March 2024 Fund Bulletin

MARCH 2024: INVESTMENT FUND BULLETIN

• Artemis Strategic Bond: Fund managers Rebecca Young & Juan Valenzuela departed November 2023. Existing investors should hold this fund.
• Artemis Global Select: Simon Edelsten retired in 2023, replaced by Alex Stanic from JP Morgan and Natasha Ebtehadj from Columbia Threadneedle. Existing investors should hold this fund.
• AXA Framlington UK Select Opportunities: Performance below average over one, three and five years. Despite new fund manager in December 2023, consider an alternative.
• Baillie Gifford Multi Asset Income: Renamed Sustainable Income from 31 March 2023. As well as using sustainable to describe the expectation that income will be maintained in real terms over time, it is also used to describe an investment approach to balance economic, environmental, and social needs. Existing investors should hold this fund.
• CT Sterling Corporate Bond: Introduced a set of Environmental, Social and Governance exclusions and benchmark change, from 1 June 2023. Consider an alternative.
• Invesco share class change: From 1 December 2023 all charges reduced by 0.05% except for the Y share class. This brings the Z share class charge into line with the Y share class, which is the most commonly owned amongst our investors. The Y share class will be withdrawn and converted to the Z share class. No action required.
• Invesco UK Equity High Income: Performance below average over five years. Consider an alternative.
• JP Morgan Multi Asset Income: Performance below average over three and five years. Consider an alternative.
• Jupiter Multi Asset Income: From 13 October 2023, new name, updated investment policy, increased charges. Any remaining investors should leave this fund.
• Prudential PruFund Cautious: Increase in Expected Growth Rate by 0.4% for all products on 25 May 2023.
• Unit Price Adjustments:
  • -9.76% for Pensions / ISAs and -8.46% for Bonds on 20 March 2020.
  • +3.04% for Pensions / ISAs and +2.22% for Bonds on 26 May 2020.
  • +2.63% for Pensions / ISAs and +2.04% for Bonds on 25 August 2020.
  • +2.5% for Pensions / ISAs and + 2.02% for Bonds on 26 November 2020.
  • +2% for Pensions / ISAs on 25 May 2021.
  • +3.17% for Pensions / ISAs and + 4.7% for Bonds on 25 August 2021.
  • – 2.12% for Pensions / ISAs on 25 February 2022 & – 2.35% for Bonds on 25 May 2022.
  • – 2.49% for Pensions / ISAs on 25 August 2022.
  • – 6.22% for Pensions / ISAs on 18 October 2022 & -2.58% for Bonds on 25 November 2022.
  • -2.63% for Bonds on 25 May 2023.
• Prudential PruFund Growth: Increase in Expected Growth Rate by 0.4% for all products on 25 May 2023.
• Unit Price Adjustments:
  • -11.99% for Pensions / ISAs and -9.54% for Bonds on 19 March 2020.
  • +2.73% for Pensions / ISAs and +2.69% for Bonds on 25 August 2020.
  • +3% for Pensions / ISAs and +2.72% for Bonds on 26 November 2020.
  • +3.91% for Pensions / ISAs and +3.56% for Bonds on 25 May 2021.
  • +5.66% for Pensions / ISAs and +5.06% for Bonds on 25 August 2021.
  • -2.63% for Pensions / ISAs on 27 February 2023.
  • -3.36% for Bonds & -2.84% for Pensions / ISAs on 25 May 2023.
• Scottish Widows UTM High Income Bond: Following fund reorganisation in October 2020, consider an alternative. Further changes from June 2021.
• Troy Trojan Income: Returns below average over five years. Consider an alternative.
• LF (formerly Woodford) Equity Income being closed. Affected investors notified. Proposed settlement fund approved. First payment expected April 2024.

Sustainable and Ethical funds generally:

• Fossil Fuels and defence performed well in 2022 & 2023.
• Rising interest rates increased the discount rate for future cash flows of companies developing innovative technologies, reducing their share prices.
• Interest rate rises have made low fixed interest rates uncompetitive on loans to companies, so bond values have fallen.
• This has contributed to a period of underperformance for the Aegon Ethical and Sustainable, and Liontrust Sustainable Future funds, in particular.
• If your investing principles have changed, changing strategy might be appropriate.

Reference to past performance is not a reliable guide to the future and is stated on a cumulative basis for the period shown to the issue date of this publication sourced from FE Analytics.

If you require specific advice about how the fund guidance offered in this document affects your personal circumstances, please contact us at your convenience.

Issued: 1 March 2024. Expires: 1 April 2024