When Valuations Are Updated

Overview

Your pension is valued every working day when investment markets are open. This means Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays. The valuation reflects current market prices and tells you what your pension is worth at a specific point in time.

The Daily Cycle

Here's how the daily valuation works. During the trading day, markets are open and prices move around. At the end of each day, final closing prices are recorded. Overnight, fund managers use these prices to calculate new unit prices. We then update our systems with the new prices, typically by mid-morning the next business day.

This means if you check your value on a Wednesday afternoon, you're most likely seeing prices based on Tuesday's market close. There's always roughly a one-day lag built into the process.

Weekends and Bank Holidays

Markets are closed on weekends and bank holidays, so no new valuations are produced on these days. If you check your pension on a Saturday, Sunday, or bank holiday Monday, you'll see the value from the last working day - usually Friday.

Any market news that breaks over the weekend won't be reflected in your pension value until the following week, after markets have reacted and new prices are calculated.

When Updates Become Available

New valuations are typically available by mid-morning each working day. If you contact us first thing in the morning, you might still get the previous day's figures while the overnight update completes. Later in the day, you'll get the most current values.

Some funds price earlier than others depending on which markets they invest in. A UK equity fund might update earlier than a fund investing across multiple time zones.

Annual Statements

Your annual benefit statement uses a fixed valuation date, usually the scheme year-end. All the figures on that statement relate to that specific date. Because statements take time to produce and send out, the values might be a few months old by the time you receive it.

If you want to know your current value rather than the statement value, just ask us and we'll give you the latest figures.

Occasional Delays

The valuation process is highly automated and usually runs smoothly. Occasionally there might be delays if a fund manager has technical issues or if certain assets are difficult to price. Funds investing in less liquid assets like property may sometimes take longer to value.

If there's ever a delay affecting your valuation, we can let you know when updated figures are expected.

Real-Time vs Daily Values

Your pension value isn't updated in real-time like a stock ticker. It's calculated once per day based on closing prices. Between valuations, markets continue to move, but these movements won't show in your pension until the next day's valuation is processed.

For most purposes, daily valuations are perfectly adequate. If you're making a significant decision, just factor in that markets may have moved since the last valuation.

For Financial Advisers

For IFAs requiring precise valuation data, we can confirm both the current value and the effective valuation date. Historical valuations for previous dates are available for performance tracking. Transfer values and retirement quotes are dated with specific validity periods. We can advise on optimal timing for requests where precision matters.