Important note on investments in property funds
August 2021 suspension update
In December 2019 and March 2020 several property funds available to our customers were suspended. On 21 September 2020 the ReAssure internal property fund unsuspended, and from 17 September 2020 further external property funds began to unsuspend too.
Aviva (who manage the last suspended fund) have chosen to close their fund. We’ve published a separate story here to explain what will happen for customers affected by the closure. We will no longer be updating this story and is for reference only.
Please review the information below to see how this affects you. We’ll also be writing to customers to confirm that suspensions affecting them have been lifted.
Current status of funds
| Fund | Status |
| ReAssure internal property fund | Unsuspended from 21 September 2020 |
| Unsuspended external property funds
From 17 September 2020
From 01 October 2020
From 13 October 2020
From 16 November 2020
From 30 December 2020
From 24 February 2021
From 10 May 2021
|
Unsuspended |
Suspended external property funds:
|
Now closed, please see this article for more information. |
You should check back on this page as we’ll be updating it as the situation changes.
I’m invested in one of the suspended funds – how will this affect me and my policy?
To make sure that there is as little disruption to our customers as possible, the following things won’t be affected:
- Regular withdrawals that are already in place
- Regular contributions that are already in place (ReAssure Life and former Legal & General customers have had their contributions redirected to the deposit fund)
- Regular fund switching activity that’s already in place (lifestyling for example)
- Pre-planned payments to you at a preselected date (policy maturity for example)
- Claims on death or illness
- Regular policy reviews
The suspension affects your ability to:
- Make one-off withdrawal requests (including pension transfers)
- Change regular contributions
- Change regular withdrawals
- Make fund switch and redirection requests
This should only be disruptive to you if you planned to make changes to your policy while the fund is suspended. As soon as we know that the fund is free to trade again then we’ll write to you again to let you know.
If you’re interested in one of the transactions affected by the fund suspension, please call us and we can discuss options with you.
What about other property funds available to ReAssure customers?
Some ReAssure customers also have access to other property funds. Whilst trading in these funds continues we can’t control whether any fund manager will suspend their fund.
A general note about property funds
Whilst fund suspensions usually only happen in exceptional circumstances (such as market volatility), they are more likely to happen to funds invested in property.
As property funds are invested in physical buildings there can sometimes be a delay in valuing and selling property as quickly as customers are moving their money. This means that to make sure all investors are treated fairly, property fund trading may be stopped temporarily.
If you are concerned about being able to access your money in the short term you may want to consider another fund to invest in (once trading recommences). ReAssure can’t recommend an alternative, so if you’re not sure what to do you may want to speak with a financial adviser.
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.
