Frequently asked questions

Any charity in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland can invest in any M&G Charity Fund.

If you need to return any completed documentation to us relating to your charity and its investments, please send it to:

M&G Charity Department
PO Box 9038
Chelmsford
CM99 2XF

You can choose to switch between M&G Charity Funds free of charge. You will either need to complete a Switching Instruction which must be signed by two authorised signatories of the charity, or you can call our Dealing Team on 0800 917 4472, who will process the switch for you.

You can choose to convert from income and accumulation units (or vice versa) within all M&G Charity Funds free of charge. You will need to send us a written letter of instruction which must be signed by two authorised signatories of the charity.

Your charity can take a gross income, in the form of a dividend, from all M&G Charity Funds. There will be no UK tax deducted on your income distributions.

Please remember that if you buy units with an ex-distribution price, you will not be entitled to the next distribution of income made by the fund. You will, however, be entitled to distributions of income for future accounting periods.

The best way to register a new holding for a charity is to register it in the name of your charity.

You need to provide a formal record of the names of the controllers (signatories) of your charity who are authorised to act on the charity’s behalf, along with their signatures, confirmation of position held, UK residential address, and date of birth (as requested in Controllers section of Application Form/Declaration Form); this information is used to undertake background identity checks in order to fulfil our regulatory obligations regarding security of client assets. You should notify us of any change of controller, in writing, as soon as possible to ensure our records are kept up to date.

If you would like to register your holding in any other way (eg via a nominee/custodian or investment platform), please call our Charities Helpline on 0800 917 4472. Please note the registration of named individuals is not permitted. 

UK legislation set up to prevent money laundering obliges companies conducting investment business to be responsible for compliance with money laundering regulations.

This means, in certain circumstances, investors may be asked to provide proof of identity when buying or selling all or part of their investments. Normally this will not cause a delay in carrying out your instructions. However, if we ask for additional information we may not be permitted to act until we receive this. In these circumstances we may be unable to complete your investment, switch units or release the proceeds of a redemption instruction.

Units in the M&G Charity Funds can be bought or sold every business day. You can buy or sell units between 09:00 and 17:00.

To make an investment (buy) units in a charity fund for the first time you will need to complete and return an Application form or Additional Contribution form with your cheque enclosed. All cheques should be made payable to ‘M&G Securities Limited’.  You can also choose to send us proceeds for your investment electronically.

To safeguard the fund’s charitable status, you will need to provide your charity commission, Northern Ireland or Scottish charity register registration number or HM Revenue & Customs (Charities) claims reference number.

Our bank details for payments into M&G Charity Funds are;

• NatWest, City of London Branch, 1 Princes Street, London EC2R 8PA.
• Sort Code: 60-00-01, Account No: 39430693.
• Account Name: M&G SECURITIES LTD CHARITIES CLIENT MONEY RECEIPTS ACCOUNT

When making a payment to M&G please make sure you include either your dealing reference number if you have one, or the account name and unitholder Identifier.

To invest on a regular basis, you’ll also need to complete a Direct Debit instruction. You can choose to have payments taken on the 1st, 10th or 22nd of the month. Payment frequency can be monthly, quarterly, six-monthly or annually. Please note we are unable to accept standing orders.

A charity can sell its holding, in full or in part, at any time on any business day. The proceeds will be paid three business days after the valuation point, following receipt of the withdrawal request. To redeem some or all of your investment you will need to complete and return a Withdrawal form.  

Alternatively, to invest in or redeem an investment from any M&G Charity Fund you can call the Charites Helpline on the number at the top of this page to transact over the phone.

All instructions will be carried out on receipt at the next-calculated price. If instructions are received by 12:00, for example, they will be carried out at that day’s price. All purchases are dealt on a forward price basis only.

When you buy or sell units in any M&G Charity Fund we will send you a contract note showing the full details within 24 hours of the deal completing.

Certificates are not issued but our Administrators will, on request, certify to holders the number of units and the valuation. Details of quarterly income distributions are sent to the first named holder. We also issue quarterly valuation statements, including details of any transactions, by post.

There is a single price for buying and selling units in M&G Charity Funds. The unit value is calculated according to Financial Conduct Authority regulations for collective investment schemes.

There is a minimum initial lump sum amount for investments made into The M&G Charity Funds of one unit. There is a £10 minimum per month for regular investments by Direct Debit.

Under the Financial Conduct Authority’s Conduct of Business Sourcebook, you are, in certain circumstances, entitled to cancel a contract to purchase units and have the money returned. Investors will not be refunded in full if the price of the units falls before we are informed that the cancellation notice has been served, because an amount equal to such a fall in the price will be deducted from the refund that would otherwise have been made.

