affect what I can do with my policy?

Units invested in the fund can no longer be bought or sold. To make sure that there is as little disruption to our customers, the following things won’t be affected:

• Regular withdrawals that are already in place
• Regular fund switching activity that’s already in place (life styling for example)
• Pre-planned payments to you at a preselected date (policy maturity for example)
• Claims on death or illness
• Regular policy reviews

The closure affects your ability to make:

• One-off withdrawal requests (including pension transfers)
• Changes to regular contributions
• Changes to regular withdrawals
• Fund switch and redirection requests

This should only be disruptive to you if you planned to make changes to your policy while money is still invested in the Aviva property fund.

If you’re interested in one of the transactions affected by the fund closure, please call us and we can discuss options with you.