Investment updates

Update as of 27th March 2024

Compensation payment to be paid to Investors from 28th March

Link Fund Solutions Limited (LFSL) have provided an update that an Initial payment to investors will be made from the 28th March.  Once this payment has been received by Fidelity, it will be distributed to individual client accounts, which is likely to be completed within one week of this date.

As previously communicated to you and also by letter to all clients in March, a copy of the letter can be seen here, the payment will be credited to your clients Fidelity account as cash.  This will enable you and your clients to decide what to do with the money.

Once the payment has been made to your clients, you will be able to see the amount paid by logging in and viewing their transactions history and also via Reporting Services transaction reports. We will also write to your clients confirming the amount paid, during April.

The amount that will be paid per share held is detailed below and you can see how many shares your clients hold and of which share class, by viewing the accounts online or running a holdings report.

Initial Payment - distribution rates per share:

Further details about the scheme can be found at https://lfwoodfordfundscheme.com/ and the full announcement here.

Update as of 6^th March 2024

Settlement Scheme now fully effective - Compensation payments expected from April onwards

Link Fund Solutions Limited (LFSL) has announced that the scheme of arrangement is now fully effective.  It is expected that the first distributions in respect of the compensation scheme will be made from April 2024 onwards.

It may take several weeks for these payments to be made and paid to individual client accounts.  The payments will be paid into your clients Fidelity account as cash, enabling you to decide what to do with the money.  The amount that will be paid per payment and per share held has not been published by the scheme, so at this stage, we cannot confirm the amount you are due to receive.

Further details about the scheme can be found at https://lfwoodfordfundscheme.com/ and the full announcement here.

Update as of 12th February 2024

Settlement Scheme now approved by the Court, enabling payments to be made to investors

The scheme that investors had previously voted in favour of, has been sanctioned (i.e approved) by The High Court on the 9th of February. This approval of the settlement scheme will enable payments to be made to Investors in the fund, with payments expected to be made from April 2024 onwards.

Please note, no further timings have been made available and if any appeals are brought against the sanction of the scheme, this could delay the payments to scheme creditors (i.e fund investors).

The scheme is expected to become fully effective by 2nd March 2024 and an initial payment is expected from April 2024 onwards. It may take several weeks for these payments to be made and paid to individual client accounts. The payments will be paid into your clients Fidelity account as cash, enabling your client and yourself to decide what to do with the money. The amount that will be paid per payment and per share held has not been published by the scheme, so at this stage, we cannot confirm the amount that your client is due to receive.

We are required by the scheme to update all investors in the fund, so a letter will shortly be issued to clients and we will provide a copy here. Also, once payment has been made to your clients Fidelity account, this will show in their transactions and a confirmation of the payment will be issued.

Further details about the scheme can be found at https://lfwoodfordfundscheme.com/ you can also contact the schemes helpline on 020 3991 0224 for more information.

Update as of 15th December 2023

Compensation Scheme Approved

Link Fund Solutions Limited (LFSL) announced that the Scheme was approved by the required majority of Scheme Creditors who attended and voted (in person or by proxy) at a meeting of Scheme Creditors held on 13 December 2023.

Scheme Creditors who support the Scheme or who otherwise do not wish to oppose LFSL's application to Court for an order sanctioning the Scheme do not need to take any further action. The next stage is to seek formal approval for the scheme at a court hearing on the 18th January 2024. LFSL will announce the result of the Sanction Hearing on the Scheme Website (available at: www.lfwoodfordfundscheme.com/).

Scheme Creditors or other persons who wish to make submissions at the Sanction Hearing should refer to the Convening Order, which is available on the Scheme Website at https://lfwoodfordfundscheme.com/documents/.

Further details about the scheme can be found at https://lfwoodfordfundscheme.com/ you can also contact the number 020 3991 0224 for more information.

We are required by the scheme to update all investors in the fund, so a letter will shortly be issued to all clients invested.

Update as of 20th October 2023

Compensation Scheme Voting Open

Further details have now been made available by the scheme, including an opportunity for investors to vote on the proposal settlement scheme. Investors don’t have to vote if they choose not to, and any compensation would still be paid out to all investors, regardless of whether they exercise their right to vote or not.  For details on how your clients can vote, please visit: https://lfwoodfordfundscheme.com/ 
There are alternative ways your client can also do this, such as by post. For details of this and further information, please visit the web page above or contact the scheme helpline number on 020 3991 0224 for more information.

