The ACS, one of a small number of its kind on the market, is a tax efficient vehicle available primarily to UK pension funds and UK DC pension providers. It is a tax transparent fund, meaning pension funds can benefit from both an efficient regulated UCITS pooled structure, and the same advantageous tax rates they would have received had they invested directly in the underlying securities.
The current fund gives investors passive exposure to North American equities. However, new strategies will be added in the future to give additional exposures to different geographies or asset classes.
Iain McGowan, head of fund development and Analysis at Scottish Widows commented, “We are continually on the lookout for new and innovative structures to suit the needs of our customers. Working with State Street has provided us with the opportunity to provide both a capital and tax efficient vehicle to suit their best interests.”
Nigel Aston, European head of defined contribution at SSGA commented, “As the distribution landscape for UK DC rapidly evolves, we are increasingly being asked by partners, such as life assurance company platforms, to innovate. In a rapidly evolving UK and European distribution landscape, particularly post-Brexit, the tax treatment of an investment ‘wrapper’ is equally important to the actual investment strategy within it. We are finding that being able to build the latest tax transparent vehicles helps us to make our partners more efficient and effective. We are delighted to have worked on this launch with Scottish Widows and look forward to other enterprises investing under the umbrella.”
State Street currently provides a range of investment services to Scottish Widows including global custody and fund administration.
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