Unit pricing
How does Zurich work out unit prices?
The unit price is worked out by dividing the total value of the fund by the number of units in it. At Zurich, we always try to make sure all fund prices are fair.
Some funds have only one unit price. This means you buy and sell units at the same price.
Other funds have two unit prices:
- The price you pay when you invest and buy units (called the buying or ‘offer’ price)
- The price you get when you sell your units and take money out (called the selling or ‘bid’ price)
The offer price is higher than the bid price. The difference between these two prices is called the ‘bid/offer spread’ - this is one type of fund charge.
When we work out unit prices, we think about a few things, such as:
- Is the fund getting bigger, with more people buying units than selling them? Or is it getting smaller, with more people taking their money out?
- We also want to be fair to everyone - customers joining the fund, leaving, staying, and Zurich itself
If the fund is growing, Zurich has to buy more assets and create more units. We include the cost of buying new assets in the price. If the fund is shrinking, Zurich has to sell assets and cancel some units. We then allow for the price that we can get for selling these assets.
We check the trends of money going in and out of each fund regularly to make sure our prices are fair.
The fund factsheet will tell you whether a fund has one price or two.
What price will I get when I buy or sell units?
When you buy or sell units, the price is set in one of two ways:
- ‘Forward’ pricing uses the next available price when you make your transaction
- ‘Historic’ pricing uses the most recently calculated price
How does Zurich round unit prices?
We round bid and offer prices down to three decimal places (or 0.1p), as set out in your plan’s terms and conditions.
How can I find out what current unit prices are?
Up to date unit prices for most funds can be found through the links below. Please note that unless you have a product under the ‘Sterling’ branding, these links will also show you funds that aren't available on your specific product.
Zurich Pension
Zurich Life
You can also email us at life.servicing@uk.zurich.com or call us on the number your annual statement.
What if Zurich makes a mistake in its unit prices?
We work hard to make sure all our unit prices are accurate by using strict systems and checks. However, as unit price calculations are complicated and so many of them are produced each day, mistakes can sometimes happen.
When we find a mistake, we will fix it as soon as reasonably practical and look at how it affected unit prices. If the mistake is ‘significant’, we will pay compensation to customers and the fund, if needed.
In our industry, any mistake that changes a unit price by 0.5% or more is always treated as significant.
What if Zurich is unable to follow its normal unit pricing process?
Sometimes, something unusual might stop us from working out unit prices in the usual way. This could be things like the stock market closing suddenly, or major computer system problems at Zurich or at a company we rely on.
If this happens, we may need to change how we work out prices, but only while the problem lasts. Our aim is still to set prices properly and treat everyone fairly.
We might need to:
- Use earlier valuations and adjust them for changes in the stock market
- Pause the pricing of funds or buying or selling units for a short time
- Allow the fund to act differently from its usual investment strategy (for example, if property cannot be bought or sold easily)