SJP Fund news and updates
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We’ll regularly update the page with information about actions we’re taking on our funds, our latest analysis, and educational resources on key investment concepts.
We will no longer write to you in advance of every fund manager change. Letters outlining such changes will only be sent in specific cases where we believe it’s important for clients to know before the change takes effect.
You can find details of these changes below. A summary of changes made during the year will also be provided within the Annual Wealth Report you receive.
Actions we've recently taken on our funds:
If you are invested in the SJP Property funds and have any further queries, please speak to your SJP Partner. If you are no longer taking advice, you can contact us directly.
Following a strategic review, the St. James’s Place Diversified Assets Unit Trust (FAIF) (the Fund) has been suspended. Subject to regulatory approval, the Fund will be subsequently closed. St. James’s Place (SJP) is writing to investors to explain the decision, what it means for them and what will happen next. This article summarises the reasons for the proposed closure and answers expected questions.
Trading in the Fund was suspended on 30 September 2026. This means investors cannot pay money into the Fund or take money out while the suspension is in place. SJP made this decision to protect existing investors and treat them fairly. An application is being made to the UK regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), for approval to close the Fund.
The suspension also affects SJP’s life and pension unit linked funds, which invest wholly in the Fund. The unit linked options for investors who hold the Fund through products such as an investment bond or pension, are also now closed to transactions.
Subject to regulatory approval the Fund will look to be wound down later this year.
What this means for investors
- The Fund is suspended with the intention to close it later this year.
- Investors do not need to do anything.
- Fund charge reduced to zero.
- Distributions to investors will happen after the Fund’s investments are sold. The amount may be more or less than originally invested, depending on when you invested, performance, sale prices and transaction costs.
What led to the decision to suspend the Fund?
SJP is taking a proactive decision following a shift in demand for the strategy, says Justin Onuekwusi, Chief Executive Officer, Investments, St. James’s Place. The Fund has seen falling demand for some time. Since 2023, it has regularly seen more money withdrawn than invested.
Part of the Fund (less than a quarter) was exposed to private market assets. These are not as easy to sell as investments traded on public markets as the price needs to be negotiated.
Justin says: “Recent years have seen significant innovation across alternative and private market investing, with investors able to access opportunities through a broader range of structures, vehicles and investment approaches. We continue to believe alternative investments can play a valuable role within certain portfolios. However, the alternatives landscape has changed significantly since the Fund was launched.”
Following a strategic review of the Fund and investor demand, SJP decided to seek regulatory approval to close the Fund. The suspension allows for fair treatment of investors while completing the sale of the private market assets in the portfolio.
By acting now, SJP aims to protect investors’ interests and ensure all clients are treated fairly and consistently throughout the process. While the Fund has continued to be managed in line with its objectives and risk rating, continued outflows increase the risk this could change.
Private asset sale
On 29 September, an offer was accepted to sell all the Fund’s private market exposure. SJP believed selling the investments separately would have taken longer, with no certainty about when acceptable offers would be received.
This complete sale gives greater certainty and leaves the Fund with only more liquid assets, such as publicly traded bonds (the debt of companies and governments) and cash. While waiting for FCA approval to close, these holdings will continue to be managed in line with the Fund’s objectives.
The final amount allocated to individual investors will depend on the prices achieved when the remaining investments are sold. The way money is returned will depend on how the Fund is held. We will communicate more details on this once we have FCA approval to close.
While SJP expects to make payments within the timescales outlined, selling some investments may take longer than expected. This means the timing and amount of future payments could change.
We recognise the suspension of a fund may be unsettling. Investors will receive further information as this process progresses. If there are further questions, please contact your adviser or SJP Partner Practice.
If you don’t have an adviser, you can call our admin centre on 0800 027 1031.
Next steps
There is no action for investors to take at this time.
SJP is writing to inform all investors of the suspension and the application to close the Fund has been made. (Please note – depending on what products in which you hold the Fund, you may receive more than one letter)
Supporting material
- St. James’s Place Diversified Assets (FAIF) Unit Trust suspension: what you need to know
- Diversified Assets (FAIF) suspension letter
- Video: Diversified Assets Fund - an update
- DAF planned closure timeline
- The value of diversification
- Video: Why diversification matters
- Video: Explaining liquidity
- CGT checklist
There are several SJP unit-linked funds that are linked to the Diversified Assets unit trust. You may be invested in those via a product such as an investment bond or pension. The FAQs below refer to all as “the Fund”. Where an answer differs between these, we will make this explicit and call out the difference for the unit-linked versions.
