Standard Life Sterling Fund

EdGasket

OK thanks, I may also talk to them myself. I've now read the reports on CityWire and FT websites but neither mention any backdating or any sort of compensation. Is it worth getting out now or is that all the bad news out of the way for this fund?

cogito

I don't like funds that lack transparency or where I don't understand the risks. In this case I thought the fund was OK as a short term refuge. The implication in the SL factsheet from which I quoted is that your money is safe when it obviously isn't. I did not go into the fund expecting gains and did so simply to avoid losses.

As for getting out, I think that I would want to know exactly how much my fund is worth before switching out.

mad

I have lost over 2k here and must admit thought it was relatively safe if 'lackluster' fund i.e.graded 1 on their 7 point scale stable to god knows what.....(!!!! your money up the wall or something) Having said that I take all Dunsthon / Eds points as I am sure they are right. I will take up with my financial adviser but am also going to have a go at SL anyway for my own amusement.

finally for whatever reason any of us where in this fund it's still very annoying wether we made mistakes or not and I tyhink we have a right to be !!!!ed off about it...........

Feeling better already

MikeJones_2

Hi minsky,

minsky wrote: »

Standard Life told me the safest, lowest risk one they offered was the Sterling fund - next to no growth but next to no risk. A safe haven to weather the storm and retain capital.

Mind if I enquire how Standard Life communicated this to you and what literature, (printed/website etc), did you receive/see prior to making your decision to switch fund?

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.

mad

Have looked up some of my documents now and:

the Standard Life Pension Sterling One Fund is classed as Assett class: cash

The description given is:

'Investing in cash means putting your money on deposit (for example, in a bank account) where it earns interest. This does offer more security than equities or bonds, but has less potential for growth'

Now I am sure as others have pointed out there is risk but the literature I have does not make that clear at all. Is there any case here for being misled?

dunstonh

My Scottish Life rep phoned me this afternoon. He knows that Standard Life are one of my pet hate companies and he was having a laugh at this latest "event".

He did remark that the comments he had heard was that Std Life did have some marketing literature that may have misrepresented the risk level. I tend not to use providers own stuff as its unreliable, plus I dont use SL so i cant recall what the literature said. However, you may wish to dig a copy out if you still have it as you may have grounds for complaint under misrepresentation.

Whilst you did not seek advice, you did act on their material and if the information was wrong or misleading then you could argue on that point.

This doesnt change my view earlier though that the fund is the same as a savings account. It perhaps just highlights that relying on providers documentation is not a good idea.

bleaky

Bloody idiots. I lost a bit, but luckily I had distributed my funds ( which are just days away from being transferred into an H-L SIPP where I can take care of my own money) into multiple cash holding options - I only had 5K in the sterling fund thank god.

In this environment the only safe thing is to look after your own cash, as long as you have at least a modicum of understanding of what you are doing. A SIPP is great for that.

The money managers now have no more idea what is going to happen to the market than you or I do. For anyone wanting a good independant view of what is going on out there, this is by far the best place to learn:

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/

There is enough great analysis online that you don't need to rely on worthless financial advice any more.

Good luck.

Rhymsta

I also got the bad news letter today... shocked is not the word! I had £50,000 in my SIPP - 25k I transferred into equity funds a few months back and was going to drip feed the rest over. In all the conversations I have had with my adviser the fund has always been referred to as a cash fund. I wasn't even expecting it to grow - but I certainly wasn't expecting a 5% fall!
I am very disappointed with my Standard life SIPP. I have asked them 4 times now for a transaction statement and recieved nothing. I also found out - too late that managing my own funds isn't as easy as just switching on-line - it takes them up to 4 days to act on the instruction - not great if you want to switch straight after a big dip.

artha

minsky wrote: »

Has anyone else been affected by the Standard Life Sterling fund? Last year I had getting on for £100K in equity funds, had a bad feeling about the stock market so switched to a safer fund. Standard Life told me the safest, lowest risk one they offered was the Sterling fund - next to no growth but next to no risk. A safe haven to weather the storm and retain capital.
A year later it had fallen 8% and yesterday it fell another 5% in one day. And its supposed to be cash, like a deposit account. I've lost over 10 grand. 10 grand of missed holidays, clothes and meals out whilst I saved and 10 grand less for retirement. Meanwhile the fund manager gets a six figure salary and god knows what bonus.

Is there any way I can get my money back?
Mis-selling? Negligence?

Given this information do those who have their finger on the pulse expect this to be a one off adjustment or could ther be further shocks for investors in this "allegedly"safe haven for short term investement. At the end of this month I have signed up to start putting most of my salary into this fund (company AVC scheme) for the 5 months prior to my retirement with the intention of taking it as tax free cash

cogito

They have suggested their Managed Cash Fund as an alternative but reading the factsheet, it doesn't actually look like a cash fund.