Big fall in Child trust fund

[Orangeblossom78]

Since last year. It was valued at 11K at same time last year and was told would be around 15K when they turned 18 (DS is 15, birthday hence the statement)

It now says valued at 8.5, so has gone down 2.5K since last year.

Is this due to the current situation, any others the same and will it be like to improve?

I am new to this, but it says Stakeholder: Fund name: Royal London UK FTSE4Good Tracker Trust

I haven't dared check the dc's CTF's yet.

It's best not to look at any investments just now.

@LesLavandes exactly. Ignore it all.

OYBBK when you find out can you let me know how it goes? Fingers crossed for you. It's all very well saying don't look for now, but not for those of us who will be having theirs mature in the next few months!

@Orangeblossom78 It's all very well saying don't look for now, but not for those of us who will be having theirs mature in the next few months

Check with your particular provider but they shouldn't 'mature' in the sense that they disinvest, they can just become normal ISA's. Speak to your provider to see if you can prevent anything that is designed to sell to cash at 18 - why the heck it would though is ridiculous (that's a complaint to the ombudsman in my book).

You then ensure your child understands that encashing now is accepting less money and teach them about the basics: stock markets go up and down. Now is like taking something back to a shop during the sale and accepting a refund at a lower price, when if you just waited they would refund you the lot.

Bristol I was meaning about the endowment due to mature in next few months, sorry for the confusion, OP about CTF but then mentioned endowment later.

OYBBK also has one maturing in next few months as well

I’m too terrified to look at any investments at the moment

I know people are saying don't look but if you have to make up a shortfall in the mortgage at short notice then surely it is a good plan to um, look?

@Orangeblossom78 Ah, well now I'm with you. Yes unfortunately that's the fatal flaw of endowments. Sorry I'm afraid there's not much dressing it up. But, try this:

I would speak to your provider. I would ask them if you could remain in the fund and delay a payout. Be proactive. Tell them you know that this is not a good time to take your money out and you are prepared to wait (assuming that is viable). You may need to escalate this and I would not expect to get much joy from your call to a call centre, but I MAY be wrong on that. If you get told 'sorry nothing we can do', you need to raise this as a formal complaint. Ask them for their complaints procedure to be emailed to you, make sure you tell them on the phone that this is now a complaint. They HAVE to act.

Your complaint is that they knowingly, despite your request, are going to encash an investment and disadvantage you. They are therefore not treating you fairly as a customer (they are required to do so by the FCA regulations). You must tell them you are prepared to wait and perhaps offer a minimum period of 1 year to extend the contract or leave it 'paid up'. See what they say.

I can't promise it will work, but I feel that the fact that there was a huge scandal attached to endowments, tell them that you've taken advice and rather than complain (why haven't you?), you wish for them to remove the barrier to a successful outcome which is this automatic encashment.

I'd be tempted to Tweet them - "why when I've pointed out the issue with the auto encashment of my investment are you refusing to intervene?!" - someone will be on to it sharpish.

Perhaps follow up with

"Another example of big investment companies kicking the little investor when the chips are down - I've asked you not to encash my investment - computer says 'no', and you don't care"

Make some noise... might be worth a few grand!

If you want to call them and then message me, I'll give you a steer. Good luck

Thanks, yes that might help with the endowment itself but the other concern of course would he that the end of term of the mortgage itself would be up on Septemember, so would mean they would be waiting too. So would mean negotiating with them too.

Fingers crossed it will be OK. It s not a large mortgage overall, around 75K, and at the end of last year it was predicted to already have reached the amount needed. and was predicted to go about 15K over at the end amount. So, I'm just hoping it covers it.

Also they said then that as it has already been invested over 25 years short term changes near the end of the policy shouldn't change it that much. But that was before something like corona.

I'll be able to report back by the end of next week. I feel rather sick about it.

I fear it is too late for us to complain. I had no idea that we could do anything about this.

Thanks, yes that might help with the endowment itself but the other concern of course would he that the end of term of the mortgage itself would be up on Septemember, so would mean they would be waiting too. So would mean negotiating with them too

Yes, but you may find they will extend the period without too much fuss. Interest rates are very very low right now, so the cost benefit might be worth the effort.

As them for a valuation today. You don't need to wait to find out.

I fear it is too late for us to complain. I had no idea that we could do anything about this

That's part of the problem with financial services, all very big power plays and lots of smoke and mirrors.

Definitely worth calling them and asking what to do. They could be one of the better companies and be proactive.

Who is it with?

I’m too scared to look at our investments, meanwhile Dh is busy buying shares as they are so cheap! It all depends on how long your investments are for. We don’t intend to draw on ours for about 8 or 9 years at least.

Investments are a long term thing. Looking at a snapshot in time isn’t giving the full picture.

Even with the sorts of falls we see in recessions, investing in this way still gives a better return over the long term period. You haven’t “lost” anything.

It is with a place called Reassure but was originally with Northern Rock. Whenever asked we have put up payments so it has always been "Green- On Track" - letters sent every six months or so explaining this.

@Orangeblossom78 that MIGHT be your good news. Reassure are really fee takers. Bought up orphan investments, admin them and do fuck all else. It may well have been de-risked to Fixed Income. I’d call them. Can’t be sure, but they are not doing much with that in my experience. They are bloody awful to deal with, but that just might be your win.

Ok, thanks. Well they have certainly been very reassuring recently in their letters which have stepped up to every 3/4 months or so in the past year as it is nearing it's due date, and always giving good projections and being 'on track', even in the one in February which was the latest. Fingers crossed.

We also have an endowment due to pay out in December. It was linked to our original mortgage and our current mortgage is 100% repayment, so not as crucial as some. However, we had still planned how we would use the money (and we have been well aware it may not have been great, but weren't obviously expecting this!). Thank you for your advice Bristol. We have a bit of time on our side and I thought there wasn't anything we could do about it so I'll start to make enquiries.

I hope yours is OK too and OYBBK. Fingers crossed for all of us.

Stay invested and sit tight things will improve.

Sit tight, it will improve. This time is also when the fund managers can purchase a lot of cheap shares so it will help to improve the overall return if you hold on. Three years is a bit of time to improve plus I have seen drops and gains over this time period anyway in my own investments.

It's not three years, more like 3 months.