Important changes: FundsNetwork SIPP and Bond Products

This page contains information about changes we are making to the Standard Life products.  These products have been closed to new business for some years, and we are now making some important changes:
 

• The FundsNetwork SIPP provided by Phoenix Life Limited, trading as Standard Life, will be closed.
• The FundsNetwork Investment Bond provided by Phoenix Life Limited, trading as Standard Life, will be fully administered by Standard Life
• We are under discussion with Standard Life regarding the future of the FundsNetwork International Bond provided by Standard Life International and further information will be made available in due course.

Further information can be found below. 
 

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• Closing the FundsNetwork SIPP provided by Standard Life
• Communicating with your clients
• Communicating with you 
• What you will need to do if your client’s account moves to the Fidelity Pension  
• Moving Administration of the FundsNetwork Investment Bond 

The FundsNetwork SIPP provided by Standard Life will be closing in 2025. This product has been closed to new customers since 2013 and we have decided and agreed with Standard Life to simplify our products. The closure process will begin in September 2024.

When the FundsNetwork SIPP closes, the client’s pension accounts will be treated by default as follows:

In either case the pension can also be moved to another provider, subject to the new provider accepting the pension as a transfer. 

In the coming weeks, we will write to customers to tell them about their account closure, how we will treat their account and their options.  There will be a form for the client to complete to opt into the move either to the Fidelity Pension or the Standard Life Active Money SIPP, or to indicate to us that the pension will move to another provider.

Additionally, if your client’s account is by default going to be transferred to the Fidelity Pension, we will send an additional letter containing an illustration of the account as it will be when it moves to the Fidelity pension.

If we don’t receive an answer from a client, then we will send 2 further reminders about the closure.  If we receive no answer within 90 days of the date of the first letter, the account will move to the default option.

If a client elects that the pension will move to another provider, we will need to receive the instruction to move the pension within 90 days of the date of the notification of closure.  If we don’t receive this instruction, the pension will move to the default target pension indicated in the letter.

Your clients will receive a letter outlining the product closure along with the following documents.  We have provided sample documents so you can understand your client’s options:

We’ll move your client’s account to the Fidelity pension via a re-registration.  Once the re-registration is complete, we’ll send your client a completion verification letter which you will be able to view in your client’s documents online. 

On 3^rd October 2024, if you have clients still holding the FundsNetwork SIPP, we will write to you notifying you of the closure of the product and listing your client’s accounts and the target product to which their account will move.  The letter will be sent electronically and will be available in your document vault (In the ‘Firm Documents’ page once you log in to our site).

You can also find details of the clients holding the FundsNetwork SIPP in the 'AccountInfo' report available in Reporting Services online. 

Fidelity will open a new account into which we will transfer the current investments held within the FundsNetwork SIPP.  There are several actions that you may wish to consider setting up for your client’s account once it has been created and the investments have moved:
 

• If the FundsNetwork SIPP has both Accumulation and Drawdown investments, they will be moved into a Pension Savings and Pension Drawdown Account respectively.
• Regular Savings Plans will not be carried over from the current FundsNetwork SIPP, so if your client wishes to continue contributing to the pension you will need to set up a new regular savings plan on your client’s behalf.
• If the FundsNetwork SIPP has a model portfolio associated with it, we will not carry over the model portfolio to the new account. You may wish to apply the model portfolio to the new account and set a Discretionary Fund Manager (DFM) Ongoing Fee on the account if applicable.  Please note that we will pay the DFM directly from the Fidelity Pension Account when the fee is set up on the Fidelity Pension Account.
• If there is an Adviser Ongoing Fee on the FundsNetwork SIPP, then we will not carry this over into the new account.  You will need to apply this to the new account once it has been opened
• You must deliver an illustration to your client with details of any new fees applied to the new account, and you must also ensure your signed fee agreement with the client authorising the deduction of fees includes any new Adviser Fees or Discretionary Fund Manager ongoing fees for the new Fidelity pension Accounts.
• Income from investments will be re-invested by default.  You can change these settings online once the account has been created.
• Expression of wish nominations are not carried over from your existing FundsNetwork SIPP.  You or your client can provide an expression of wish online to nominate who your client would like to be considered to receive the pension when they pass away.

Regular Income payments from the account will be carried forward from the FundsNetwork SIPP to the new Fidelity Pension Drawdown Account. 

The FundsNetwork Investment Bond provided by Standard Life will in future be administered directly by Standard Life.  We will be writing to your clients holding the product prior to any changes, the move of the product administration to Standard Life is planned in the coming months.

We will update this page with exact dates when the change of administration is finalised.