News

Freeze on Challenger Howard Wholesale Mortgage Fund

The Mortgage Fund is managed by Challenger Managed Investments Limited (ABN 94 002 835 592 AFSL 234668) (‘Challenger’).  On the 21st October 2008, Challenger issued a press release advising that, effective from 21st October 2008, the withdrawal processes for the Mortgage Fund were amended. As a result, investors can only withdraw from the Fund if Challenger make an offer of withdrawal.  Based on information available from Challenger, it is envisaged that after the conclusion of each quarter (31 December, 31 March, 30 June and 30 September), Challenger will offer a total amount for withdrawals from the Mortgage Fund based on their estimate of the available liquidity at that time.  This move has been taken by Challenger to, in their words, protect the interests of all unit holders, and to ensure all unit holders are treated equally, and effectively places a freeze on redemptions for the Mortgage Fund until further notice.  Distributions from the Mortgage Fund do not appear to be affected.

Who Will This Effect?
As the Trustee is an investor in the Mortgage Fund, Challenger’s announcement has implications for the Trustee and members of the Fund who have selected the Mortgage Fund as an investment option.  Specifically, the Trustee has resolved that as a result of the Challenger announcement, the following arrangements will apply to affected members, effective from 21st October 2008.

How Will This Effect Members?
The implications of the Challenger announcement for members of the Millennium Master Trust with holdings in the Mortgage Fund are:

  • Investment Switches
    Members cannot switch money out of the Mortgage Fund into a different investment option;
  • Benefit Payments
    Members can not withdrawal (where permissible) or transfer any money held in the Mortgage Fund to another complying superannuation arrangement (withdrawal or transfer requests relating to the balance of your account will not be affected).

How Long Will These Arrangements Apply?
These arrangements will apply until such time as Challenger lifts the embargo on redemptions and will result in the Fund’s normal investment switching and payment process being modified.

The Trustee will be making an application to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority about the impact of Challenger’s announcement on the Trustee’s ability to process transfer / rollover requests (in full) within 30 days as required under superannuation legislation.  The purpose of the application will be to seek a suspension or variation of this requirement to enable it to defer or adjust the amount paid pursuant to a transfer/rollover request that relates to that portion of a member’s account invested in the Mortgage Fund, until redemptions from the Mortgage Fund can be made.  While this might occur at quarterly intervals, depending on the amount offered for withdrawal by Challenger, processing of your transfer/rollover request or withdrawal request may be delayed for up to 3 months or more.

In addition, the Trustee has resolved that no further contributions or other amount received by or on your behalf can be allocated into the Mortgage Fund in accordance with your previous instructions (that is, the option will be closed effective from 21st October 2008).

Instead, any future receipts that would have been invested in the Mortgage Fund will now be invested in the Fund’s default investment strategy until such time as we receive alternative instructions from you.

If You Would Like to Update or Amend Your Investment Profile, You Can:

  • Call us on 1800 336 911 to request an Investment Nomination Form
  • Download an Investment Nomination Form from the Forms page of our website and:
    • Fax it to us at: 07 3902 9899
    • Post it to us at: Reply Paid 3528, PO Box 3528, Tingalpa DC, QLD, 4173

Please note that it is not possible to update or amend your investment profile to switch money out of the Mortgage Fund into a different investment option, however you can:

  • switch any monies that have been placed into the default investment strategy, or
  • Nominate another investment option for any new monies that would otherwise have been invested in the Mortgage Fund.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

We would stress that, before making an investment decision, you need to consider the Fund’s current Product Disclosure Statement and any Product Disclosure Statement available for underlying investment funds available for the Fund’s investment options.  You also need to consider your own needs, objectives and circumstances.  We suggest that you seek financial advice from a licensed or authorised financial representative that takes into account your personal situation before making any investment decisions.

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