Investors can also call the number for all questions and support required when voting. 

We have written to your clients, as we are required to do, by the Settlement scheme and a copy of the letter can be viewed here.

There is a short video created to summarise the proposal at www.lfwoodfordfundscheme.com/films/

All votes need to be submitted by 5pm on the 4th December 2023 to the scheme.

Update as of 11th October 2023

Update on Convening Hearing: 

As announced on 5 October 2023, a hearing was held yesterday (10 October 2023) in the High Court to consider an application by Link Fund Solutions Limited ("LFSL") to convene a meeting of creditors (the "Scheme Creditors") to consider LFSL's proposed scheme of arrangement (the "Scheme"). The hearing will continue on Thursday, 12 October (likely at 10:30am, but this has not yet been confirmed). Scheme Creditors who wish to attend the hearing are advised to check the Daily Court List (available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-and-property-courts-rolls-building-cause-list) from 4pm onwards on Wednesday, 11 October. LFSL will also update this website with details of the hearing once known. 

Opportunity to comment on draft Scheme Documents 

The Court has directed LFSL to share the documents submitted to Court as part of the Convening Hearing. Links to download these documents are set out below. In addition, the Court has directed LFSL to give Scheme Creditors an opportunity to consider, and comment on, the draft Voting Form, the draft Explanatory Statement, the draft Scheme Rules and the draft Scheme Notice before the Court reconvenes on Thursday, 12 October. Scheme Creditors who wish to comment on the draft Scheme Documents are requested to send their comments to LFSL by email to lfslconveninghearing@cliffordchance.com by no later than 6pm (UK time) on Wednesday 11 October. LFSL will consider comments received before this time and, if appropriate, update the documents accordingly. 

The following documents are available to download on the Scheme Website (https://lfwoodfordfundscheme.com/):

• Convening Hearing Bundle (PDF): Contains all of the documents submitted to Court by LFSL on Thursday, 5 October 

• Supplemental Hearing Bundle (PDF): Contains all of the documents submitted to Court by LFSL on Tuesday, 10 October 

• Draft voting form (Word document): The Voting Form is the form that Scheme Creditors (or their Authorised Representatives) are required to complete and return to LFSL, in order to attend and/or vote at the Scheme Meeting 

• Draft Explanatory Statement (Word document): The Explanatory Statement explains the reasons why the Scheme is being proposed, summarises the key terms of the Scheme, and sets out what will likely happen if the Scheme is not implemented 

• Draft Scheme Rules (Word document): The Scheme Rules set out the terms of the compromise or arrangement that will bind LFSL and the Scheme Creditors, if the Scheme is implemented

• Notice of the Scheme Meeting (Word document): This is the notice informing Scheme Creditors of the time and place of the meeting to consider and vote on the Scheme

Update as of 7th September 2023

LF Equity Income Fund - latest announcement on a proposed redress payment scheme

Link Fund Solutions, the Authorised Corporate Director of the LF Equity Income Fund, has provided an update on the fund regarding a proposed redress for investors in the fund. 

The latest update includes details of the following:

• The formal launch of the Scheme;
• Key terms of the Scheme; and
• Details of the first Court hearing in relation to the Scheme. At the first Court hearing the Court will consider certain preliminary issues in respect of the Scheme and be asked for permission to hold a meeting of Investors to vote on the Scheme.

As per the request of Link Fund Solutions we have written out to all fund holders and made them aware of the Practice Statement Link Issued.  

We’ll publish more details when we have them. 

You can find full details of the latest update on the fund in the official letter.

Update as of 28th July 2023

LF Equity Income Fund - latest announcement on a proposed redress payment scheme

Link Fund Solutions, the Authorised Corporate Director of the LF Equity Income Fund, has provided an update on the fund regarding a proposed redress for investors in the fund. 

Details have yet to be fully confirmed or approved, but if the scheme becomes effective, it will provide for monies (up to £235 million) to be made available to make payments to investors.  This would provide a settlement between Link and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which had launched an investigation into their role as authorised corporate director.

