Barclays Wealth

unclehenry

I am considering passing a lump sum to Barclays Wealth for them to place in a pension. BW have given me a risk profile of low-risk. I'm in my mid 50s, been self employed all my life and have no pension. My last fnancial year was good and so I am attracted by the tax benefits of putting a lump in a pension. The pension will not be needed for at least 15 years. I would appreciate any advice or feedback from anyone who has knowledge or experience of Barclays Wealth, are they reliable?
thanks.

dunstonh

I am considering passing a lump sum to Barclays Wealth for them to place in a pension.

Bad move.

I'm in my mid 50s, been self employed all my life and have no pension.

Oh dear. So, no personal schemes and only some of the state pensions then (basic only, no second state pension, SERPS)

I would appreciate any advice or feedback from anyone who has knowledge or experience of Barclays Wealth, are they reliable?

Salesforce with heavy sales targets, strong sales managers putting pressure on the staff and the whole culture there is sales, sales, sales. They are expensive and offer nothing that a local independent IFA cant go better and cheaper potentially. Banks also have far higher complaints stats (often due to target pressures and low skilled staff).

You say you are self employed but dont mention your trade. Think of Barclays as the expensive option using cheap, low skilled labour with an aim to turning around clients like a factory line.

bendix

On the other hand, of course, Barclays are likely to put his money in exactly the same types of asset classes which will perform exactly the same way as if they had gone through an independent IFA.

All this debate about IFAs versus tied agents seems a waste of time to me.

It's the asset classes that matters.

Funds in the same asset classes tend to perform pretty much the same, irrespective of who runs them or who recommends them.

Instead of warning the OP away from Barclays Wealth, surely it's wiser to focus the response of encouraging him to at least do something . . . .

dunstonh

All this debate about IFAs versus tied agents seems a waste of time to me.

The difference is that Barclays staff are under pressure from sales targets and managers threatening to dismiss them if they dont perform. Banks are notorious for using commission bias and their recommendations tend to be basic. Of course, there is no guarantee you wouldnt get the same from an IFA but statistically, that is less likely.

Instead of warning the OP away from Barclays Wealth, surely it's wiser to focus the response of encouraging him to at least do something . . . .

He asked for an opinion on Barclays. He is also self employed. So, he should appreciate the difference in quality that is likely between a salesforce that deals with a job and moves on compared to a small local firm that relies on reputation, repeat business and referrals.

If you are going to do a job then you may as well do it well.

bendix

Fair enough, dunstonh, but I sometimes think you don't appreciate the influence you could have on people on this board, many of who are unsophisticated investors and who get their heads turned when the see the words IFA in your signature.

Because of that influence, simply dismissing putting a lump sum into Barclays Wealth for a pension as a 'bad move' is too glib.

It might not be as good a move as going somewhere else, but it is most definitely not a bad move when compared to doing nothing, a possible consequence of those two powerful words.

I suspect many people take you literally, and if such 'advice' deters people from doing anything, then we are getting into difficult moral waters.

But we've had this debate before . . .

dunstonh

Because of that influence, simply dismissing putting a lump sum into Barclays Wealth for a pension as a 'bad move' is too glib.

If that was the impression, I apologise. The action is certainly worth doing. I was just being negative against the use of the bank.

unclehenry

thanks for replies both. I am self employed, provide software and consultancy services to offshore industry. I've always been very wary of pensions and financial advisors, but I have invested in other areas over the years (BTL flat). I now find myself looking at retirement soon, have a decent sized nest egg (have always been a saver since youngest age), but as the last few years have seen me with high income and I can afford to make 100% towards a pension, it seems like a good plan to get the tax rebate and as a way of diversifyng portfolio.

unclehenry

dunstonh wrote: »

It that was the impression, I apologise. The action is certainly worth doing. I was just being negative against the use of the bank.

I was under the impression that BW is not actually the bank. I have the impression that BW is like IFA but with the approval/affiliation of a high street bank. I just want a secure place to park some cash for 15 years or more, probably 25 years. I don't particularly care if it doesn't grow huge, as long as it at least remains at the same value as it is today I'll be happy. The way it seems to me (probably grossly over simplified, but I like simplified) is that if (for example) I gave BW 100K to stick in a pot, i get a rebate from the tax on that, and in 25 years time the pot wll still be worth todays equivalent of 100K, good if i's more but I'm happy if it's same.

OK, what have I missed:D

bendix

Why not just use a SIPP to place the lump sum into cash-oriented funds?

EdInvestor

unclehenry wrote: »

I was under the impression that BW is not actually the bank. I have the impression that BW is like IFA but with the approval/affiliation of a high street bank. I just want a secure place to park some cash for 15 years or more, probably 25 years. I don't particularly care if it doesn't grow huge, as long as it at least remains at the same value as it is today I'll be happy. The way it seems to me (probably grossly over simplified, but I like simplified) is that if (for example) I gave BW 100K to stick in a pot, i get a rebate from the tax on that, and in 25 years time the pot wll still be worth todays equivalent of 100K, good if i's more but I'm happy if it's same.

OK, what have I missed:D

Presumably you're looking at this:

http://www.barclayswealth.com/private-banking/products-services/investment-management.htm

What you need to do is investigate how much they will charge you for providing this service - be it advisory or discretionary.It is likely to be expensive.On the latter, Barclay's has a reputation for churning portfolios thus running up transaction charges which they pocket.

It might be easier as mentioned if you just set up a low cost SIPP with a discount broker such as https://www.h-l.co.uk , picked a list of funds and split your money between them.Over a longish period this diversification should lower risk and the cost would be significantly lower than using Barclays.

dunstonh

I was under the impression that BW is not actually the bank. I have the impression that BW is like IFA but with the approval/affiliation of a high street bank.

Its better than the bank side but it suffers the same target based system. They use whole of market advisers but with respect to them, if you were any good, you wouldnt be working for a bank. I used to know some of the Barclays Wealth advisers and one sales manager. They were massively stressed and always on the road looking for the next lump sum. They even tried to get me to join them at one point but I wouldnt. In fact, I really burned my bridges there after I told them what I thought of their remuneration and business model.

I've always been very wary of pensions and financial advisors,

Yet you have never taken out a pension. So, your experience of a good pension adviser is zero.

Thats a bit like me saying I am wary of software consultants because I have never met one but I dont like Windows.

The use of Barclays will be fine. It wont be best, you can almost certainly get better and cheaper. If you are wary then using a bank salesforce is probably the last place to go but its your choice. Any salesforce is not ideal. Do you want advice or sales?