Transferring 4 old pensions inot a SIPP

BeatTheSystem

dunstonh wrote: »

As HL take full commission with no rebate on trail it would be any pension provider that allows rebating.

The IFA is almost certainly earning exactly the same as HL is because both take 0.5% trail. The difference is with Transact they tell you who is getting what. With HL you pay the retail charge and out of that HL get paid.

Personally, i am not a big fan of Transact. I find the other platforms offer better value for money and my own software doesnt require the duplication that Transact has. However, different firms have different business models and different software and different objectives.

HL have their place. However, the assumption that they are cheaper than an IFA can do it is wrong.

HL is not a threat at all. I can be cheaper than HL on transactional fee basis or virtually the same cost or cheaper on advice basis. However, it is not comparing like for like. People that would use HL wouldnt use an IFA or vice versa. HL is catering for the DIY market. It also picks up a lot of people who could do a heck of a lot better but dont realise it.

Not any more.

No profession is perfect but with under 2% of complaints at the FOS despite handling the majority of regulated transactions, things are not that bad.

They are not banging on their doors. HL are paid to promote funds as are many of the other platforms. The FSA is looking at banning this but some of the platforms are against it as they say charges will go up. Also, you have to consider that post 2012, HL's model is going to have to change as they wont be able to keep the adviser cut that they do now. So, they are going to lose 0.5% of their £14bill or whatever it is they have under management. They could lose the marketing bonus and they will have to explicitly charge for the platform which will put the price of trackers, ITS and ETFs up (although managed funds could come down or be cost neutral). This applies to most platforms though which havent already moved to unbundling the charges.

Your comments are interesting. I did not fully appreciate that HL are getting full rebate, it will be interesting to see how things change post 2012. I may contact them with regards to the impartiality of the funds they recommend.

I am all for transparency.


Thanks

BTS

jamesd

BeatTheSystem wrote: »

In effect, we want to help you become your own financial adviser.

... but we'll still charge the full cost of going via an IFA anyway.

That's the bit that should go after the part you quoted. HL isn't rebating the 0.5% IFA commission, nor the platform commission that's another 0.1 to 0.2%, in their SIPP. For the ISA and fund and share account they rebate part of it.

For you it doesn't have to be Transact but there's no harm in asking an IFA to check what platforms there are around that will let you keep the same investments as you have at HL but at lower ongoing cost. Ongoing because there would be an upfront fee probably. Paying an IFA a fee should get you 0% initial commission and saving the 0.5% IFA commission so it's a case of finding an offer that'll recover the fee in a sensible timeframe.

dunstonh

I may contact them with regards to the impartiality of the funds they recommend.

They dont recommend any. Their marketing falls under financial promotions not advice.

Here is a link on Citywire about the unbundling of charges.
http://www.citywire.co.uk/professional/-/news/other/content.aspx?ID=390509

sortingoutamess

BeatTheSystem wrote: »

I transfered 3 personal pension funds which I considered to be poor performing zombie funds.

One if which was a Sun life managed fund which was worth 12K. The transfer value was only 10K so they ripped me by 2K, they tried to pursude me to stay but I told them to get stuffed.

Since the transfer the 10K has grown to 13K, (6 months) so I am pleased I did it. The Sun life fund had been performing poorly for some time.

I did this with Hargreaves Lansdown. If you are prepared to read their website and literature in detail you can learn a lot. They have done the due dilligence on 150 funds and I have to say the ones I have chosen have done extremely well.

If you are comfortable with paying lots of money to an IFA then go ahead, but if you have the time and inclination to do your own research then you wont be disapointed.

Good luck

HI - Thanks for your reply. You have done what I am considering doing with my existing four 'zombie' pension schemes. It doesn't sound like rocket science provided you are prepared to do some research. I have to either decide to transfer the whole lot to a SIPPS and swallow the ripp-off penalties with two of the policies or leave the two with the penalties and just transfer the other two. I was going to look at Sippdeal and Alliance Trust and one or two more for the SIPP provision. Sounds like you made the right choice to swallow the penalties. Incidentally, I was quoted £2,500 - £3,000 plus VAT by an IFA to review my four policies and decide what was best....