Recent stockmarket instability

Why did this happen?

A lot of policies are invested in stocks and shares. These offer good potential for medium to long term growth, but can rise and fall in value too. Remember if you’ve invested in the stock market, investments of this kind are intended for medium to long term investment purposes.

Sometimes stockmarket shocks in one part of the world are large enough that they affect markets or sectors they’re not directly connected to. An extreme example of this is the 2008 financial crisis where problems that originated in a few large countries caused a world-wide recession. Funds of this sort are designed to be held for the long term to ride-out volatile periods like the one we’re experiencing now.

Funds invested in stockmarket type investments of this sort are designed to be held for the medium to long term to help ride-out volatile periods like the one we’re experiencing now.

If you need advice on what funds may suit your personal circumstances you should speak to your Financial Adviser (FA). If you don’t have an FA, you can find one in your area at unbiased.co.uk or you should call 0800 023 6868.

You can also go to www.reassure.co.uk/managing-the-risks to find a factsheet that explains the benefits and risks of investing in different kinds of funds. This factsheet talks specifically about pensions, however the principles remain the same for all unit-linked investments. The Money Advice Service have some really helpful independent guides on their website, including this one about investing.

Can I switch funds?

Funds of this sort are designed to be held for the medium to long term to help ride-out volatile periods like the one we’re experiencing now. You should think carefully about switching away from these funds, in particular if you do not need to access your investment in the short term.  You should always  seek advice if you are not sure.

You can have at least 20 fund switches a year for free.

We can send you a list of the funds that you can invest in and the appropriate forms through the post. You can find out more about the funds we have available from reassure.co.uk.

Until we receive your complete fund switch request you’ll still be invested in your old funds and subject to the increases or decreases in value that this fund brings. All funds have different risks attached to them and all values can go down as well as up.

Can I cancel my policy?

This depends on the type of policy you have. Some policies have no cash-in value or can’t be cashed-in before a certain age. If you’d like more information about your options may be able to find out more in your most recent annual statement, or you can call us. Remember if you cancel your policy you may lose important cover, guarantees or features. If you’re thinking of doing this you should give us a call to check what you could be giving up.

Have any specific funds been affected more than others? Which funds should I avoid?

ReAssure can’t provide personalised advice of this kind. If you need advice on what funds may suit your personal circumstances you should speak to your Financial Adviser (FA). If you don’t have an FA, you can find one in your area at unbiased.co.uk or you should call 0800 023 6868

You can find out more information from reassure.co.uk, where you can see what funds are invested in what markets and see the past performance of your investment. You’ll be able to see how your funds have changed in price over the short-term and the long-term.