Aviva - over 2 years my pension fund (100% in Deposit S2) loses £4,000 + inflation.

Earthling42

jem16 - yes from 2000 until 2009 poss 2010.

jem16

Earthling42 wrote: »

jem16 - yes from 2000 until 2009 poss 2010.

If Aviva charged you £3k for a fund switch, you would have been cheaper seeing an IFA.

I don't have a pension with Aviva but do have an Investment Bond with them. Fund switches are free so struggling to see how it cost £3k.

Earthling42

me2 .... thats the problem. I think the charges were to do with selling units / shares .... I will have to plead ignorance here. As naive as this might sound, i've tried to do business with what I assume are trustworthy companies so that I don't have to research & study things that are of limited interest to me. Finance / money are top of the list of things that I'm good at avoiding - technology is my arena.

jem16

Earthling42 wrote: »

Finance / money are top of the list of things that I'm good at avoiding - technology is my arena.

Odd. I usually find that someone who is interested in technology is usually interested in money as they are both very logical.

However main thing I've learned is that if you don't understand something, then get someone who does. Otherwise it could cost you a lot more than you save.

dunstonh

A sterling defence of Aviva but to what point

It is not a case of defending Aviva. They do plenty wrong at times. it is a case of looking at what you have said and what you have. They have done nothing wrong in your case.

I would be more than happy with a deposit account as opposed to some financially savvy way of losing money via the money markets - it's hardly a competent performance is it.

Problem is that you bought a money market fund. Not a deposit account.

you're in the financial sector & you may well be fed up with all the criticism but you are living off the commissions & bonuses generated from people like me putting their trust in organisations like aviva & occasionally in supposed qualified advisers.

I work on agreed remuneration basis. People put trust in me to give them advice. I have to do due diligence on what I recommend. That is why I am paid. If you dont use an adviser and DIY then you do your own research and make your own decisions. So, to blame Aviva for a decision you made after doing your own research isn't fair on Aviva.

I bet we would see better results from these money making machines (mostly for themselves) if their fees / commissions were based on the benefit they provided to their poor customers (or are we 'clients' in this modern age).

That would be a bad idea. Positive periods typically outweigh the negatives. So, you would end up paying more. Plus, it ignores the fact that they cannot invest outside of their remit. A fund that states it is going to invest in a certain way had to do so even if they know that is the worst place to be.

I'm irritated that aviva are making considerably more out of my pension pot than I am

They specify their charges and are the same irrespective of the return.

aviva did advise me of options via a telephone conversation and strongly recommended the move from equities to cash.

Aviva typically do not give advice. They give information. Generically, it is sensible to reduce risk as you get closer to retirement. On the S2 range, this is their lowest risk fund but it is not risk free and is not what you think it is.

I am not sure why you would have been charged on a fund switch though.

bigfreddiel

Earthling42 wrote: »

As for IFA's, my experience of them is not good either - yet more people making a wage out of the hard earned cash of people that actual do something useful for a living.

this seems to be a common view of ifas - a recent survey has shown 80% of people who took an ifas advice wish they hadn't

Aegis

What survey is that?

JoeCrystal

bigfreddiel wrote: »

this seems to be a common view of ifas - a recent survey has shown 80% of people who took an ifas advice wish they hadn't

I am pleased to say that I am one of two who took an IFA's advice wish they did in order to open personal pension scheme. I am very interested in your statistics so I wonder where did you find that.

Cheers

Joe

bigfreddiel

Earthling42 wrote: »

Hello all,
....... my pension pot (approx £100K) invested in what they call their safest on-deposit fund has lost £ 4,000 + inflation in the 1st year move from equity funds (£3k were their charges - not sure where the other £1k went). This year they have managed to increase my £100k fund by £285 - a nett increase of 0.28%. Their charge for 'managing' the fund is 1% - so they benefit by at least £1,000.

hmmmmm.... in that same period my similarly sized pot has gone up by £5k (5% actually) and thats because i diy - no fees and a zero cost platform - am i a financial wizard - no i'm not - ifas know loads moe than me evan fas do - how do i know that -well ifas on this forum have told me.

you don't actually need to know very much and with some research, reading of finance books, mags, ft it won't make much sense at first but keep at it and you'll be saving on fees and improving your returns

just make the time to start learning and it will pay off in the long run - where's this time coming from - well not knowing your lifestyle, but you can easily find an hour a day (roughly) - for example less time down the pub, watching tv, football, or use your lunch hour.

let us allknow how you get on.

Lokolo

bigfreddiel wrote: »

hmmmmm.... in that same period my similarly sized pot has gone up by £5k (5% actually) and thats because i diy - no fees and a zero cost platform - am i a financial wizard - no i'm not - ifas know loads moe than me evan fas do - how do i know that -well ifas on this forum have told me.

you don't actually need to know very much and with some research, reading of finance books, mags, ft it won't make much sense at first but keep at it and you'll be saving on fees and improving your returns

just make the time to start learning and it will pay off in the long run - where's this time coming from - well not knowing your lifestyle, but you can easily find an hour a day (roughly) - for example less time down the pub, watching tv, football, or use your lunch hour.

let us allknow how you get on.

Where do you trade for free? I don't believe this exists...