Buying and selling units

Usually, when you want to buy or sell units in your chosen fund, Zurich will do this as soon as reasonably practical once we have received all the correct instructions from you. If we get your instructions before our cut-off time, we aim to process them that same day. If we get them after the cut-off time, we aim to process them on the next working day.

Your plan’s terms and conditions will tell you the cut-off times.

Sometimes, Zurich may use its discretion and delay selling units for you. This might happen to make sure all investors are treated fairly, especially when the market is unpredictable.

A good example is property funds. If the market is unsettled, it can take longer to sell things like offices, shops or factories at a price that is fair for everyone still invested.

There may also be times when Zurich cannot buy units for you. This is usually because something outside our control has happened. For example, trading may be stopped for certain shares, or the stock market may close for a short time, which happened when sanctions were placed on Russian assets in 2022.

Most Zurich plans let you move all or part of your investment to a different fund or change which funds your future payments go into.

This can be very useful, especially if your investment goals change - for example, the level of risk you’re willing to take may change as you approach retirement. Switching helps make sure your funds match what you want and how much risk you’re happy with. It’s a good idea to talk to your financial adviser before switching.

Even if your goals stay the same, remember that different funds perform better or worse at different times. These changes happen because of the different investment strategies applied by a fund manager, and because markets and economies go through cycles.

Plan terms and conditions will explain any rules or charges for switching between funds. Currently there are no charges for switching funds.

Zurich promises to treat customers fairly and follow all rules if we think market timing or very frequent trading is happening.

Market timing is when someone tries to profit by taking advantage of market movements before the next daily price is set. It usually involves frequent switching designed to benefit from information that isn’t yet reflected in the fund’s price. This can be unfair to other customers and affect the effective long‑term management of the fund, so Zurich monitors activity and follows rules designed to prevent it.