Prudential ISA

Link Financial Investments Limited (LFIL) are the provider of the Prudential ISA and the ISA Manager.

• They are responsible for all legal and regulatory responsibilities in relation to the running and administration of the product.
• Adviser terms of business is between the adviser/firm and LFIL.
• Customer terms and conditions are between the customer and LFIL.

PruFund funds are made available within the Prudential ISA through a Life Insurance Policy provided by The Prudential Assurance Company Limited. 

• LFI (Nominees) Limited are the Policyholder of the Life Policy.
• The Policyholder holds on Trust all PruFund assets invested on behalf of Customers under the ISA Agreements in its capacity as the ISA Manager’s Nominee.
• Customers who elect to invest in PruFund funds through ISA Agreements elect for those investment amounts paid to the ISA Manager to be paid to The Prudential Assurance Company Limited, as Insurer, to be invested in the PruFund Funds, and the rights thereby created are held on trust for the Customer by the Policyholder.

The LF Prudential Risk Managed Active and Passive fund range is provided through Link Fund Solutions Limited (LFSL) as Authorised Corporate Director (ACD) of the funds. 

• LFSL are responsible for all legal and regulatory responsibilities in relation to the running and administration of these funds.
• The Bank of New York Mellon (International) Limited are the Depository to the LF Prudential Risk Managed funds and are responsible for the safekeeping of the Scheme Property, monitoring the cash flows of the Company, and must ensure that certain processes carried out by the ACD are performed in accordance with the Regulations, the Instrument of Incorporation and the Prospectus. The Depositary is permitted to delegate (and authorise its delegate to sub-delegate) the safekeeping of Scheme Property. The Depositary has delegated safekeeping of the Scheme Property to The Bank of New York Mellon SA/NV and The Bank of New York Mellon (the “Global Sub-Custodian”).  In turn, the Global Sub-Custodian has sub-delegated the custody of assets in certain markets in which the Company may invest to various sub-delegates (“Sub-Custodians”).
• M&G Investment Management Ltd is the Portfolio Manager of the LF Prudential Risk Managed funds. The ACD appointed the Portfolio Manager to provide investment management and advisory services by an agreement between the ACD and the Portfolio Manager in respect of the sub-funds.The Portfolio Manager provides discretionary investment management within the investment objectives, discretion to place purchase and sale orders with regulated dealers and on the exercise of voting rights relating to such investments (in accordance with the ACD’s voting strategy).

Single contribution subscriptions are accepted from a third party. The payee, i.e. the Donor, will be required to declare that;

• the single contribution subscription is a gift to the ISA customer, and
• that the customer is the legal beneficial owner of the funds.

Subscriptions to an ISA are subject to maximum subscription limits set by HMRC

You can find details of the current subscription limit, as well as other useful facts about ISAs, at Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs): the facts. You can also refer to .gov.uk for more information at gov.uk/individual-savings-accounts.

Your client can split their subscriptions, subject to the overall maximum limit, in any proportion between any one of each of the four ISA types available;

• Stocks and Shares ISA,
• Cash ISA,
• Lifetime ISA*, and
• Innovative Finance ISA.

*Additional restrictions apply to the maximum that can be paid into a Lifetime ISA.

Transfers in from other ISA plans don't count towards your clients' annual subscription limit. Your client’s remaining ISA allowance for the current tax year will take account of any subscriptions already paid to the transferring ISA in the current tax year.

Please note, Prudential only offers a Stocks and Shares ISA and it is not a Flexible ISA.

When considering a transfer, your client should speak to their existing ISA provider about potential charges or penalties.

The Prudential ISA Online Service is electronically enabled for transfers from Cash and Stocks and Shares ISA Managers where the transferring ISA Manager is also electronically enabled.

This means you won’t need to get your client to sign a transfer authority form if the transferring ISA Manager is also electronically enabled for the transfer to Link.

You can find a list of ISA managers currently able to process electronic transfers to the Prudential ISA on the ISA online functionality page.

