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The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) has undertaken a strategic review of our organisation, focusing on building a new multi-year strategy in support of the charitable sector. This review has included all products and services offered by CAF Financial Solutions Limited (CFSL), a subsidiary of CAF.

An important part of this review was an assessment of the current and future needs of our charity customers, and the alignment of these needs with the products and services we currently offer. After careful consideration a decision has been taken to no longer accept applications for the CAF Investment Account. Furthermore, the decision has been taken close the CAF Investment Account service for existing customers.

The timeline to the closure of your account is dependent on the status of your account. These statuses and timelines are detailed below:

If you currently have no cash balance or investments then no action needs to be taken on the platform. We we will suspend and close your account on the 10th of June 2021, 30 calendar days on from the termination notice which was sent out to customers on the 11th of May. 

If you currently hold only a cash balance, and no investments, on the platform then we will suspend and close your account on the 10th of June 2021 (30 calendar days post the termination notice which was sent out to customers on the 11th of May) and return all cash balances to your linked bank account.

You do not need to take any further action, however you may chose to transfer these funds prior to the account suspension and closure date. Please be aware that you are not currently earning interest on this cash balance. 

If you hold investments of any kind on your platform account then you will need to begin making alternative arrangements for your investments, as soon as possible. We will suspend and close your account on the 10th of July 2021 and return all cash to your linked bank account. Please note this closure date of the 10th of July is a 30 day extension to the standard 30-day termination period, noted in the termination letter which was sent out to customers on the 11th of May. 

We will make multiple attempts to contact during this 60 day termination window. If you are unable to meet the termination deadline then please contact CAF to discuss alternative arrangements.

Transfer of assets for customers holding investments 
You will need to open an account(s) at your new provider(s) to receive your investments. We have created a downloadable form for completion and return. This closure form will allow CAF Financial Solutions Limited (CFSL) to instruct Winterflood Business Services (WBS) to transfer your investments to your new provider(s).

Your account(s) with new provider(s) will need to opened prior to instructing CFSL to transfer your investments. Please ensure that you return the signed and completed form by no later than 4pm on 10 July 2021. You will need to record the holdings to be transferred and full details of the receiving provider, including account numbers, transaction references and address. This form will require the signatures of at least two of your existing CAF Investment Account signatories, before CFSL can take any action. 

Download: CFSL Closure Form

Please be aware that if you do not make alternative arrangements before 4pm on 10 July 2021, and we do not receive an instruction from you and/or have been unable to contact you to discuss this matter, then this may result in your assets being sold and the cash returned to your nominated bank account.

The closure of your account will occur either on the 10th of June or the 10th of July dependent on the status of your account.

If you have a zero cash balance, or only a cash balance and no investments on the platform, your account will be closed on the 10th of June 2021, 30 calendar days on from the termination notice which was sent out to customers on the 11th of May. 

If you hold investments of any kind on your platform we will suspend and close your account on the 10th of July 2021, 60 calendar days on from the termination notice which was sent out to customers on the 11th of May. 

No. The CAF Investment Account is closing.

We do not believe there are other services/products that offer the range of Common Investment Funds or Charity Authorised Investment Funds offered by the CAF Investment Account.

You may find other organisations that have online investment accounts for charities, through discussions with an independent financial adviser or through your own research.

It is now common practice for most direct investments in company shares or securities to be made via a stock-broker or other on-line account. Some Investment Trusts may still enable their shares to be held direct with the managing company, but it is increasingly unusual.

You will need to open an account with a stock-broker or other financial organisation that can hold assets on your behalf. Often these services include retail investment funds, e.g. unit trusts or open-ended investment companies (OEICs) but not Common Investment Funds or Charity Authorised Funds.

Once the account is open, CAF will work with Winterflood Business Services to help you to complete the necessary instructions to transfer your holdings. Please email our Client Relations team to request any further assistance.

You may be able to open an account with a stock-broker or other financial organisation that can hold these assets on your behalf. However, due to their unique nature, many services designed for retail customers cannot hold CIFs / CAIFs. This is because the CIF / CAIF manager needs to ensure that their funds are only accessible to charitable investors. As such all CIFs / CAIFs can also be held through the manager that offers the Fund.

