Pension Options Sanity Check

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/cheap-sipps

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=64540489&postcount=15

http://monevator.com/low-cost-index-trackers/

Are there any transfer out fees levied by your current provider?

I've just been going through the paperwork and realised I have 10 different funds with AMC's of between 1% and 2.2% which seems to be a bit on the high side.

1% to 2.2% (as they had external funds as well as internal) before the fund based discount is applied. CM plans had fund based discounts as well. So, do not forget to include those. For a period, CM plans were very good value for money.

I'm not comfortable with the number of funds or the level of charges, especially as the cost of charges don't appear on the annual statements.

1 - the number of funds is probably as its built to meet a certain asset allocation.
2 - The charges wont appear on statements whether its CM or any other provider. Plus, as mentioned, you are probably not looking at the net charges.

If I do decide to move to a SIPP how difficult would it be?

Possibly more expensive. Not going to resolve what you want with charges. Typically requires a bit more work than a personal pension. SIPPs are a more advanced option. If you are struggling with the simpler personal pension, are you sure a SIPP is going to be right for you?

This is probably what goes to the heart of my thinking, the lack of clarity and control. I have a S&S ISA. In that I can see all the units purchased how much for and how many have been sold to cover charges. It is my responsibility to rebalance, which I did last night. More than happy with that

With your S&S ISA, you are selling units to pay charges for the platform. The CM pension isnt a platform. So, it doesnt need to sell units to pay for something as there is nothing to pay. With both the S&S ISA and the pension, the annual management charges are taken within the fund and not shown explicitly.

Rebalancing on an ISA and a pension is the same.

With my pension all I get is a statement of how much I have paid in, a list of funds, the number of units and what it is worth. What I don't see is how much has been taken away so can't judge if the charges are value for money.

That is because it is a mono charged pension. Whereas your ISA is multi-charge.

Be very careful you dont end up moving the pension because of your misunderstanding about charges and end up paying more than you are at present.

You will find modern administration platforms have more detail than old personal pensions using insured funds. But your need a little work on understanding the different charges and how they are taken. Also, note that insured funds do not have a TER/OCF. That is because the AMC is the OCF. You compare the pension fund AMC with the UT/OEIC OCF.

The CM pension was very good in its day (yours is probably 0.6% net of discount on the internal funds). You can get slightly cheaper PPPs that now (at 0.4%) but the CM pension was retailed when 1% was considered the norm.