Mistakenly transferred army pension

tiny1

Hi,
I could do with some advice,

I transferred my army pension to a clerical medical pension plan - the IFA verbally told me that the army pension grew no more than 2% p.a. - he went on to state that clerical medical could grow 5% + p.a.

Stupidly I went ahead and transferred the pension - I now discover that 1% management fees are charged by clerical medical and the fund made less than 3% last year - the big shock that was omitted to me was that the army pension only rises, never falls - unlike the clerical medical fund can.

I am told I cannot transfer the fund back to the army and I do not want to keep it with Clerical medical.

I want to move the pension pot to a different fund or use it as a deposit on a property, any advice on what to do with the fund ?

I am living overseas as an expat ( tax free income ) any suggestion on IFA based in UK who can advice on expat investment appreciated.

tiny1

dunstonh

This is quite possibly a pension mis-sale. Most transfers out of final salary schemes tend to be classed as that. I was speaking to an insurer recently that stated 4 out of 5 section32 buy out bonds (which is what you probablywould have been transferred into) are being classed as mis-sales. I am assuming that this is not a recent transaction but harks back to the pension mis-sale days. Of course, not knowing full details means i am making an assumption here that yours maybe.

You should gather together the documentation and consider making a complaint. Taking it to another IFA could be an option and asking them for an opinion.

If it is deemed to be a mis-sale, then having the old scheme re-instated can be an option for the liability insurance of the IFA. Or, they may have to make up the difference within the CM plan.

Clerical Medical are not a bad provider and the performance of the fund you are in is probably due to the sector you are invested in rather than Clerical Medical.

At this time, you can't use the pension fund for residential property purchase. That is likely to be possible from April 2006 but we dont know what strings will be attached yet. Plus, if the pension is deemed a mis-sale, it is unlikley you will be able to move it from CM.