Smith & Williamson opts for 75bps RDR share class

Smith & Williamson Investment Management (S&W) has launched clean fee share classes for its 14-strong fund range, opting for the 0.75 per cent annual management charge (AMC) for its equity range.

Its fixed income funds - including Chris Lynas’s £363.6m Short-Dated Corporate Bond fund - will be priced at 0.65 per cent, while the £57.9m long/short equity Enterprise fund will cost 0.9 per cent.

The £69.5m Global Gold and Resources fund, managed by Robert Lyons and Ani Markova, will cost 1 per cent under the new pricing structure.

S&W’s multi-manager funds have had new share classes launched which will cost 0.75 per cent, with the exception of the £8.7m Cautious Growth fund which will cost 0.7 per cent.

The new AMCs will take effect from the end of August.

Nick Hodgson, director of marketing and sales at S&W, said: “While the final rules for the RDR are still awaited by the industry, we are quite sure that the spirit of the RDR is for the funds industry to make totally ‘clean’ share classes available.

“We recognise that time is of the essence as platforms are finalising their systems ahead of the implementation of the RDR in January 2013. Advisers have also been asking us to clarify our plans as clearly the RDR is a business planning priority for them.”