Closure of the underlying fund of R180 and R184 Jupiter Merlin Real Return Portfolio

29 Jun 2023

R180 Jupiter Merlin Real Return Portfolio (USD) (the “Closing ILP sub-fund 1”)

R184 Jupiter Merlin Real Return Portfolio (SGD-HDG) (the “Closing ILP sub-fund 2”)

We have received notification from Jupiter Investment Fund (“Jupiter”) of its decision to liquidate the Jupiter Merlin Real Return Portfolio Fund (the “Underlying Closing Fund”) which is the underlying fund of the above named Closing ILP sub-funds 1 & 2, with effect from 6 September 2023 (the “Effective Date”).

Background 

The Underlying Closing Fund was launched in January 2013 but has failed to attract significant inflows from investors and, as of 14 June 2023, the net assets of the Underlying Closing Fund were approximately €15.3 million. As part of Jupiter’s ongoing product review process, it has determined that it is not expected that the Underlying Closing Fund will attract significant future inflows in the short to medium-term and it therefore believes that liquidating the Underlying Closing Fund is in the best interests of its shareholders. Consequently, the board of directors of Jupiter has resolved to liquidate the Underlying Closing Fund, in accordance with Article 5 of the articles of incorporation of Jupiter and the provisions of the section “Merger, Liquidation and Reorganisation of Funds” of Jupiter’s prospectus.

Jupiter Asset Management International S.A., Jupiter’s management company, will bear the cost of the expenses incurred in the liquidation, including legal and regulatory charges but not the trading-related transaction costs associated with the disposal of the Closing Underlying Fund’s investments.

Consequently, the Closing ILP sub-funds 1 & 2 named above will be closing and will be removed from the FPIL fund range from 1 September 2023 (the “Closure Date”). 

With effect from 26 June 2023, the Underlying Closing Fund has stopped accepting subscriptions and therefore no new investments, regular premiums or switches in can be processed. As a result of this any existing future premium payments (if applicable) being allocated into the Closing ILP sub-funds 1 & 2 have been automatically redirected to the selected Default ILP sub-fund named in the Appendix in the sample correspondence opposite.

Please read the Appendix in the sample correspondence opposite for comparative information between the Closing ILP sub-funds and the selected Default ILP sub-fund.

Action required by regular premium paying policyholders: 

If policyholders are happy to invest in the selected Default ILP sub-fund they do not need to take any action. However, they are free to re-direct future regular premiums, without charge, to any other ILP sub-fund(s) available under their policy by completing and returning a Switch/Redirection instruction form, a copy of which is available on request or through our online services portal.

Action required by policyholders with existing investments in the Closing ILP sub-funds:

Policyholders are free to switch their existing investments out of the Closing ILP sub-funds at any time up to 3pm (UK time) on 30 August 2023 (the “Deadline”), without charge, to other ILP sub-fund(s) available under their policy. Policyholders can do this by completing a Switch/Redirection instruction form and returning it to us, or through our online services portal by the Deadline. If we have not received any instruction by the Deadline, we will automatically switch existing investments in the Closing ILP sub-funds into the Default ILP sub-fund on the 31 August 2023, without charge.

Action required by policyholders who request a switch-in and/or request for additional single or regular premium into the Closing ILP sub-funds: 

If a new switch-in request or request for additional single or regular premium into the Closing ILP sub-funds is submitted from the date of this letter, we will contact independent financial advisers for an alternative instruction. If we are unable to contact either policyholders or their independent financial adviser to obtain an alternative instruction we will not process it.

These changes will happen automatically within affected policies/contracts and policyholders do not need to take any action if they agree with the choice of Default ILP sub-fund that we have selected. 

No FPIL charges will arise from these transactions.

Factsheets for the available FPIL sub-funds can be found via our interactive Fund Centre research tool on our website www.fpinternational.com/fundcentre.  Full details on the underlying funds into which the FPIL funds invest can be found in the corresponding fund prospectus, which is available on request from the respective fund manager.

We recommend that policyholders seek the advice of their usual investment adviser before making any investment decisions.

Whilst appropriate due diligence has been carried out on the Default ILP-sub-fund we do not accept any liability for the future performance of this, or any other FPIL fund. 

Should you have any questions regarding this notification, please contact the Investment Marketing Team.