Who owns the Unit Linked Fund Equitable or the Halifax?
Although Equitable planned to sell the Unit Linked Fund to the Halifax in 2001, due to complexities of transfers that were allowed between the with profits and unit linked it was decided not to go ahead with it. The Unit Linked is still owned by Equitable and can be seen in the accounts. It is however ring fenced from the With Profits Fund. The FSA have written: Technically, if Equitable Life became insolvent you would become a creditor of Equitable. As such, the liquidator of Equitable would be required to deal with any claim your client had in the same way they would deal with a claim from any other creditor. However, Halifax Life have confirmed that, whatever the legal position of the unit linked funds, if Equitable’s with profits fund were ever to become insolvent, Halifax Life would stand behind the unit-linked funds and policies and would be paid in full.
