Temporary suspension of Japanese funds: 26 April to 6 May 2019

25 April 2019 - This year, Japan is extending its annual Golden Week holiday to 10 days, to mark the abdication of Emperor Akihito and the ascension of his son, Crown Prince Naruhito, to the throne.

Akihito is the first emperor to abdicate in more than two centuries and the new era for Japan, named “Riewa”, will formally begin once the new Emperor is crowned on 1 May 2019.

As a result of this momentous occasion, Japanese stock exchanges will be closed from 26 April 2019, reopening on 7 May 2019.

As a consequence, it will be necessary to temporarily suspend dealings in Japanese funds during this period.

What this means for your investments

Aegon platform

• Clients won't be able to buy or sell any affected funds throughout this period.
• Any existing monthly savings into Japanese funds will be delayed and then go through when trading begins again on 7 May.
• Any deals placed between 27 April and 6 May will go into a queue and be placed when the funds reopen.

Old Mutual Wealth Platform

• Regular direct debits will not be affected and will continue as normal.
• Online switching will not be processed until 7 May. 
• Any instructions to buy or sell fund units will not be processed until 7 May.

Please note, if you are switching more than one fund at a time – say one Japanese fund, one UK and one European – none of the purchases will be made until 7 May, even though the non-Japanese funds are still trading. You will therefore have your money out of the market for a period of time. If you wish to do this, you may want to consider switching only your non-Japanese funds, in which case the switch will be made within the normal time scales.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact Chelsea's client service team on 020 7384 7300 or via info@chelseafs.co.uk