Standard Life Mutual Funds Ltd. (SLMF) has made changes related to charge structure, trailing commission, new funds and risk rating.

They are as follows:

Lower management fees
On or about October 31, 2012, SLMF will reduce the management fees by 0.20% of the F-Series of the Standard Life Monthly Income Fund, the Standard Life Canadian Dividend Growth Fund, the Standard Life Global Dividend Growth Fund and the Standard Life Canadian Small Cap Fund.

SLMF will also reduce the management fees by 0.20% of the A-Series and E-Series of the Standard Life Money Market Fund, the Standard Life Canadian Bond Fund and the Standard Life International Bond Fund, as well as the A-Series, E-Series and F-Series of the Standard Life Corporate Bond Fund. The reduction will counterbalance higher operating expenses (OE) charged to these funds, and will therefore not impact the MER, all other things being equal.

From low sales charge (LSC) to front-end sales charge
A new automatic feature will be offered to dealers for funds sold on or after November 1, 2012. As of Year 4 from the original purchase date for a low sales charge option, SLMF will automatically start paying trailing commission as if the fund had been bought under a front-end sales charge option. The new feature doesn’t impact the management fees and charges paid by the investors.

New charge structure for the Legend Series
Effective on or about February 1, 2013, SLMF will no longer pay the operating expenses of its entire suite of Legend Series funds. The change will result in an increase in the MER for 27 of the 31 funds in the Legend Series. A decrease of the management fees by 0.20% of the remaining 4 funds — Standard Life Money Market Fund, Standard Life Canadian Bond Fund, Standard Life Corporate Bond Fund and Standard Life International Bond Fund — will offset the operating expenses, leaving the MER intact, all other things being equal.

Adding series
Pending regulatory approvals, on or about October 31, 2012, SLMF will add:

  • E-Series and Legend Series to Standard Life Short Term Bond Fund
  • F-Series, E-Series and Legend Series to Standard Life High Yield Bond Fund
  • F-Series to Standard Life U.S. Dividend Growth Fund, Standard Life U.S. Equity Value Fund, Standard Life Global Equity Value Fund, Standard Life Global Equity Fund and Standard Life India Equity Focus Fund

Updated risk ratings
As part of its annual review, SLMF has changed the risk rating of the Standard Life U.S. Dividend Growth Fund from “medium” to “low to medium” and the Standard Life International Bond Fund, from “low to medium” to “medium.” No material changes have been made to the investment objectives, strategies or management of these funds.