Standard Life Sterling Fund

cogito

EdGasket wrote: »

The BBC news says that compensation will be by injecting 100M back into the sterling fund. However after the 5% drop in one day, I panicked and have moved most of my pension out of the Sterling Fund. Therefore a simple injection of money back into the fund would not compensate me. Does anyone know how I will be compensated? Also does it mean anyone joining the Sterling Fund now might get a 5% uplift even though they hadn't lost anything? Confused !! At least they have admitted their mistake so eventually I should get something though it might take a few letters !

From the horse's mouth:

http://www.adviserzone.com/ezines/pensions_instant/issue20/story1.php

Ian_W

And here as well ...

CITYWIRE.

mad

Victory !!!

Why did we all have to make such a big effort to complain? Someone at SL must have thought they might get away with it....In my complaint I suggested that if I was cynical (which I'm afraid I am - it's an age thing) that they may be trying to cushion some of their exposure to toxic assets by passing on to investors.

EdGasket wrote: »

I panicked and have moved most of my pension out of the Sterling Fund.

I did too, but looks like we are ok. Remains to be seen how they do this as I sporead mine around a few funds.

MikeJones_2

As a personal comment to this thread, I think Standard Life did itself no harm yesterday in announcing that it would immediately remediate all investors in its Pension Sterling Fund (including those who had retired or transferred out).

After investigating complaints, Standard Life admitted that some of its literature may not have been entirely clear and transparent.

The crux of the matter, clearly indicated by many posters to this thread, was that it was perceived as a ‘safe’ cash fund by the majority of investors and advisers alike. Few understood that the fund held asset-backed securities or the implications associated with this type of asset (i.e. that they could diminish in value).

I for one applaud Standard Life’s quick and decisive move. We all make mistakes and what defines us is how we react to them when they come to light. Remediation will cost the company an estimated £100m – but on the face of it the pension provider will save much more in terms of reputation and customer loyalty.

An important product of this story is that it was also a ‘heads-up’ for millions of people as many pension scheme trustees, financial advisers and investors now realise that they need to do more research on even the simplest of products and fund choices.

As a mediator for The Pensions Advisory Service, I’d have been delighted to open and close a dispute resolution case in around a month – about the time that it has taken Standard Life to react and act decisively!

Mike

I work in the field of Pension Education and Pension Guidance in the UK. I am a member of the Specialist Pensions Forum as well as being a Voluntary Adviser for The Pensions Advisory Service. I work with scheme members, employers, trustees, scheme administrators and advisers on most things to do with employer sponsored pension schemes. The views expressed by me in this thread are my personal opinions. You should seek professional advice from an appropriately experienced and qualified adviser. I am not an IFA.

dickyseat

I think it's brilliant that SL have agreed back down. There are a few things still needing to be sorted out however....

This is from Nigel Callaghan at Hardgreaves Lansdown

"We have spoken to Standard Life this morning and the company has confirmed to us that the £100 million capital injection comes without any strings attached; it will simply be a straight uplift to the assets in the fund. This is good news for investors.
There were other, smaller reductions to the fund value between September 2008 and January 14th 2009 and we are continuing to discuss with Standard Life what other compensation measures may be appropriate for them to consider"

full article at http://www.h-l.co.uk/news/Expert-comment/articles/2574/rq/article

artha

I invested a large sum of money into the sterling fund on the 25th Jan. Does this mean that I've just had a 5% increase in value of my units?

Daytona

I doubt it, but read the link provided by cogito.

wonderman

Old_Slaphead wrote: »

Thanks cognito

Story :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7882967.stm

http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/11022009/325/standard-life-compensates-97-000-fund-customers.html

As a fundholder - great news

As a shareholder - boooooo!

Overall it must be the right thing to do.

Your choice to hold shares in a company of numpties.

wonderman

Why is everyone on here so happy?

What is the real value of the fund - this action tells you that they have no idea - they reduced the value by 5% because of some of the toxic assets - well that has not changed - those assets are still there so the problem is just being stored up for a later date. I think this is a very clever move by Std Life - effectively there is a false value on the fund - they are stopping all the complaining - and then when they have to adjust the value in the future they will say - well you already knew about the risks.....The fund is still not good - the unit price is lower now than it was 12 months ago - a cash fund should have been growing not declining. I predict that this fund is now going to deliver no returns at all.

geewhiz

wonderman wrote: »

Why is everyone on here so happy?

Maybe because Standard Life have done the right thing and what everyone on here was asking them to do.

As for the numpties comment, that's just pathetic, this problem was probably caused by one person and has nothing to do with 99.9% of the staff.

Some people have been a bit more reasonable in their response to this story, telegraph for example.