FAQs
Our expectation is the suspension will be a matter of months.
We are awaiting regulatory approval to close the SJP Diversified Assets (FAIF) Unit Trust. We hope to receive this later this year at which time we will start winding it down, selling assets and returning monies. This will, in turn, inform the timing of cessation of the unit-linked versions.
No. There is no dealing in or out of the Fund during its suspension. If you attempt to do so, it will not be processed.
The SJP Diversified Assets (FAIF) Unit Trust will continue to be priced while it is suspended so you can still see a value for your units. You can access this either from your SJP Partner practice or the SJP Fund centre SJP Fund Information, Prices & Performance.
The performance of the unit linked funds will also continue to be priced and the value will continue to be reflected in any products in which you are invested with exposure to it. For example, the value of your pension will continue to include the suspended fund.
Some products will have a noon cut off for transactions on the day of the suspension. If you are invested in the Fund via:
- ISA
- offshore bond
- unit trust accounts
- Fund administration bond (FAB)
For these products, with the exception of FAB, any transactions already underway before noon on 30 September will be processed as normal. This includes switch requests. Any instructions after that time will not be accepted or processed.
Any investment into your bond, unit trust account or ISA, which was intended to be invested in the Fund will instead be paid into your transaction account. It is important to stay alert to that and redirect this cash as appropriate.
If you are invested in the Fund via a:
- investment bond
- pension
Transactions underway received before 17:30 on 29th September will be processed as normal, this includes switch requests in or out. Money out requests received before noon on 30th September will also be processed using the next day’s price.
If you only hold the Fund in your portfolio from which you receive regular withdrawals, these cease the day of the suspension. If it is one of several in your portfolio, regular withdrawals will continue from the other funds only.
The same goes for contributions. If the Fund is one of several in your portfolio, regular contributions will continue for your other funds only. That contribution will be redirected and allocated proportionately across the other funds you regularly contribute to.
This is a sequence of events. We are awaiting regulatory approval to close SJP Diversified Assets (FAIF) Unit Trust. This could take around a month (starting at the date of our application).
Once we have that approval, KKR will begin to sell down the remaining assets in the Fund.
We anticipate, if approved, to complete the wind-down before the end of the year (2026). We will write to you again in November to update you.
How it impacts your individual holding / investment will depend on how you are invested in the Fund. The details of this will be more explicit when we write to you again in our November update.
We cannot confirm the final value until all the investments have been sold.
The amount you receive will depend on how much you have invested, the prices achieved when the investments are sold minus the transaction costs (incurred when selling assets) paid by the Fund as well as in what product you have invested through.
Possibly. Whether you need to pay tax will depend on your personal circumstances and the type of account or product in which you are invested.
Tax rules can be complex, so we cannot confirm how they will affect you. Please speak to your Partner or a tax adviser if you are unsure.
All the underlying assets in which the SJP Diversified Assets (FAIF) Unit Trust was invested in as of the date of its suspension, 30 September 2026. Ahead of the suspension, the Fund’s exposure to private assets was sold in its entirety.
Unlike investments traded on public markets, these assets take longer to sell because a buyer and price must be agreed.
We considered the best outcome was to sell the entirety of the private market exposure as this created the most favourable asset sale environment, as opposed to a piecemeal sell-down that could have eroded the value of the investments.
We believe it to be in clients’ best interests to take this pre-emptive step. There are no signs of outflows slowing. Since 2023 the size of the SJP Diversified Assets (FAIF) Unit Trust has halved. We believe closure and managed wind down allow us to best realise value for remaining investors in the fund and avoid future risks and uncertainty.
The existing level of exposure was not problematic. However, continued withdrawals could have eventually made it harder for the fund manager to run the SJP Diversified Assets (FAIF) Unit Trust as intended.
St. James’s Place will pay the legal and administration costs of suspending and closing the Fund, subject to regulatory approval. We have also reduced the fund charge from 1.04% to 0% for the rest of its life.
