Clerical Medical Balanced fund

jennyMM

ok I need some advice - I have had a Clerical Medical Balanced Fund pension since about 1993 and I am thinking about transfering it to a SIPP but the penalty is about 6k - the quesiton is do I transfer to another CM fund (if so which?) or if not should I just stomach the penalty and get out to another better performing fund. HELP!!

Chris_P_2

I didnt think that fund was poor performaing? What are you cooparing it against?

Do you need a SIPP? (based on your questions i highly doubt it).

Maybe do a fund switch?

jayship

What sort of penalty? Usually Market Value Adjustment apply on certain pension funds to protect those who are still invested but it is very unlikely that this would remain indefinite. However with the market in turmoil you may have to wait a while. The choice is to change the funds or incur the loss. Only you can decide if the % loss will outweigh your preferred option.

Nearly_Old

I built up a pension fund with C&M from 1989 to 2001 and 50% of that was in the Balanced Fund with the rest being in a With Profits fund. When I changed employers in 2001 I left the fund and the investment did quite well. Also C&M's T&Cs for my plan meant that in the last year before the Normal Retirement Date (which was 63 for my plan) there was no MVR. As an unexpected bonus I also got a small additional terminal bonus when I crystallised the fund earlier this year.

As others have advsed I'd look very carefully at what additional charges there could be with a SIPP in addition to taking the £6k MVR. I suppose that it could also depend on how long your plan has to run?