Pension Transfer Advice

HalfCenturian

Hi,

First off, sorry for the missing link, but as a new user to the forum I can't paste them. So, by filling in a '-' in the blanks below...

pension transfer advice.com

Does anyone have any info about this site. They seem to offer advice for pension transfers for a fixed fee of £1750 and leave you with the commission. Compared to the charges my IFA was going to make this seems a good deal, but are they any good?

jamesd

Why do you want to pay anything to transfer a pension?

Is it a hard case like a transfer of a final salary or other defined benefit pension?

Routine transfers to a personal pension from another personal pension shouldn't cost anything. They can be done by request from you to the receiving plan and confirming that to the originating plan.

An IFA or discount broker IFA may be useful to get some products at reduced costs, like the Skandia product.

CannySaver_2

jamesd wrote: »

Why do you want to pay anything to transfer a pension?

Routine transfers to a personal pension from another personal pension shouldn't cost anything. They can be done by request from you to the receiving plan and confirming that to the originating plan.

Assuming you know what you are doing and don't want to take advice from an IFA which will obciously carry a cost.

For some people the DIY route is right, perhaps they don't like to delegate, are happy to be DIY investors as they are knowlegeable enough to do it or have sufficient time to do the necessary research, perhaps they want to reduce fees or simply do not trust IFAs.

However, we must also recognise that IFAs have their place, I know plenty of people who don't have the necessary knowledge or skill to make their own investment decisions and do not have the time or inclination to learn; for these people using an IFA can be an excellent option.

As a general point and certainly not aimed at jamesd we must respect both groups, neither the IFA or DIY route is wrong per se, it all depends on an individuals circumstances and needs.

The Canny Saver

CannySaver_2

HalfCenturian wrote: »

Hi,

First off, sorry for the missing link, but as a new user to the forum I can't paste them. So, by filling in a '-' in the blanks below...

pension transfer advice.com

Does anyone have any info about this site. They seem to offer advice for pension transfers for a fixed fee of £1750 and leave you with the commission. Compared to the charges my IFA was going to make this seems a good deal, but are they any good?

A few points:

1. They need a decent web designer, that site is awful! (although I fully recognise that's beside the point )

2. £1,750 fixed fee for a pension transfer and the commission rebated to the plan? Could be too large a fee, could be too small, it all depends on the pension transfer size and the requirements of the particular client. Personally I would always work with an IFA who charges an hourly rate and then caps it so I know where I stand, with the cap being worked out after I give him or her the scope of the work. However on the plus side they are charging fees which I like

3. Giving commission back smacks of old style advice, some pension providers still pay commission, however many e.g. Skandia (others do the same i just can't think of any this early) simply offer 100% allocation on their funds, commission is not relevent. As an aside commission on a pension can only ever be rebated back to the plan, never to the client.

Personally if you want a pensiuon review, I'd find a fee based IFA through friends or family, in indeed www.unbiased.co.uk and go from there.

The Canny Saver

dunstonh

They seem to offer advice for pension transfers for a fixed fee of £1750 and leave you with the commission.

Not correct. It is against HMRC rules to refund commission to you directly. Nil commission means that the product terms are improved due to commission not being taken (i.e. lower charges).

Compared to the charges my IFA was going to make this seems a good deal, but are they any good?

Personally, for fee basis and assuming a personal pension/stakeholder pension transfer, I think it is on the high side. I would typically price the range as £500-£2000. So, a fixed fee of £1750 is near the higher end.

If its a defined benefit transfer, then it is more expensive (but then most of those you would expect to be told dont transfer)

Most modern personal pensions are not actually commission based but fee based. i.e. if you agree a fee of £1000 then £1000 is deducted from the pension. Not the old style commission ones that increase the annual charge and take it back over 7-15 years (and then keep the surplus)

If you want a review then use a local IFA and do it on fee basis unless your pension is small (commission is still best on small cases).