Revamp of the Preference fund range for Rest of World plan owners

The Preference (Rest of World) fund range, which currently features circa 60 funds, is being closed and we are replacing it with a larger fund range that is marketed to our new business RL360 unit-linked products. We generally refer to this as our RL360 savings and investments fund range. 

This fund range offers a greater choice of 330+ funds (this includes currency variants of individual funds) across a variety of sectors, giving plan owners a much wider selection to choose from. A small handful of the current Preference funds do also feature in this range.

The enhanced Preference fund range is available with immediate effect 

Our Preference fund centre has already been updated to reflect the enhanced fund range and is available for plan owners to invest in with immediate effect. To view the new range, plan owners and advisers should continue to visit the Preference (Rest of World) fund centre.

Timeline of the fund closures 

Plan owners can continue to hold the Closing Funds they currently invest in until 22 October 2026 (the “Switch Date”) at which point we will switch all unit holdings from the Closing Funds into selected funds from the enhanced Preference fund range (the “Receiving Funds”). 

For a period of time, the Closing Funds will remain visible in the Preference fund centre to allow plan owners to continue to monitor and review performance of the Closing Funds, whilst they still hold them. These will be marked with the narrative (Pending Closure) so that they can clearly identify which funds are due to be closed to Preference. 

From the Switch Date, the Closing Funds will become unavailable for any further investment, will be removed from the Preference fund range and will no longer be visible in the fund centre.

The Appendix at the end of our Sample plan owner letter opposite provides summary details of the Closing Funds and the Receiving Funds that we have selected. More details, including performance and factsheets, can be found by visiting the Preference fund centre. We also produce a Savings and Investments Fund Guide which provides information for the enhanced fund range. 

Options for switching to alternative funds

If plan owners are happy with our choice of Receiving Funds they do not need to do anything, as these changes will happen automatically in their plan.

However, if they would prefer to switch their holdings from a Closing Fund to a different fund from the enhanced Preference range, it is free of charge and very easy to do. 

We recommend that plan owners discuss the options with a financial adviser before deciding.

To override a switch into the selected Receiving Fund shown in the Appendix, we must receive alternative switch instructions by 9am (UK time) on 21 October 2026. 

Impacted plan owners and their financial advisers have been contacted either by e-shot, or by letter if no valid email address is available. 

The above is a summary of the changes taking place. Full details for the above changes can be found in the sample letter opposite.