There will still be costs when the Fund’s holdings are sold, such as broker fees and taxes. These costs will be paid from the SJP Diversified Assets (FAIF) Unit Trust, which can impact the final valuation. But you do not receive a separate charge for this.
You may still pay other charges depending on the product you hold and whether you received advice.
We will provide more information when we write to you in November.
Yes. The amount you receive will depend on how the investment performed and the price achieved during the wind-up. Your return will also depend on when you invested and how much you paid in, including any regular investments.
We will confirm the final amount once all investments have been sold and the closure process is complete.
Your money remains invested. This means it will continue to be affected by market movements, both up as well as down. However, a large portion of the SJP Diversified Assets (FAIF) Unit Trust is now holding cash. This will act as a stabiliser if the market were to fall before we get approval to close.
We kept it under regular review. It was being managed in line with its objectives and its risk profile. We did not identify a problem with how it was being run or with the types of investments it held.
What changed was the level of money leaving the Fund. At first, it was not clear whether this was a short-term issue or a longer-term trend. Closing too early could have meant taking unnecessary action. Over time, the level of withdrawals showed demand was unlikely to recover, so we decided closing it was the right step to protect investors’ interests.
Global fund
The fund has moved to a multi-manager structure. Alongside Artisan, the following new managers will each run a portion of the fund: Acadian Asset Management, Dalton Investments, Kopernik Global Investors, MAC Alpha Capital, Phoenix Asset Management Partners.
These changes introduce a blend of investment strategies focused on diverse investment styles, regions and approaches. The new structure will allow the fund to capture the best of the opportunities across global equities over time as market conditions evolve. They also aim to enhance diversification by increasing both the number and range of companies in which the fund invests.
The names of the associated Life, Pension and International funds will be changed from ‘Global Managed’ to ‘Global’. This will ensure consistency of the naming convention across the fund range.
UK fund
The number of managers has been reduced from five to four. LA Capital and Schroders have been removed from the manager lineup. A new manager, Dimensional UK, has been added and will run a portion of the fund alongside the fund’s existing managers; Baillie Gifford, BlackRock and Redwheel.
Dimensional UK is a systematic manager whose UK equity strategy is built on the combination of robust research and high-quality implementation. By combining evidence-based investing with experienced real-time portfolio management, the manager aims to capture long-term sources of return while controlling costs and risk.
These changes adjust exposures to capture attractive opportunities within the UK equity market and aim to improve the fund’s resilience i.e. the ability to navigate different market conditions.
On 3 August 2026 we will be making some updates to certain funds in our fund range. The changes can be summarised as follows:
- Updating the investment objectives and/or policies of funds for clarity and consistency
- Refining our fund prospectuses (a legal disclosure document with important information about the funds) to make them easier to compare across the range
- Select funds will see additional changes to the way they are managed.
This document includes tracked changes to highlight the details of the changes and includes the list of affected funds.
A further return of capital was made to clients in SJP’s life and pension property funds on the 1 August 2026.
Property life and pension investors received their return of capital as a cash payment into their policy’s Transaction Account. For the majority of clients, this money will be automatically reinvested proportionally across their other funds.
For a client with less than £100 available for investment, or who are only invested in the property fund, their money will remain in their transaction account until the client or Partner instructs a switch.
Following the August 2026 distributions, investors will have received the below amounts in returned capital*:
- Unit Trust: over 75% of their holding
- Life Fund: around 70% of their holding
- Pension Fund: over 65% of their holding
*calculated as capital returned as a percentage of net asset value of the funds on the date we announced closure (27th November 2024)
Each of our property funds holds different assets, and therefore have had different sales experience since November 2024, which is reflected in the capital distributions we have made to date.
We have made changes to the Worldwide Income fund. The fund is now called the SJP Global Equity Income fund.
Acadian Asset Management which uses an active systematic investment approach, has taken over as the new manager of the fund. We believe Acadian’s systematic strategy will improve the fund’s ability to meet its income and capital growth objectives.
A key driver of this will be enhanced diversification with the number of companies in the fund rising from ~30 to ~500. A more diversified and balanced portfolio should help the fund provide more consistent income which better aligns with the benchmark.
These enhancements aim to improve investment performance and client value for money over the long-term.
