COVID-19 update
How we are continuing to minimise disruption to our employees and clients
We will continue to provide business updates on this page, as well as sharing updates on market developments in our news and insights articles.
You will be aware that the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 in the UK is continuing to have an impact on individuals, businesses and services. This is a rapidly changing situation as new information becomes available daily and the government continues to update their guidance and restrictions regularly.
We have been working hard to ensure our key services and operations continue to function throughout the pandemic. We have followed our coordinated business continuity and pandemic response plans since news of the coronavirus first emerged. The goal of these plans is to protect our employees, enable us to service clients and continue to manage their investments, all with a minimal level of disruption if the situation escalates.
The majority of our employees are successfully working from home including our advisers and investment managers, who will remain in regular contact with clients primarily by phone and email. We request that you avoid corresponding with us by post if possible while we have limited access to our offices. In response to client requests and to comply with Government advice on social distancing, we propose to avoid face-to-face client meetings until further notice.
We recognise that this is a highly uncertain and still evolving situation, but we remain well prepared and are doing everything we can to protect our employees and ensure we continue to deliver seamless service to clients.
If you have any queries or concerns, please speak to your usual contact or the Client Servicing Team.
Are my investments safe?
As a well-established wealth manager with a reputation for proving high-quality services, we take our responsibility to our clients very seriously. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Our conduct is subject to the FCA’s detailed rules including those for the protection of client money and assets. These rules require the strict separation of company and client money and assets. This means that in the highly unlikely event of insolvency, our clients’ money and assets would be ring-fenced so that general creditors have no legal right to these.
A more in-depth explanation of the steps we take to protect your money and assets can be found in the factsheet to the right.
Close Brothers Asset Management is a trading division within Close Brothers Group plc (CBG), a leading UK merchant banking group and FTSE 250 Company with a proven and resilient business model, which has served us well over many years and through a number of economic downturns in the past. CBG has a strong capital position, well above the minimum requirements expected by the regulatory authorities, as well as maintaining additional internal buffers to further support our capital headroom.
We have a long track record of supporting our clients through a wide range of challenging market conditions, and are confident that our resilient approach and the deep expertise of our people leave us well placed to navigate the current uncertainty, and to continue serving our clients throughout.
As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, there has sadly been an increase in the number of fraudsters exploiting people’s fears - targeting pension savers, investors and online consumers. Read our steps to protect yourself.
Read more