Shareholder notice: FCA approves changes to unit classes

Rathbone Ethical Bond Fund, Rathbone Global Opportunities Fund, Rathbone Income Fund and Rathbone UK Opportunities Fund (the funds)

11 July 2019

Direct investors only - please disregard if you have invested through a financial adviser or investment platform

We are writing to notify you of changes to certain unit classes issued by the above-named funds which are set out in this letter. We received confirmation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 19 June 2019 that the changes we propose do not impact the ongoing authorisation of the funds. The changes will be effective from 13 September 2019.
 

Conversion of unit classes

We have reviewed the existing unit classes of the funds listed above which are available to investors. We have decided that it is in the best interests of investors in certain unit classes to convert their holdings to unit classes in the same fund, and of the same type (i.e. income or accumulation, as applicable) but with a lower annual management charge.

We intend to do this by moving your investment from our ‘R’ (retail) unit class to our ‘I’ (institutional) unit class.

This letter sets out the changes to the unit classes we intend to effect and your rights as a unitholder. We have amended the Prospectus to allow us to undertake mandatory conversions where we consider this to be in the best interest of unitholders. It is our understanding that there will be no tax implications on the conversion of certain investors’ holdings in the R-Class to the I-Class.

To help show you how the costs of the new units compare with your current ones, we have put together the below tables. AMC stands for annual management charge; it is the fixed annual amount we charge for managing your fund. The total amount you pay each year is higher than this AMC because there are other, variable costs (mainly trading costs and taxes) that are paid to third parties. Combined with the AMC, these variable costs make up the ongoing charges figure (OCF), a standardised way to judge the cost of one fund against another. We have included the latest OCF for your current unit class being the ‘R-Class’ and for the ‘I-Class’ units as a guide to what the total cost of your investment will look like after the conversion.
 

Your current total costs are:

Fund

R-Class AMC

 

Other charges

 

Total OCF

Rathbone Global Opportunities*

1.50%

+

0.03%

=

1.53%

Rathbone Income**

1.50%

+

0.04%

=

1.54%

Rathbone UK Opportunities**

1.50%

+

0.14%

=

1.64%

Rathbone Ethical Bond**

1.25%

+

0.04%

=

1.29%

OCF for accumulation units. OCF calculation dates: *31.01.19; **30.09.18.
 

Your new total costs will be:

Fund

I-Class AMC

 

Other charges

 

Total OCF

Rathbone Global Opportunities*

0.75%

+

0.03%

=

0.78%

Rathbone Income**

0.75%

+

0.03%

=

0.78%

Rathbone UK Opportunities**

0.45%

+

0.16%

=

0.61%

Rathbone Ethical Bond**

0.625%

+

0.045%

=

0.67%

OCF for accumulation units. OCF calculation dates: *31.01.19; **30.09.18.

Full information regarding the rights and charges attaching to all unit classes can be found in the Prospectus for the funds.
 

Your options

We are required to give you notice of the changes, and this letter forms this notice. You are not required to take any action as a result of this letter. Your holdings in the R-Class in the above-mentioned funds will be automatically converted to the I-Class in the same fund as set out in the table above with effect from 13 September 2019.

If you do not wish for your R-Class units to be transferred to I-Class units, you are reminded that you have the right to redeem your units by making a request to redeem, or alternatively please inform us if you do not wish to have your holdings converted. This information must be received by 17:00 on 30 August 2019.

As ever, if you would like more information or further clarification please give us a call on 020 7399 0399 or email us at rutm@rathbones.com. We are happy to help.

 

Kind Regards

 

Mike Webb, Chief Executive Officer
Rathbone Unit Trust Management Limited