The new Prudential ISA and Add Money in online journeys on the Prudential ISA Online Service will let you know whether the transfer will be processed electronically or requires a signed transfer authority.

Where the transfer can’t be processed electronically a pre-populated transfer authority form will be provided for you. Where a transfer authority form  is provided it’s important that this form is used for the transfer as it contains important references unique to your client to help make the transfer process as quick and efficient as possible.

The Prudential ISA offers our PruFund range of funds which aim to grow your client's money while giving a smoothed investment experience.

• PruFund Risk Managed 1 Fund
• PruFund Risk Managed 2 Fund
• PruFund Risk Managed 3 Fund
• PruFund Risk Managed 4 Fund
• PruFund Risk Managed 5 Fund
• PruFund Cautious Fund
• PruFund Growth Fund

Find out more about the PruFund Range of funds. 

Expected Growth rates

We announce the Expected Growth Rates that apply to the PruFund Range of Funds every quarter.

The expected growth rates quoted for PruFund funds available in the Prudential ISA are gross of the PruFund AMC.

Any further costs that might be incurred by the fund, and disclosed in fund literature, are accounted for within the expected growth rate. This means the value of units held by your client in their PruFund funds will normally increase daily in line with the expected growth rate of their PruFund fund.

The AMC is taken by a monthly cancellation of units from the PruFund funds held within your client’s Prudential ISA

Find out more about our Expected Growth Rates, Historic Expected Growth Rates or Unit Price Adjustments for the PruFund Range of Funds.

We offer a range of five Risk Managed Active and five Risk Managed Passive funds which are Open Ended Investment Company (OEIC) funds that pool your client's money together with other investors.

The LF Prudential Risk Managed Active Range

• LF Prudential Risk Managed Active 1 Fund
• LF Prudential Risk Managed Active 2 Fund
• LF Prudential Risk Managed Active 3 Fund
• LF Prudential Risk Managed Active 4 Fund
• LF Prudential Risk Managed Active 5 Fund

Find out more about the Risk Managed Active Range.

The LF Prudential Risk Managed Passive Range

• LF Prudential Risk Managed Passive 1 Fund
• LF Prudential Risk Managed Passive 2 Fund
• LF Prudential Risk Managed Passive 3 Fund
• LF Prudential Risk Managed Passive 4 Fund
• LF Prudential Risk Managed Passive 5 Fund

Find out more about the Risk Managed Passive Range.

The PruFund range of Funds

The following rules apply to switches involving the PruFund range of funds;

• switches out of any PruFund Fund will be subject to a 28 day delay. Once a switch instruction has been received it can’t be cancelled.
• only one switch can take place either into or out of PruFund Funds between any two PruFund Quarter Dates. We also reserve the right to refuse, delay or restrict any Switch into any of the PruFund Funds where we consider that the frequency of such switches is excessive.
• the minimum value your client can switch from a PruFund investment, if they’re not switching the full value out, is £500
• if your client is not switching the full value of the fund, they must leave at least £500 in the fund
• switches into a PruFund fund will be made to the relevant PruFund Account fund where it will be held until the next quarterly switch date

The LF Prudential Risk Managed OEIC range of funds

The following rules apply to switches involving the Risk Managed OEIC range of funds;

• your client can switch all or some of their shares in one fund for shares in another fund in the company at any time. This is subject to any restrictions on the eligibility of investors for a particular share class.
• your client can switch between LF Prudential OEICs and into PruFund funds whenever they need to, giving them control over their investments.
• the minimum value your client can switch out, if they’re not switching out the full value of the fund, is £500
• If they are not switching out the full value of the fund, they must leave at least £500 in the fund

Annual Management Charges (AMC)

We will take a charge each year for the management and administration of your client’s PruFund funds held within their Prudential ISA.

The charge;

• is calculated based on the total value of PruFund funds held under your client's Prudential ISA                   
• may receive a discount if the total value of PruFund funds held in their Prudential ISA is £100,000 or more
• is taken as an explicit deduction of units from each of your client’s PruFund holdings each month.

