Stakeholder Pensions - Opinions?

pat_sexy

Hi Fellow Pensioners-to-be

Could someone give me an honest unbiased opinion of which Stakeholder pensions they would be most interested in investing in.

I am considering Wesleyan, NFU Mutual, and Legal & General.

NFU Mutual Properties has performed in the top five for returns over the past 10 years (according to a study by Money Management Mag.).

Does anyone have any advice? Is UK property a good investment in the long term?

Thanks

Pat

dunstonh

UK property covers a range of areas which have different risks. So comparing like for like is not always that easy. I would tend to avoid commercial property funds that include a high manufacturing content and focus more on those with retail and office (especially Govt buildings). Some of the best performers recently are the higher risk ones.

Wesleyan and NFU arent providers that i would use and therefore I have no experience of their offering. Legal & General have a lower charge but the service is quite poor with them currently. Plus the fund range on the stakeholder is not as good as that on the L&G personal pension. If you plan to take out waiver of contribution, you need to check the quality of that add-on as its not the same across the board. Also look at fund size discounts and a decent range of funds.

Placing all your money in one area is riskier than spreading it. If it all goes in your favour, then fine. If it doesn't, then not so good. Of course I would consider commercial property as part of a portfolio but not 100%.

plumb1_2

NFU Mutual for carpet bagging;)

dunstonh

Im not a fan of carpet bagging. You can pick many examples where people have gone with weaker insurance companies to get a potential windfall. They got their windfall but are stuck in products that are paying virtually no bonus and massive charges to get out.

To get a windfall, you need to invest in the with profits fund and investing long term in a with profits fund with a company that isnt financially strong is just daft in my opinion.

ernie

I dont think the NFU stakeholder allows membership for carpetbagging purposes anyway . That is my understanding

Ernie