For clients, the expectation would be that a redress payment (amount to be confirmed) would be paid to clients’ accounts holding the fund, which continues to be suspended.

We’ll publish more details when we have them, but payment is not expected before October 2023 at the earliest.

You can find full details of the latest update on the fund in the official letter.

Update as of 21 November 2022

We would like to advise you that the 5th capital distribution has now been paid into cash within your client’s account. Distribution rates are shown below:

LF Equity Income Fund fifth payment details

Update as of 15 June 2022

LF Equity Income Fund - latest announcement

Link Fund Solutions, the Authorised Corporate Director of the LF Equity Income Fund, has provided an update on the fund regarding the reduced value of Rutherford Healthcare, one of the assets held within the fund. Link has been working alongside other shareholders to support the management team of Rutherford Healthcare to seek the best possible outcome. However, a final value for the company remains uncertain at present.

We’ll publish more details of this when we have them. We’ll also provide quarterly updates on the net asset value of the fund from now on.

You can find full details of the latest update on the fund in the official letter.

Update as of 15 March 2022

Link Fund Solutions, the Authorised Corporate Director of the LF Equity Income Fund, has provided an update on the fund’s wind up. It’s also provided additional information on the company’s annual audited accounts which were published on 31 March 2022. A copy of the accounts, which cover 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022, can be found on Link’s website.

We appreciate that this continues to be a difficult time for investors. Link Fund Solutions want to reassure investors that they’re taking every possible step to act in your best interests in returning any cash at the earliest opportunity, while trying to avoid selling off assets at heavily discounted prices. Link is also looking to protect the value of the fund’s remaining investments by making limited investments in certain companies.

You can find further updates on the income distributions to date, the status of the remaining portfolio and a general update on fees in the official statement.

J.P. Morgan has taken the decision to restrict new investments into some funds with significant exposure to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. However, they recognise that your clients might need some information about the potential value of their holdings in the affected funds. Updates relating to the indicative values of these funds will appear below.

JP Morgan non-tradable indicative NAV

A number of fund providers have suspended dealing in their funds. We have also taken the decision to restrict new investments into some funds with significant exposure to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Along with our fund partners we are continually reviewing the position of these funds and will update this table as necessary.

Please see below for the status of each fund. Where a fund has reopened you will be able to both buy and sell that fund.

We'll update this information when things change, such as if further funds are suspended or when fund restrictions are lifted.

If you have clients with a regular savings plan paying into any of these funds that are suspended, then we will continue to collect those payments but deposit them as cash in their account. For the funds that have reopened, the regular savings plan will revert back to invest into the originating fund.

For clients with a regular withdrawal plan or who are taking income from a pension, please be reassured that the client will continue to receive their regular amount, as any money normally deducted from a suspended fund will be deducted from cash or by selling a different fund. You are also able to review your client's portfolio and make amendments to the disinvestment strategy online, such as amending the funds or fund disinvestment allocations.

Any income received from these funds will no longer be automatically re-invested but will be paid into the cash account instead.

Fidelity Emerging Europe Middle East & Africa Fund (OEIC) - temporary closure to all dealing.

FIL Investment Services (UK) Limited, the management company of Fidelity’s UK-domiciled open-ended funds, has decided to temporarily close the Fidelity Emerging Europe, Middle East and Africa Fund (OEIC) to all dealing.

The war in Ukraine has had a significant impact on market trading and liquidity conditions for Russian securities across some of our portfolios. It is always our duty to act in the best interests of all investors and ensure fair treatment. To do this, we need to make sure that all assets continue to be valued appropriately and that all trading activity on behalf of clients is done at a fair price.

Given this - and having looked in-depth at the options available to us to protect the interests of existing shareholders - FIL Investment Services (UK) Limited, the management company of Fidelity’s UK-domiciled open-ended funds, has decided to temporarily close the Fidelity Emerging Europe, Middle East and Africa Fund (OEIC) to all dealing.

This decision has been made in line with provisions laid out in the Fund’s Instrument of Incorporation Articles and Prospectus and will only be in place for as long as necessary. The situation will be reviewed on an ongoing basis and we will update investors as soon as we’re able to open the Fund to new subscriptions and switches-in or to sells and switches out.