Attention: MiPlan IP Unit Trust Investors
The MiPlan IP unit trusts are administered by IP Management Company, a registered Collective Investment Manager in terms of CISCA, and the authorised Manager of the Scheme. IP performs administrative functions on the co-branded MiPlan IP unit trusts.
The LISPs (Linked Investment Service Providers) are currently in the process of sending out a ballot notices to clients invested in the MiPlan funds, as well as 33 other funds under the IP Management Company banner. These types of letters are regularly sent out by different companies whenever there are changes to a fund on a variety of issues that fall within the FSCA’s requirements to ballot. The ballot I refer to from these 42 funds is primarily as a result of a pending amalgamation between unit trust management companies, both of whom had been acquired by the Apex Group to form one of the largest unit trust management companies in South Africa. Unfortunately, this means that clients may have received a ballot notification, not only relating to MiPlan fund(s) but also includes the other 33 funds which they may not be invested and may not affect them at all. For ease of reference, only pages 27 to 40 refer to the detailed MiPlan fund(s) changes within the ballot letter.
Given the scale of the funds included in the ballot, as well as the amount of information contained, your clients may have questions. To assist in answering these questions and what has necessitated these changes, MiPlan has prepared a summary outlining the background and reasons for the proposed changes.
- Change of name from IP to BCI:
- Both IP Management Company (RF) (Pty) Ltd “IPMC”) and Boutique Collective Investments (RF) (Pty) Ltd (“BCI”) are wholly owned subsidiaries of the Apex Group Ltd. Apex decided to merge these two entities to ensure that investors receive a uniform administration and client services experience. It will also allow Apex to provide investors with industry leading CIS investment administration solutions. Therefore, Apex requested IPMC to ballot investors to obtain their approval to amalgamate the IPMC source portfolios into similar BCI target portfolios.
- Benchmark changes:
- Certain portfolio benchmarks have been changed from a composite index benchmark to a peer group benchmark to allow for easier comparison. This change will not affect how the fund is managed.
- Change in distribution dates and/or frequency
- As the funds transfer to the BCI management company, certain funds will have their distribution dates and/or frequencies changed to align with BCI.
- Investment policy changes
- Certain funds’ investment policies have been updated to incorporate latest practice, such as ASISA category limitations, and to align with BCI.
If you do not agree with any of the proposed changes, please ensure that you submit your vote by 11 July 2025, as a lack of response will be considered a vote in favour of the proposed amalgamation.
This summary does not replace the need to review the detailed ballot notification. Please refer to the full ballot document for complete information (link provided below) and contact clientservices@ipmc.co.za with any additional questions.
Ballot Letter: IP to BCI Amalgamation Ballot