Protected Rights

dunstonh

So, at this stage you know Selestia will offer it. You need to look at the Scot Eq and Std life contracts to see if they will.

Will the charges from the provider still be economic in view of the small fund.

Selestia would be:
£78.08 p.a. for being a member of Selestia (thats per person not per investment)
£50.00 p.a. for taking income drawdown
initial charge is 5.2% (mostly as a few are higher) but with 4% rebated you are looking at 1.2%
annual management charges are same as they would be in unit trust form (same as HL). However, the trail commission can be rebated with Selestia and you got 0.3% rebated then that would wipe out the 1.2% intial charge in 4 years and after that the fund charges would be lower than HL.

EdInvestor

SD

Would it work for you temporarily if the fund was invested in cash at a reasonable interest rate?

If so you might like to have a word with https://www.epml.co.uk.

They are a Sipp provider which will take portected rights money, but only in a cash fund (which is held at the Bank of Scotland ).

You may find it is the same problem as elsewhere, ie they will only take you if you transfer in your main SIPP as well.

But your PR fund is quite large, so you never know. If you go this route you can at least draw a GAD income from the fund (better than bank interest) and reinvest any you don't need. And you'd be in a position to switch immediately into their proper Sipp (with Selftrade and cheap) and invest the money when the rules change.

Given your travel plans it may be of some use to set that switch up before departure - it's no fun chasing pension transfers from foreign parts.

EdInvestor

Just to confirm

dunstonh wrote:

Selestia would be:
£78.08 p.a. for being a member of Selestia (thats per person not per investment)£50.00 p.a. for taking income drawdown

So annual fee of 128.08 (equiv to 0.5% for 25k, 0.25% for 50k)

Fund charges are 5.2% (mostly as a few are higher) but with 4% rebated you are looking at 1.2%

And initial charge of 1.2% (HL fee =300 quid)

annual management charges are same as they would be in unit trust form (same as HL). However, the trail commission can be rebated with Selestia and you got 0.3% rebated then that would wipe out the 1.2% intial charge in 4 years and after that the fund charges would be lower than HL.

And fund AMC of 1.2%. Is that right?

Can the member access the fund info online at Selestia and do switches ? Or is there a requirement for an ongoing IFA relationship?What fee is payable to the IFA for this ongoing relationship?Any fees for switching?

What funds are available with Selestia? Do they make charges for drawdown related admin (income payments, fund reviews, paying tax free cash/death benefits, transfers out, buying annuities/ASPs etc?)Or is this all included in the annual fee?

Who exactly does the administration for the drawdown?

Are transfers out allowed?

moneyandmountains

EdInvestor wrote:

Can the member access the fund info online at Selestia and do switches ?

It has been mentioned elsewhere that the Skandia and Selestia platforms are merging, so changes are afoot. There is the suggestion that online client servicing may be provided in the future.

dunstonh

And fund AMC of 1.2%. Is that right?

No. The funds on the contract are not pension funds. They are unit trust funds. So, whatever the annual charge is on the unit trust, that is what you pay. The annual charge includes upto 0.5% trail commission to the adviser so if you get some of that rebated then you make a saving there.

Can the member access the fund info online at Selestia and do switches ?

Selestia currently do not offer direct online access. It is coming when Selestia and Skandia merge which is expected to take place July this year. Anyone who has seen the Skandia U-Scan reports will tell you how detailed and good they are and that report will be available on the Selestia platform.

Or is there a requirement for an ongoing IFA relationship?

It doesnt do any harm.

What fee is payable to the IFA for this ongoing relationship?

Nothing I would expect as the trail commission retained covers that.

Any fees for switching?

Selestia make no charges on switching. They also offer free auto-rebalancing.

What funds are available with Selestia?

Its a fund supermarket. You may have heard of fund supermarkets before!!! They currently have over 830 unit trust/oeic funds and that grows about 5-10 a month.

Do they make charges for drawdown related admin (income payments, fund reviews, paying tax free cash/death benefits, transfers out, buying annuities/ASPs etc?)Or is this all included in the annual fee?

They dont do any reviews. That is your job on execution only. The fees mentioned higher up are the only fees. No charge on death or transfer out and they dont offer annuities and why should they?

Who exactly does the administration for the drawdown?

You do. Thats why its called execution only. Unless you pay for an IFA to do it.

Are transfers out allowed?

Yes.

I know you dont want to like the contract Ed because its better than your beloved alternatives and you didnt find it first However, it is a damned good contract.

EdInvestor

I know you dont want to like the contract Ed because its better than your beloved alternatives and you didnt find it first However, it is a damned good contract.

Not at all. But you'll have to forgive us E/O types for being just a touch cynical about the value for money aspect of anything produced by a lifeco (I note Selestia is owned by Old Mutual).Also, of course what's wanted is a plan in which people can buy shares and investment trusts, not just unit trusts, so all these ones are second best.,

However....
-

They dont do any reviews. That is your job on execution only.

How does the income get determined in a PR insured drawdown ? Is it according to the pre Aday GAD tables? Is it not adjusted periodically according to your age/fund value?Does your fund not have to checked by an actuary every now and again?

And just to confirm again we've got the charges right:

*nnual flat rate fees of 128 quid
*Initial setup charge of 1.2% ( can be rebated over 4 years)
*Annual charges depending on what the fund charge is, typically 1.5%

Is that it?

dunstonh

How does the income get determined in a PR insured drawdown ? Is it according to the pre Aday GAD tables? Is it not adjusted periodically according to your age/fund value?Does your fund not have to checked by an actuary every now and again?

Its your job or that of the IFA you use to do it.

Annual flat rate fees of 128 quid
Initial setup charge of 1.2% ( can be rebated over 4 years)
Annual charges depending on what the fund charge is, typically 1.5%
Is that it?

these two bits you havent got right.

Initial charge is 1.2% - that cannot be avoided.
annual managment charge is the unit trust amc. Trail commission can be rebated against that (just like HL do with their ISAs).

The annual "membership" charge applies to everything. So, if you have ISAs, unit trusts, offshore bond and/or pension with them, you pay it just once as it is based on the member not what they hold.

This is a fund supermarket pension in the same way as we have fund supermarket ISAs/Unit Trusts. Selestia are one of the big 4 (cofunds, fidelity, skandia and selestia).

EdInvestor

dunstonh wrote:

Its your job or that of the IFA you use to do it.

Sorry to go on about this but are there no restrictions on what you can take out? if so what is the basis of them?

The charges are not too bad, I agree.


One lifeco's view on the rules

Widows seems to think differently.

This area is in a serious mess IMHO, even by pension standards..

lestamunda

EdInvestor wrote:

But will they take small funds?

Scot Eq will accept minimum £50K, but have accepted £25K in the past!!!

alanji

Excellent thread, which I have found from a link on the Fool SIPP Board - many thanks to all.

Can anyone confirm for me that under current rules a pr scheme in drawdown
cannot be transferred to another drawdown scheme. Is this rule due to be changed in the Pensions Bill and will it be retrospective (ie apply to schemes already in drawdown and enable me to transfer to a SIPP if it becomes possible).