A fifth manager was added to the SJP Emerging Markets Equity fund on the 22 June 2026. FSSA will join existing managers Aikya, ARGA, Lazard and Wasatch. FSSA brings a specialised focus on Asian markets and a ‘quality’ investment style to the fund. The addition was made to enhance the overall style blend and, in turn, diversification.
A new manager has been added to SJP’s Global Value Fund from 16 March 2026. The addition of the equity value specialist, LSV, increases the line up of the multi-manager fund from four to five managers.
The assets are managed by global multi-asset group Artisan, value specialists based in the US Pzena, and global group Sanders Capital. In June 2025, State Street Global Advisers was added to the roster.
From mid-March, LSV will be running a portion of the fund using an active, systematic investment strategy. This is a rules‑based, data‑driven approach to picking stocks with select value characteristics.
LSV was added to improve the fund’s resilience by improving diversification and balancing risks across the blend of managers on the fund.
We have made a number of changes to the Global Equity fund including a name change. The fund is now known as the SJP Global Lower Carbon Equity fund.
The number of investment managers moved from three to one - Acadian Asset Management. The new manager uses an active systematic approach to investing. We believe this approach will provide better long-term investment outcomes for clients.
Changes to sustainability approach
There is a more explicit target for the fund to maintain a carbon footprint 25% lower than its benchmark. We’ve added new key performance indicators (KPIs) to track this. The fund has invested in lower carbon companies since 2021 so these changes will strengthen our disclosures and accountability of the new target.
Additional exclusions are, the fund won’t invest in companies involved in controversial weapons, controversial behaviour, the production or manufacture of tobacco and fossil fuel companies deemed to be ‘climate transition laggards’.
FAQs
No. While the fund does integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations – like all other SJP funds – and has a lower carbon target, it is not classified as sustainable investing.
To be deemed sustainable, the fund would need to have a specific sustainability objective and label. Its sustainability approach doesn’t go far enough to meet this criteria.
There are three KPIs that the fund will be tracked against:
- Weighted Average Carbon Intensity: this is the measure for carbon footprint and is the fund’s scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions per dollar of revenue.
- Carbon emissions: the total scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions of all companies in which the fund invests.
- ESG score: the investment manager calculates an overall ESG score for the fund to measure the extent to which ESG factors are being considered by companies in the fund.
These will be reviewed by SJP’s investment team on a regular basis and reported in the fund’s sustainability consumer facing disclosure annually. You can find this document on FundCentre.
Systematic funds aim to beat their benchmark with higher returns, similar to active funds. Rather than an investment manager choosing what stocks to buy and sell, this style of investing applies a set of rules to the fund’s investment universe, aiming to enhance returns and/or manage risks. Rules are focused on performance indicators and may include, the value of a company, speed of company growth and past performance.
We believe the move towards a single manager, using an active systematic approach better aligns with achieving the fund’s objective to achieve capital growth over a term of five years or more. We expect these changes to improve investment performance over the long-term.
The introduction of a more explicit lower carbon target and KPIs will strengthen the controls and accountability around the fund’s lower carbon aim. The KPIs will be regulatory monitored and reported to clients for transparent disclosure.
In February, we made some changes to the SJP Corporate Bond fund. These will enable greater flexibility for the fund's manager, Invesco, to manage allocations between investment grade corporate and high yield bonds.
The changes made:
- The investment objective is to achieve both income and growth over a 5-year period.
- The fund also invests at least 75% of its net asset value in sterling denominated corporate bond securities (or non-sterling denominated securities hedged back to sterling or in any combination of both).
A further capital distribution to clients in SJP’s Property funds was made over the weekend of 29/30 November 2025.
Property unit trust and ISA investors received their capital distribution/repayment of capital as cash payments into their Transaction Account. For clients who elected to have the money automatically reinvested proportionally across their other funds, this took place on 1 December 2025.
Clients who did not opt into the automatic reinvestment received a letter in mid-December 2025 explaining the options available to them. They had until mid-January 2026 to fund switch or request a withdrawal.
Property life and pension investors also received their repayment of capital as cash payments into their Transaction Account. This money was automatically reinvested proportionally across their other funds. This took place on 1 December 2025.
For a client with less than £100 available for investment or who are only invested in the property fund, their funds will remain in their transaction account until the client or partner instructs a switch.
