What changes are being made to the AJ Bell funds?

The full name of the Funds will change from the VT AJ Bell funds to the CG AJ Bell funds. This is to reflect a change in the Authorised Corporate Director (ACD) of the funds, which is moving from Valu-Trac Investment Management Limited (VT) to Carne Global Fund Managers (UK) Limited (CG).

Importantly, there will be no change to the way the Funds are managed, their investment strategy, objectives, or risk profile. The same experienced team here at AJ Bell will remain responsible for managing the Funds and making investment decisions.

At the same time, the Custodian, Depositary and administrative functions will change to Northern Trust. Again, this will have no impact on the way the funds are managed.

The only noticeable impact to the Fund will be the change of name. There will be no change to the way the Funds are managed, their investment strategy, objectives, or risk profile, as these changes are purely administrative.

Yes, the costs of the funds are remaining the same ensuring they remain great value for investors.

These changes will come into place on 17 November 2025.

No. By continuing to hold the AJ Bell funds you will simply see the name change in your account on 17 November and will be automatically transitioned into the new structure.

You will still be able to buy and sell the Funds, however dealing will be suspended on 14 November to enable the change to take place. You can still trade on this day, you just won’t get a price until 17 November.

We have purposely chosen to conduct the transition over the weekend to minimise the impact on dealing.

AJ Bell perform the role of Investment Manager for the funds. This means we are responsible for day-to-day investment decision-making.

Importantly, this is not changing. Rest assured, the same experienced team at AJ Bell will continue to be at the helm, managing your money.

The AJ Bell fund range has experienced sustained growth since their launch and have now surpassed £4.5bn of investors' assets within them, helping the AJ Bell Investments business to grow beyond £8bn of assets under management in total.

As we look to scale the business further, as part of the growing AJ Bell group, we have identified both Carne and Northern Trust as key operational partners that are well established and resourced to support us in that growth.

Both Carne and Northern Trust are providers of financial services and support asset managers and other financial institutions globally.

The ACD plays an important role in the governance and oversight arrangements in the overall running of a fund. For example, it ensures it is managed in line with its investment objective and risk profile.

This differs from the role of the Investment Manager (in this case, AJ Bell), who is responsible for making investment decisions. The ACD oversees that the investment manager is acting in accordance with investors’ best interest and managing the portfolio in line with relevant regulations.

Carne are a global provider of ACD services with over 20 years of history. The company oversees more than $2 trillion of assets, across 160 jurisdictions.

Both the Depositary and Custodian play an important role in the running of a fund, specifically in regards to looking after investors’ money.

The Depositary is ultimately responsible for overseeing the ACD and ensuring customers’ money is looked after. To do this, they often appoint a Custodian.

The Custodian then holds the customers’ assets and becomes responsible for the safekeeping of this money.

Importantly, these roles are separate from the ACD and Investment Manager to ensure there is sufficient separation of responsibilities.

Northern Trust are a global provider of fund services with a heritage that goes back well over 100 years. They are the largest provider of depositary services to funds in the UK, and globally have $1.7 trillion assets under management.

If you're a holder of an AJ Bell fund you will have received a secure message with a shareholder notification. This letter goes into the details of the change of ACD as well as associated operational changes.