You will need to ask any potential supplier you may want to use if they can hold and trade CIFs / CAIFs on your behalf. If not, or if you prefer to hold the asset direct with the Fund manager, you will need to open an account with the manager and CAF can instruct Winterflood Business Services to transfer the holding into it.

As part of the account-opening process you will need to advise the recipient that the account is required to accept a transfer of an existing asset. Once the account is open, CAF will work with Winterflood Business Services to help you to complete the necessary instructions to transfer your holdings. Please email our Client Relations team to request any further assistance.

You will be able to open an account with a stock-broker or other financial organisation that can hold these assets on your behalf. In many cases you can also hold the asset directly with the Fund manager if you prefer.

Whether you choose the fund manager or another organisation, you will need to open an account and then instruct CAF to transfer the holding into it. As part of the account-opening process you will need to advise the recipient that the account is required to accept a transfer of an existing asset.

Once the account is open, CAF will work with Winterflood Business Services to help you complete the necessary instructions to transfer your charity’s holdings. Please email our Client Relations team to request any further assistance.

Where we have been able to offer you preferential access to share classes for funds, we have spoken to the managers concerned to discuss the position.

If you have holdings of this nature then please email or call our Client Relations team, on 03000 123 444, and we can discuss this with you.

We will be reducing our charges to reflect the withdrawal of our service to you.

Account fees:

From 30^th April 2021 we reduced the CFSL account fees to nil. A final fee collection for the months of March and April 2021 will be made around the 15^th May 2021.

If you have instructed us to transfer your assets to another arrangement within 60 calendar days of the date you receive our formal notice of closure, then no further account fees will be charged. If you do not provide your instructions in this timescale, we reserve the right to reintroduce the fees from the 1^st day of the month following the expiry of the 60 calendar days.

Transaction and other fees: 60 calendar days after sending the termination notice to customers.

Fund trading will continue to be free of charge.

Share / direct investment trades:

Sales: Transaction fees for sales will be waived, but you will still be liable for any third party charges or taxes / duties that may apply in accordance with the Terms and Conditions of the service.

Purchases: The fees and charges / taxes for purchases will be maintained at the current level as described in the Terms and Conditions and [detailed on our website] [are available from CAF on request].

Transfers:  You will not be charged for any transfers out.

Transfers in will not be accepted from 4^th May 2021.

Yes. We will still collect any outstanding fees from you in accordance with the Terms and Conditions of the service.

If you have any outstanding fees due, please make arrangements to credit your account with sufficient funds to cover the payment to us. If you do not do this then in accordance with the Terms and Conditions we will ask Winterflood Business Services to sell part of your holding(s) to cover the debt before any transfers out are completed.

Yes, although the situation is different for buy and sell.

‘Sell’ / Sales: You can continue to sell your holdings until you have submitted instructions to transfer your holdings to your new arrangements. Please note that transfer can take several weeks, so you should ensure you make any sales you need to before submitting your instructions.

‘Buy’/ Purchases: You can continue to purchase holdings until 60 calendar days after sending the termination notice to customers. We need to introduce this cut-off so that we have time to ensure that all deals are fully complete before we receive and action your transfer requests.

Winterflood Business Services will continue to collect any income due from your holdings and credit it to the Deposit Account within your CAF Investment Account. This income will be available for you to withdraw at any point prior to completing the transfer of your assets to a new arrangement.

If any income is received after the transfer of your assets to another arrangement, then Winterflood Business Services will forward this on in accordance with your closure instructions.

CFSL will continue to inform you of any elective corporate actions that affect your holdings and process instructions that we receive from you.

Any ongoing corporate actions will be transferred to any new arrangement you make with an alternative supplier, along with the holding that it relates to.

Please be aware that if you do not make alternative arrangements before the termination deadline on the 10th of July 2021, and we do not receive an instruction from you and/or have been unable to contact you to discuss this matter, then this may result in your assets being sold and the cash returned to your nominated bank account.

We will collect all proceeds and remit a single amount to your nominated bank account once settlement of the final disposal has been received. Any income received after the settlement date will be sent separately.

No. CAF, continues to offer a range of investment funds for charitable investors. For example, we have just completed a new agreement with Aberdeen Standard Capital for the investment management of the IFSL CAF Investment Funds and the supply and operation of the CAF Managed Portfolio Service.