Following the November 2025 distributions, investors will have received the below amounts in returned capital*:
• Unit Trust: over 75% of their holding
• Life Fund: over 50% of their holding
• Pension Fund: nearly 50% of their holding
*calculated as capital returned as a percentage of net asset value of the funds on the date we announced closure (27th November 2024)
Each of our property funds holds different assets, and therefore have had different sales experience since November 2024, which is reflected in the capital distributions we have made to date.
Clients invested in our unit trusts are being moved to new classes in SJP’s unit trusts at the end of August. The majority of clients will be moved to our S class, which features only the deduction of the funds’ charges. Advice and the cost of the product are paid separately.
This change enables us to present our performance net of charges – this means they will be calculated in a manner similar to those funds offered by competitors.
However, it will not be immediately noticeable to many clients. This is because past performance information directly relates to the unit class in which someone is invested, not the fund itself. And the S-class only officially launched on 25 November 2024 (with clients only being moved to it in August 2025).
To get longer-term information on the performance of their investments, investors will need to look at other unit classes in that fund. Those might still contain the old SJP fee structure which included other costs, such as advice, alongside those of the fund. This means that, because of the different methodology, the past performance in either case is not comparable or continuous.
We do not believe this is the best outcome for clients. So, in response, we have worked with an external investment data provider to produce an “extended” S-class performance series (called S fee-adjusted) with a longer track record. From 26 August 2025, past performance figures in SJP’s own marketing literature – including its factsheets – will show performance of this S fee-adjusted series.
Here are some answers to questions you may have:
We have created a performance series that connects the new S-class to the old L-class. As the L-class incurs certain fees the S class doesn’t, its performance will be adjusted by discounting 0.5% for advice and 0.275% for platform costs.
This is different to the composition of charges of the S-class (which detracts 0.80% for advice). But it is reflective of the way our charges were disclosed publicly during this period, so we felt being conservative in this adjustment was a fairer approach.
It is also consistent with the calculation used in the analysis undertaken for our annual Assessment of Value report over the past few years.
You can still access the past performance of funds using the historic unit classes (such as L or M). They are available on the online factsheets and on your funds’ key information document (KIID), which can be accessed via the Fund Centre on SJP.co.uk.
Please note, many of the historic unit classes (like L) will contain the cost of advice and products in the net of charges figures.
No. The Money Market Unit Trust and the Global Government Bond Unit Trust will both use their R-class returns for performance prior to November 2024. Additionally, the Money Market Fund will be adjusted by 0.5% rather than 0.775% to better reflect this fund’s charges.
The S fee-adjusted series dates back to 2015 or since inception, whichever is most recent.
Pension and life fund price histories and performance series are different. This is because these product wrappers buy units of the unit trust funds within the product wrapper. Under this arrangement, they will complete a transfer from the current primary unit class to the S-unit class within the product wrappers. This means there will be no disruption to the performance history. Updated pricing will be reflected in future performance but will not impact the historic past performance series.
SJP Global Absolute Return
From 23 June, we have reduced the number of managers on the SJP Global Absolute Return fund from six to four, removing Amundi and BlackRock. Fulcrum, Payden & Rygel, State Street Global Advisors, and Wellington will continue managing the fund. This change will improve the overall blend across strategies, as well as the fund’s resilience. We expect this to lead to improved investment performance.
The removal of Amundi and BlackRock will not have any effect of the risk profile or investment process of Global Absolute Return. There are no cost implications to the change.
SJP Global Growth, SJP Global Quality, and SJP Global Value
In June, we made small changes to SJP Global Growth, SJP Global Quality, and SJP Global Value funds. All three funds use multiple managers to run parts of their respective portfolios. In Global Growth and Global Quality, we use five separate active managers, while in Global Value there are three.
We have added another manager to each - State Street Global Advisers (SSGA), which uses a systematic, low-cost approach to investing. The addition of SSGA will further increase our flexibility, enabling us to more easily allocate funds as and when needed.
SSGA's inclusion in the management of these funds will not have any effect on the risk profile or investment process of Global Value or Global Quality. There are no cost implications to the change.
Winding down the Property Unit Trust & removing the Property Life and Pension fund options
We suspended trading in the SJP Property Unit Trust and started deferring withdrawals and switch-out transactions in the Life and Pension Property funds in October 2023. This was because the funds were experiencing significant withdrawals which we couldn’t meet without selling property assets at a substantial discount to fair market value.