The AMC charged on your client’s PruFund holdings is as follows;  

For further information on how the Annual Management Charge is calculated and taken, refer to the Prudential ISA Terms and Conditions and the Master Insurance Agreement - Customer Copy.                                                

Further costs incurred by the funds

In addition to the AMC, there may be further costs incurred, which can vary over time.

Where these are applicable, they are paid for by the relevant PruFund fund and are accounted for within the expected growth rate of the PruFund fund.           

Further information on the PruFund Fund charges and costs can be found in the PruFund Fund Guide and in the Prudential ISA Fast Facts Document .

Ongoing charge

The Ongoing Charge figure is based on the total of all charge payments made over a year, and includes charges such as the fund’s Annual Management Charge, custodian charge and administration fee.

The charge is reflected in the daily unit price of the fund.

Further costs incurred by the funds

In addition to the above charges, there may be further costs incurred, which can vary over time. Where these are applicable, they are paid for by the relevant fund and will impact on its overall performance.

Further information on the OEIC Fund charges and costs can be found in the relevant Key Important Information document and cost and charges documents for the fund which you can find on the Prudential ISA customer recommendation literature page.

The PruFund range of Funds

There is currently no charge for switching into or out of PruFund funds.

The LF Prudential Risk Managed OEIC range of funds

There is currently no charge for switching into or out of LF Prudential Risk Managed funds.

The following types of Adviser Charges can be facilitated from the Prudential ISA:

Limits for Adviser Charging

 For more details on Adviser charging, see the Adviser Charging Guide.

We understand adviser time is precious and that administration tasks such as pulling together client information and setting up and managing new ISA clients can be time consuming and take you away from the job of advising your clients.

The Prudential ISA Online Service now provides a Support Staff Service that allows you to set up access for your Paraplanner / Admin Staff to act on behalf of advisers within your firm. Once access has all been agreed and set up by LFI, your authorised Support Staff users will be able to do everything an adviser can do through the Prudential ISA Online Service, such as;

Client research processes

• view the current valuation
• view the amount of any regular contribution or regular withdrawal that is in force
• view your client’s remaining ISA allowance
• view the graphical valuation history at Prudential ISA level and for each fund up to 18 months in the past
• view your client’s fund holdings of each fund; units, price and  value
• view transaction history
• view your client’s documents
• view case tracking information for money in and money out transactions you or a support staff user has keyed / submitted
• download a client report
• download an excel .csv bulk valuation report for all of your Prudential ISA clients showing for each client;
  1. the fund name, units, price and value of each fund held
  2. subscriptions made in the current tax year
  3. total investments made since the start of the client’s Prudential ISA
  4. total withdrawals taken from your client’s Prudential ISA

Transactional processes

• submit new Prudential ISA client applications
• submit new money applications to existing Prudential ISAs (top-ups)
• submit withdrawal instructions
• submit changes to an existing regular withdrawal instruction
• submit changes to your client’s registered address, contact telephone number(s), email address and bank account details
• add, stop or change an ongoing adviser charge against your client’s Prudential ISA, where you have an agreement in place with your client
• ability to invite your client to register for the online service

If the Support Staff Service is something you’d like to set up for your paraplanner / admin staff please contact your Prudential Account Manager to discuss in the first instance.

LFI have produced a number of documents to help you understand what the service is and how it works, along with some handy FAQs to refer back to for guidance once the service has been set up.

We’ve provided some of these documents for you below to help with your discussions with your Prudential Account Manager.

• Support Staff Service Overview
• Support Staff Service Firm Structure Examples
• Support Staff Service Support Staff FAQs
• Support Staff Service Access Controller FAQs

The following services are live for the Prudential ISA;

When you submit a new Prudential ISA application for a new client, your client will be sent two emails by Link Financial Investments Limited (LFIL). The purpose of these emails is to take your client through a summary of the application you have submitted on their behalf, and where an action is required by them, they will be taken through the appropriate steps.

