Change of job, Group pension suggestions?

damo101

Hi,
I've started a new job recently and the final contribution from my old job into the Standard Life Group Pension scheme they offered is about to go in. I'm contracting but going thru an umbrella company as PAYE and they're offering a Scottish Widows Group Pension scheme.
I have tons of questions but most would need an IFA to answer (things like is the SW scheme worth joining, and am I better consolidating the old with the new) but the general question is this:
If I moved my pension fund from Standard Life to somewhere else should I expect to be charged by SL and/or the next place I transfer it to (if that's a sensible option)?

Thanks in advance,
Damo

MikeJones_2

Predicably, I'm afraid, the answer isn't easy, and yes you would be well advised to seek out an IFA. You could ask Standard Life for a transfer value and a fund value.

The fund value should represent the current value of your pension fund whilst the transfer value - well that's obvious: it's the amount that you would be able to move to another pension arrangement.

If the two are the same then there is effectively 'no charge' being inflicted on your pension to transfer (although with some policies/providers the charge may have been inflicted earlier within the set-up charges of the pension arrangement).

Mike Jones
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I work in the field of Pension Education and Pension Guidance in the UK. I am a current member of the Specialist Pensions Forum as well as being a Voluntary Adviser for The Pensions Advisory Service. I have previously been an Independent Financial Adviser specialising in employer sponsored pension schemes. The views expressed by me in this thread are my personal opinions. You should seek professional advice from an appropriately experienced and qualified adviser.
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EdInvestor

damo101 wrote: »

Hi,
If I moved my pension fund from Standard Life to somewhere else should I expect to be charged by SL

If the pension is invested in the With profits fund it may suffer a transfer penalty, otherwise not. Lifeco pensions do not normally charge a transfer in fee.

The SW personal pension is regarded as a good one with lowish charges and a large selection of quality external funds.

damo101

Thanks for the help guys, i now have an idea what to look for when I come to make a decision

jamesd

damo101, you should look at the funds you want to use inside each pension and compare the costs. If the SW pension has lower costs for the funds you want to use then you should probably switch into it. You'll need to check things like how much the adviser is charging as well as the raw costs because SW has the option for an adviser to add half a percent to the annual management charge for all of the funds you use, or to use lower than standard charges instead. The Standard Life plan probably has similar options.

If the SW pension doesn't have the funds you want to use that might cause you to leave some money with SL instead.

If SL appears better you could also ask whether it's possible to make periodic transfers from the SW pension to the SL pension. That might get you a better range of investment options if the SL pension you have does actually have a better range.