pesion actual growth

mugrat_2

got a problem with a so called financial advisor being evasive and not answering question

I need to find out actual growth of pension providers for each year since 2007 as my fund just drops all the time no matter how much I put in, when I transferred to him from standard life he was quoting growth rates of 25% were not unreasonable and stuff like that but all it does is fall and i'm trying to find out if all pension funds have dropped over the last 4 years. He was saying if the market fell he would get out when dropping and go back in when it goes up and stuff like that.

If you could keep replies as simple as possible (treat me like an idiot) i'd be grateful as I operate spanners for a living, don't really understand finance but I do know when a spanner is broken and I think the spanner who is advising me is broken.

Lokolo

Growth for Pension Providers would not be viable, they all have 100s of products so you'd have to look at every individual product out there....

Instead of looking at the providers you need to look at where you are invested, it would be equities - UK, European, Asia, Emerging Market etc.etc. or could be Bonds and other fixed income.

And if you haven't read the news lately, a lot of investments aren't doing greatly because of the economy (just look at Greece).

jem16

mugrat wrote: »

got a problem with a so called financial advisor being evasive and not answering question

FA or IFA?

I need to find out actual growth of pension providers for each year since 2007 as my fund just drops all the time no matter how much I put in,

Pension providers don't grow or fall as they just provide the tax wrapper ( ie pension) for you to fill. It's the actual investment funds within that grow or fall and you haven't told us what that fund or funds are. You will need to provide this before anyone can offer help.

when I transferred to him from standard life he was quoting growth rates of 25% were not unreasonable and stuff like that but all it does is fall and i'm trying to find out if all pension funds have dropped over the last 4 years. He was saying if the market fell he would get out when dropping and go back in when it goes up and stuff like that.

As an average rate, 25% would be very unreasonable but that's not how pension funds work. In some years you will get very good growth, in some years ok growth and in some years you will get a loss. Overall it will average out and the longer you are invested the better as it smoothes out the ups and downs.

The last 4 years have followed that pattern. 2008 saw large losses but 2009 and 2010 saw large gains.

If you could keep replies as simple as possible (treat me like an idiot) i'd be grateful as I operate spanners for a living, don't really understand finance but I do know when a spanner is broken and I think the spanner who is advising me is broken.

Who is your current pension provider and what investment funds are being used?

dunstonh

I need to find out actual growth of pension providers for each year since 2007

There are over 50,000 pension funds. Most people then have a combination of funds (and this doesnt include non-pension funds which many people use for pensions nowadays). So, you have a near infinite number of variations.

when I transferred to him from standard life he was quoting growth rates of 25% were not unreasonable

Whilst you may get the odd year of 25% growth, this will be nowhere near a regular amount. Most experienced investors aim for double digits and consider 10% a good amount.

i'm trying to find out if all pension funds have dropped over the last 4 years.

I doubt there is any pension fund that has dropped each and every year since 2007. There have been a very bad year in there, a very good year, an average year and a nothing year.

Please be aware that FAs have less access to information and cannot cover the same range of funds and investments that an IFA can.

It is hard to say without knowing your investments you have and your risk profile but you would typically expect to see you above 2007 investment levels. Not below.

Aegis

For what it's worth, here's a list of pension funds and how well they've done over the last 5 years:

Performance figures

I don't think it's going to be as much help as you might think though, as you would never have been advised to put all your pension money into a mirror fund of the BlackRock Gold and General fund (the number 1 performer over that 5 year period but a very high risk choice)!

dunstonh

I don't think it's going to be as much help as you might think though, as you would never have been advised to put all your pension money into a mirror fund of the BlackRock Gold and General fund (the number 1 performer over that 5 year period but a very high risk choice)!

