Standard Life with profits pension

[battyee]

I have just received a letter from the Irish Division of Standard Life saying that group assets had reached a record high of 135 billion and that their surplus assets were up 1.9 billion on previous year.They then go on to say that they are now required to change the asset mix of contracts offering guarantees & the overall impact of these changes means greater security for policyholders but potentially at the expense of lower returns for customers like myself who have valuable guarantees.
A leaflet accompanying the letter states that there will be a reduction of 1% made for " cost of guarantees "
They also tell me that due to the extensive system work required that it is unlikely that they will be able to provide annual statements or personalised illustrations before July 2004.
It was because of the guarantees on my pension invesment and the mix of equity investment that I was advised by my broker to choose that particular pension fund.
Is such action by Standard Life (Ireland) legal and what are the views of the AAM experts on this?

 

[Moneybags]

First things first: I've no connection with Standard Life.

But I don't see how you could have a case. You invested because of the guarantees - these haven't changed. You invested because of the asset mix - this was never set in stone and was always liable to change to support the guarantees.

If you're looking for somebody to sue, try your broker. He had no justification for telling you that, just because SL had a high equity exposure in the past, this could continue indefinitely.