A year later, we believe that reopening the Property Unit Trust and resuming transactions in the Life and Pension Property funds would still result in significant withdrawal requests. This would quickly exhaust the cash levels that have built up in the funds over the past year, meaning that the Property Unit Trust would need to be suspended again, and we might be unable to meet deferred transactions for the Life and Pension Property funds within six months.
In recent years, investor sentiment towards property funds has fallen for two key reasons:
- Investors have become increasingly cautious about property funds due to the significant change in working patterns following the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the rise of remote working has reduced demand for office space.
- Proposed regulatory changes could result in the introduction of notice periods for other types of funds holding assets that can take a while to sell, such as property. This has deterred investors who value flexibility and quick access to their money.
While the suspension and deferred transactions have protected clients’ investments, the underlying and market-wide challenges experienced by property funds remain. Given this ongoing situation, we have decided to wind down the Property Unit Trust and remove the Property Life and Pension fund options.
Update - 23rd June
Invesco appointed as fund manager, and update on fund capital distribution/release of capital.
On 29th May 2025, Invesco was appointed as fund manager of our Property funds and tasked with selling the remaining assets of the funds.
There are no additional costs or changes for clients resulting from this change. Invesco are being incentivised to sell the properties for the best value in a timely manner, with any additional costs being met by us.
Update on Capital redistribution
The second Unit Trust and ISA (UTISA) capital distribution and the first Life & Pension release of capital have now been completed.
The distribution/release of capital was completed on 15th March. The total capital distribution and released amounts in this tranche were as follows:
UTISA - £126m (15% of Net Asset Value (NAV)*)
Life - £115m (26% of NAV*)
Pension - £149m (24% of NAV*)
*As a % of NAV when the fund winddown/removal began on 27th November.
Your questions answered
Last updated 23 June 2025.
A Unit Trust and a Life or Pension policy are different types of investment. While the terminology therefore differs as well, the outcome of winding down the Unit Trust and removing the Life and Pension fund options is the same: new investment will no longer be possible. We will be selling the property assets and distributing the proceeds to existing investors.
We have already made capital distributions to UT and ISA investors and released capital for Life and Pension investors. We will continue to make these periodically, as properties are sold. We will write to you each time a distribution or release of capital is made.
Yes, investors holding income units in the Property funds will continue to receive income distributions during the wind down. These will occur per the usual frequency:
- Property Unit Trust (or via an ISA) – quarterly
- Property Life fund – quarterly
- Property Pension fund – monthly
An income distribution is treated separately from a release of capital/capital distribution. The value of the income distributions will reduce as the assets in each of the funds are sold and the amount of rental income reduces accordingly.
We will not be producing fund factsheets for any of the Property funds.
However, we will continue to publish daily prices for the Property funds here. The value of any investments investors have in the Property fund will continue to appear in their Annual and Quarterly Wealth Reports, and the SJP App.
The decision to wind down the Property Unit Trust and remove the Property Life and Pension fund options reflects the challenges facing open-ended, daily priced property funds more broadly. This is not a reflection of the overall performance and stability of our fund range. These are circumstances specific only to the Property funds.
Yes, the business remains strong. The winding down of the Property Unit Trust and removal of the Property Life and Pension fund options does not reflect any vulnerability in SJP’s operations or business model.
Commercial property takes longer to sell than other assets, such as equities and bonds. Buyers need time to conduct detailed property evaluations, including on-site inspections, various surveys and complex legal procedures.
Based on our assessment of the current market and the asset profile within the funds, we believe the sale of properties will take around two years to complete. This is to ensure the manager has sufficient time to prepare the assets for market, and to allow adequate time to run a competitive sales process to ensure best value is achieved for clients. However, this timescale is subject to the broader economic backdrop and factors affecting commercial property and may be subject to revision.
No, each of the funds is invested across a different range of properties. These assets will have to be marketed and sold separately, and therefore each fund will be wound down or removed according to the pace of these sales.
There are sales costs associated with selling properties. These will continue to be borne by the funds.
The decision to wind down the Property Unit Trust and remove the Property Life and Pension fund options was not a result of the management but due to the wider challenges faced by the industry. SJP took the proactive decision to appoint Invesco to manage the wind down of the funds and sell the property assets.