• the first email will contain a URL that takes your client to a login page.
• the second email will provide your client with a unique one-time-password they’ll use to login.
• On selecting the URL on the first email they’ll be asked to enter the one-time-password and then;
  • Their date of birth
  • national insurance number
     
• They’ll then be taken through the following steps;
  • a high level summary of the application you submitted on behalf of your client
  • if a regular contribution has been included, they will be asked to confirm the bank details for the direct debit
  • if a single contribution has been included that is being paid by Visa Debit Card, they will be taken to provide their Visa Debit Card details to make payment
  • they will be presented with the option to register for online access. It is advisable to instruct your client to look out for these emails and access them when received so they can check the information submitted by you on their behalf.
    
    
• If an ISA application includes the following, your client MUST access these emails to complete the application process;
  • a regular contribution has been included in the application - your client must confirm the bank details entered by you to allow the Direct Debit to be put in force
  • a single contribution is being paid by Visa Debit Card – your client will have to complete their VISA Debit Card details to make payment of the single contribution. Please note Mastercard Debit Card is not supported by the Prudential ISA Online Service.

When you submit a top-up or a withdrawal for an existing Prudential ISA client, your client will also be provided with two emails similar to that detailed under the New ISA client application journey information above.

IMPORTANT INORMATION FOR CLIENTS REGISTERING FOR ONLINE ACCESS

Part of the registration journey includes collection of your client’s bank details, if these aren’t already held, so you may want to let them know to expect this information being asked when they register.

You should also inform your client that the email address set up on their Prudential ISA will be their username to login once they’ve completed registration.

NOTE: If you have two clients with Prudential ISAs who have been set up with the same email address on each of the ISA records, these clients will not be able to register for online access whilst holding the same email address.

This is because their email address is their username for logging in and is where communications are sent notifying the client when documents are available for them to view. This means one of your clients will have to set up a separate email address and update their Prudential ISA with this new email address.

There are two ways your client will be able to register for online access;

1. You can invite them to register through the online service.
   
   You can do this by logging into the Prudential ISA Online Service and accessing your client’s Prudential ISA from your Dashboard.
   
   When you land on the Client Record page of your client’s Prudential ISA, you’ll see an option Invite client to register if they haven’t already registered.
   
   By selecting this option, confirming the client’s email address and submitting, your client will be sent registration emails to allow them to complete the registration process.
   
   
2. They use the registration link at the end of the application summary journey
   
   When you submit a money in or money out application on behalf of your client, they’ll be sent two emails to access an online summary of what you’ve submitted.
   
   At the end of that journey, your client is presented with a Register now option. If they select this option they’ll will be sent registration emails to allow them to complete the registration process.

In both of the above registration journeys, after accessing the URL in their on-time-link email, they will follow a few simple steps to complete registration;

• enter the one-time password as their temporary password
• create and confirm a new password
• create and confirm a memorable word
• accept the current terms of use
• confirm their bank details and upload evidence, i.e. copy of a bank

Once your client has registered for online access they’ll be able to see information on their Prudential ISA similar to what you can see through your online access, i.e. they will be able to;

• view the current valuation
• view the amount of any regular contribution or regular withdrawal that is in force
• view their remaining ISA allowance
• view the graphical valuation history at Prudential ISA level and for each fund up to 18 months in the past
• view their fund holdings of each fund; units, price and  value
• view transaction history
• view their documents

In addition to the above they will also be able to transact on their ISA.

Please note providing accessing to transact, such as top-up their Prudential ISA and take money out of their ISA is in no way aimed and encouraging your client to bypass you as their adviser. Your client is encouraged to discuss with you before carrying out any transaction by themselves.

Assuming you and your client agree they should carry out the transaction themselves, they will be able to;

• add a regular or single contribution
• request a full or partial withdrawal
• manage an existing regular withdrawal
• update their registered address, contact telephone number(s), email address and bank account details

You will receive an email notification of any transaction your client has submitted themselves using their Prudential ISA Online Service access.

Link Financial Investments Limited (LFI) have created some useful documents for customers to help them with registration and navigating the online service, including a document showing step by step the registration process. You can access these documents on Link’s website.