Cancellation rights apply only where an investor has bought units through a financial adviser and do not apply where an investor deals directly with M&G, but the fact that cancellation rights are not applicable does not affect an investor’s right to sell the investment at any time.

If a charity has the right to cancel it will be sent a cancellation reminder following its investment. If the charity wishes to exercise its right to cancel it should return this cancellation reminder within 14 days of receiving it to M&G Securities Limited, PO Box 9038, Chelmsford CM99 2XF.

Income units in M&G Charity Funds allow you to receive income quarterly. Accumulation units in M&G Charity Funds provide a facility to reinvest income. This is reflected in the accumulation unit price. The number of accumulation units does not change when income is reinvested. Income units and accumulation units are available for all M&G Charity Funds.

Prices are calculated at 12:00 each business day. They are updated on our website from around 21:00 each day.

M&G Charity Funds operate under a self-certification system whereby new investors must complete a declaration on the application form confirming their charitable status, confirmation being the insertion of their Charity Commission number, Scottish Charity Register registration number, Northern Ireland Charity Register, or HM Revenue & Customs (Charities) claims reference number.

All declarations will be subject to independent checks by HM Revenue & Customs (Charities). Additionally, non-receipt of a completed declaration within 60 days of purchase will result in the investment being void and the units will be sold. If the price of the units has fallen the charity will not get a full refund of the money it has paid. Furthermore, if the charity has received an income distribution before the holding is declared void then this will be deducted from the sale proceeds.

Visit our Managing your investment page to download the relevant forms.

We must receive a completed Declaration form from the charity within 60 days of the initial purchase, or stock transfer execution date. If we do not receive a declaration, the investment will become void and the units will be sold at the prevailing price at that time. If the price of the units has risen the charity will be repaid its original investment (or the cash value at point of stock transfer) and the fund will keep any balance.

If the price of the units has fallen the charity will not get a full refund of the money it has paid (or of the cash value at point of stock transfer).

In addition, if the charity has received an income distribution before the holding is declared void, this will be deducted from the sale proceeds.

When you invest by phone, we will issue a contract note to acknowledge the deal, along with a Declaration form for first time purchases which is sent to you by post within 24 hours.

You can download a Declaration form from our website.

If you have difficulty providing the standard evidence of identity, please contact the Charities Helpline on 0800 917 4472 to discuss alternative arrangements.

Charities in England and Wales who can’t trace their charity commission number can check the Register of charities. Charities in Scotland who can’t trace their Scottish charity number can check the Scottish charity register. Charities in Northern Ireland who can’t trace their Northern Ireland charity number can check the Northern Ireland charity register.

Charities not on the relevant charity commission register can contact HM Revenue & Customs (Charities) at, St John's House, Merton Road, Bootle, Merseyside, L69 9BB or by calling 0845 302 0203.

We recognise that charities can be set up in a variety of ways:

• A limited company
• A trust with individual trustees
• An unincorporated association run by officers and a committee

The document(s) needed to establish how the charity is set up varies according to your particular circumstances. We also need to verify the identities of the individuals who have day-to-day control over the charity and instruct M&G on the charity’s holding (controllers or signatories).

We will contact you directly if we can’t verify your identity. In this case we may need further documentation, such as:

Personal identity documents:

• Current signed passport
• Residence permit (issued by the Home Office to EU nationals)
• Shotgun or firearms certificate
• EEA member state identity card*
• Northern Ireland voter’s card*
• Current EEA or UK photocard driving licence*
• Blue disabled driver’s pass*
• Current full UK old-style driving licence (not provisional)*
• HM Revenue & Customs tax notification*

*These documents are also acceptable as evidence of address, provided they have not been used as evidence of personal identity.

Documentary evidence of address:

• Local authority tax bill (valid for the current year)
• Bank, building society or credit union statement or passbook**
• Utility bill or utility statement (not mobile telephone bills)**

** Dated in the last three months.

Financial services firms are required by law to verify the identity of new customers, including any person acting on behalf of a charity. A firm may also verify the identity of existing customers when it needs to:

• Check customers who joined us before the checks were law
• Check if it is holding out-of-date information for a customer
• Verify a charity’s bank account is in their name
• Verify how a charity is set up and the identities of those running it
• Verify the source of funds.

Verifying the identity of our investors means it is more difficult for criminals to access the financial system and use false names, addresses or the identities of innocent people.

We are also less likely to take on customers involved in criminal activities and it helps the police and other law enforcement agencies to detect and investigate crime.