About Invesco
Invesco is an international asset manager, that has existed for almost 50 years. It manages over $1.8 trillion worth of assets and employs over 8400 professionals globally.
Its Invesco Real Estate business has £ 67.7 billion in real estate assets under management, 605 employees and 21 regional offices across the US, Europe and Asia. Invesco Real Estate has a 40-year investment history and has been actively investing across the risk-return spectrum, from core to opportunistic, in equity and debt real estate strategies, and in direct and listed real estate for its c.400 institutional client relationships during this time. In Europe, Invesco Real Estate has eight offices in London, Munich, Milan, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Luxembourg and Warsaw, and 187 employees. It manages 198 assets across 13 European countries and with assets under management of £13.2 billion. The team has a strong track record across all the commercial sectors, hotels and residential sectors.
Source: Invesco Real Estate as of 31 December 2024.
On 23 May 2025, we updated the investment objective and wording policy language around benchmarks for the following funds:
- St. James’s Place Continental European Unit Trust
- St. James’s Place Global Emerging Markets Unit Trust
- St. James’s Place Global Equity Unit Trust
- St. James’s Place International Equity Unit Trust
- St. James’s Place Investment Grade Corporate Bond Unit Trust
- St. James’s Place Worldwide Income Unit Trust
These funds are either using their benchmark as a target, or the composition of the fund is constrained by what’s in (or out) of the benchmark.
The funds’ documents refer to a benchmark to provide context in assessing performance, and we have now added disclosures to reflect their use as ‘target’ or ‘constraining’ benchmark.
A target benchmark is used where a target for the fund’s performance has been set by reference to the performance of an index or similar factor. For example, where the investment objective of the fund is to achieve an income in excess of the average yield of an Index.
A constraining benchmark is used where, without being a target, the benchmark is used in the management of the fund in a way which constrains the fund’s composition. For example, where there is reference made to the components and weightings of an Index when constructing the fund.
The risk profiles of the above funds will not have been affected by any of these changes.
From 24 February 2025, the SJP Sustainable & Responsible Equity fund will have a new manager and incorporate a more balanced blend of investment styles.
The changes are intended to improve diversification and further enhance the fund’s focus on sustainability. The latter will enable it to meet the Financial Conduct Authority's new higher threshold for sustainable investments and achieve a “sustainability focus” label.
- The fund’s objective, policy and strategy will change to enhance its focus on sustainable investments.
- Schroder Investment Management (Schroders) will replace Impax Asset Management as the fund manager.
- The number of underlying companies invested in will increase.
What’s a sustainability focus label?
The Sustainable & Responsible Equity fund will have a sustainability focus label. This means it aims to invest in companies that are environmentally and/or socially sustainable.
The Financial Conduct Authority has introduced a new labelling system – like a quality mark – for sustainable investment funds. To call a fund ‘sustainable’, tough new criteria need to be met.
Funds with the label must be able to evidence their investments meet a certain standard to be deemed environmentally and/or socially sustainable, which previously hasn’t been a requirement.
From 24 February 2025, we're appointing new managers to the SJP Global Smaller Companies, Strategic Managed, and UK funds.
SJP Global Smaller Companies fund
The appointment of six new managers – EdgePoint Investment Group, Kabouter Management, Kopernik Global Investors, LSV Asset Management, MAC Alpha Capital, and Select Equity Group – will introduce a multi-manager approach to this fund. The six managers will work alongside the existing manager, Northern Trust. Each will be responsible for managing a portion of the fund.
SJP Strategic Managed fund
We are changing the fund's manager from Colombia Threadneedle to Royal London Asset Management.
The fund, while still actively managed, will invest in more index or passive strategies. This approach will be more cost-effective, and the prevailing economic and investment backdrop will have a greater influence on the opportunities the manager seeks.
SJP UK fund
We are removing Colombia Threadneedle as a manager on the UK fund. This fund uses a multi-manager approach and the other managers - BlackRock, Schroders, Baillie Gifford, LA Capital, RWC - remain in place.
The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds selected and may fall as well as rise. You may get back less than the amount invested.
EGM minutes
For fund changes which require unitholder approval at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), minutes from 2025 onwards can be found below:
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