And shows the major flaws of the FE risk profile numbering. FTSE100 = 100 on FE risk score. Blackrock Gold & General is considered one of the most risky unit trust funds has a score of just 109 (with AXAs version). Interestingly, the same fund with Winterthur (which is an AXA company) is 113. You have First State greater china with a lower risk score than the FTSE100 which is just crazy.

mugrat_2

yes i see, I think, all pretty tricky stuff
what i don't see is how when you take out a pension plan they can talk about low high and medium growth then not tell you what growth they actually acheived

I quite regulararly get a bit of paper from skandia which is called a switch notice and it lists a number companies like sk baring korea sk jupiter fund sk allianz and that sort of stuff it has 4 lists deposit, details of switched funds, deposit investment after switch, which I don't quite understand too well but I would guess my IFA is acting as a fund manager and playing the stock market on my behalf? and losing on my behalf? see I put in £120 a month into this started in 2007 with a transfer of over 1200 in 4 years I have put in about 6000 it is now valued at 16000 so therefore over this time it has lost 2000 or is that too simple a way of looking at it. he won't discuss what charges have been incurred even though i have asked. surely every time it switches i get charged?

the thing is i have a contracted out pension that has gone from 17000 to 19500 in 3 years without any investment from me at all, and he wants that as well, for some reason i didn't think that was very good advice. That is something called protected rights (don't understand that either.)

jem16

mugrat wrote: »

yes i see, I think, all pretty tricky stuff
what i don't see is how when you take out a pension plan they can talk about low high and medium growth then not tell you what growth they actually acheived

It's all to do with performance not being guaranteed. They can give you projected figures based on past performance but with the caveat that past performance is no guide to the future.

I quite regulararly get a bit of paper from skandia which is called a switch notice and it lists a number companies like sk baring korea sk jupiter fund sk allianz and that sort of stuff it has 4 lists deposit, details of switched funds, deposit investment after switch, which I don't quite understand too well but I would guess my IFA is acting as a fund manager and playing the stock market on my behalf? and losing on my behalf?

So Skandia is the provider. It's not companies that it lists, it's Investment Funds. How many are there?

If your IFA is doing his job, you would expect him to be rebalancing the portfolio of funds yearly.

However I say IFA. You still haven't confirmed if it's an IFA or an FA from a bank.

see I put in £120 a month into this started in 2007 with a transfer of over 1200 in 4 years I have put in about 6000 it is now valued at 16000 so therefore over this time it has lost 2000 or is that too simple a way of looking at it.

I don't understand. You say you have paid in £120pm over 4 years. Assuming that is the net figure, that will be £150pm paid in so £1800pa x 4 = £7200. Plus £1200 transfer which is £8400.

Then you say it's valued at £16,000 which is a profit of £7,600. Where is the £2,000 loss from?

he won't discuss what charges have been incurred even though i have asked. surely every time it switches i get charged?

He should answer your question about charges but it will also be on the illustration that you should have got. Switches are usually free.

That is something called protected rights (don't understand that either.)

Protected Rights are from your contracted out rebates from the state 2nd pension, known as SERPS before.

mugrat_2

is an ifa

I took off my investment from what it is worth now ie worth now 16000 subtract my payments equals what would have happened if i had paid nothing in

sorry £120 is gross (i think) 60 odd from 50 odd from me some form of tax thing and 60 odd from boss sorry can't be very accurate with money not my thing now if your boiler blew up i'd be ok

might have made a mistake with the calcs but 120 was my start in 2007 I am paying more like 145 now

if he uses a performance predictor one year why can't he tell me an actual the next year

mugrat_2

there are a lot of names on the skandia lists

jem16

mugrat wrote: »

is an ifa

I took off my investment from what it is worth now ie worth now 16000 subtract my payments equals what would have happened if i had paid nothing in

sorry £120 is gross (i think) 60 odd from 50 odd from me some form of tax thing and 60 odd from boss sorry can't be very accurate with money not my thing now if your boiler blew up i'd be ok

Ok you said you have paid in £6,000 plus the transfer of £1200 which is £7,200.

Take that off £16,000 and you have £8,800.

I know you say you are not good with figures but you need to explain your reasoning how you get a profit of £8,800 into a £2,000 loss because I'm lost too.

if he uses a performance predictor one year why can't he tell me an actual the next year

Does it really matter if one year you had a loss of 20%, the next year you had a gain of 40%, the next year you had a gain of 2% and the next year you had a gain of 50%.

What really matters is the performance over the 4 years that you have had it. What does your IFA say is the profit/loss from your initial investment to now.

Have you asked him for a current valuation?

there are a lot of names on the skandia lists

Only the current holdings would be needed, not every fund you have held/switched.