Secretive pension providers

Abeltwo

Can anyone tell me why most pension providers collude in a closed shop whereby they will not give you the plain facts about products to allow you to make an informed decision, rather, they insist you go through an independent financial advisor? I am mainly referring to SIPPs through personal experience.
If my memory serves, I went through a financial advisor 25 years ago, when I took out a mortgage, yes an endowment, which I was advised would provide bounty when all paid up. Quite. I was given a free independent financial advisor 11 years ago by a company I worked for re pension choices. Yes you’ve guessed it, it is one of the worse performing pensions I have.
Economics is not an exact science, if it were, the world’s economy wouldn’t be in parlous state it is in, and all financial advisors would retire after a few years work, rich men and women.
A reasonably well educated bright adult is quite able to make decisions, providing they are given the correct information. There’s the rub, most pension providers simply will not give the information to the end user and treat you as if you are incapable of understanding simple arithmetic, and that a high yield usually incurs high risk and a low yield low risk, mostly.
So come on then, can anyone tell me?

Luscombe_2

What a brilliant and perceptive observation. When will this country ever learn that the 'experts' in our finacial institutions are never held accountable for their mistakes.

Abeltwo

Oh, you mean like the sub prime mortgages, the Spanish "build them high and sell em cheap, oh no, they are not selling", Greek fiscal probity and "rogue" city traders. Surely everyone is allowed to make mistakes, we are all human. Sorry, most of us pay for our mistakes and don't expect other to. The Financial Industry moto is "when we are making money, its our profit, when we lose it, its your debt"

dunstonh

Can anyone tell me why most pension providers collude in a closed shop whereby they will not give you the plain facts about products to allow you to make an informed decision

.

They will provide you factual answers to questions asking facts. If you are asking opinion, advice or just overall comment then they quite rightly do not.

rather, they insist you go through an independent financial advisor?

Would you rather they breached FSA regulations?

I was given a free independent financial advisor 11 years ago by a company I worked for re pension choices. Yes you’ve guessed it, it is one of the worse performing pensions I have.

An IFA working for an employer's group scheme will typically be left with a limited fund selection that caters for the majority of the staff who wont have a clue about investing and will not be employing anyone to review and rebalance and wont do it themselves. In which case on the bog standard managed portfolio funds will normally be recommended. They will never be the best but never the worst. 11 years ago, the selection would have been minimal at best. The performance is almost certainly due to timing.

A reasonably well educated bright adult is quite able to make decisions, providing they are given the correct information

And that information is available fort hose educated enough to understand it.

There’s the rub, most pension providers simply will not give the information to the end user and treat you as if you are incapable of understanding simple arithmetic, and that a high yield usually incurs high risk and a low yield low risk, mostly.

If you think high yield means high risk and low yield means low risk then perhaps the regulations are working by preventing you making such errors. However, as said, the providers do give the factual information.

jem16

Abeltwo wrote: »

that a high yield usually incurs high risk and a low yield low risk, mostly.

You might want to look at that assumption again. Two of my higher rsik funds have yields of 0% and 0.5% whilst one of the lower risk funds has a yield of 6.41%.

Luscombe_2

Quote:
A reasonably well educated bright adult is quite able to make decisions, providing they are given the correct information
And that information is available fort hose educated enough to understand it.

Abeltwo is correct. This information is NOT available for those bright enough to understand it. It's a closed shop designed to provide jobs and funds for the 'boys' (the Financial Advisors). A corrupt system in my opinion.

Abeltwo

to take each of your points in turn....

I am sorry DunsonH, but I can absolutely assure you, that of the pension providers I have contacted (about 5) only Standard Life will deal with me directly. I was not akign for their opinions, just the facts of their products. This is fact, not opinion. They will get my 0.3M

It cant be due to the regulations, or no provider would be prepared to deal with me directly and at least one is, so that cannot be the case.
The IFA wasn’t working for a scheme, he was independent. Ahh timing, so much to answer for, strange that another taken out a mere 9 months later performed so much better then.

Its not available if the companies simply will not talk to you other than through an advisor who wants £6K immediately then a cool 1% for the duration of the pension. Good work if you can get it.

Read what I said, “mostly” and my contact with advisors to date have spoken to me in this simplistic manner.

I stand by what I have said, apart from one, they will not give me any information, let alone an application pack.

May I enquire as to your profession?

Abeltwo

Dear Jem
You might want to look at that assumption again. Two of my higher rsik funds have yields of 0% and 0.5% whilst one of the lower risk funds has a yield of 6.41%
this information ws given to me by..... A financial advisor. Hmmmmm

dunstonh

It cant be due to the regulations, or no provider would be prepared to deal with me directly and at least one is, so that cannot be the case.

They will all deal with you by answering factual questions. Standard Life are one of the few left that have a small salesforce that are still regulated to give advice and opinion (although being tied agents I wouldnt bank on the quality and standard life products are easily beaten on price and quality).

If you are asking questions that fall outside of fact then they will refer you to an IFA.

The IFA wasn’t working for a scheme, he was independent.

Really? You said it was an employer scheme. So, the employer employed the IFA to give you advice on that scheme. The group scheme would have been set up for the benefit of the employer as the priority. An IFA would give the advice but it would be restricted to the scheme and limited in scope.

Ahh timing, so much to answer for, strange that another taken out a mere 9 months later performed so much better then.

Same risk profile? Same asset classes? Same frequency of payments? An employer one would be made up of regular contributions typically and would not have benefited much from the growth years prior to recession. A single premium contribution would. The loss in the short term would hit a regular contribution plan in that period much harder than a single premium.

Its not available if the companies simply will not talk to you other than through an advisor who wants £6K immediately then a cool 1% for the duration of the pension. Good work if you can get it.

Please tell me where I can get this £6000 and 1% from. I am sure other IFAs would be interested as well.

Read what I said, “mostly” and my contact with advisors to date have spoken to me in this simplistic manner.

If you are speaking with advisers then what is the problem? Or are you perhaps mixing up advisers with call centre staff?

You might want to look at that assumption again. Two of my higher rsik funds have yields of 0% and 0.5% whilst one of the lower risk funds has a yield of 6.41%
this information ws given to me by..... A financial advisor. Hmmmmm

Have you considered that your incorrect assumptions are perhaps the reason why you are having problems. Yield is not an indicator of risk. The information may well be given but if you are not interpreting it correctly then you will make mistakes.

What sort of questions have you been asking?
Is this in relation to income drawdown?

tescobabe69

Abeltwo wrote: »

I stand by what I have said, apart from one, they will not give me any information, let alone an application pack.

May I enquire as to your profession?

You must have missed it its in the small print.

taking_stock

Abeltwo wrote: »

Can anyone tell me why most pension providers collude in a closed shop whereby they will not give you the plain facts about products to allow you to make an informed decision, rather, they insist you go through an independent financial advisor? I am mainly referring to SIPPs through personal experience.
If my memory serves, I went through a financial advisor 25 years ago, when I took out a mortgage, yes an endowment, which I was advised would provide bounty when all paid up. Quite. I was given a free independent financial advisor 11 years ago by a company I worked for re pension choices. Yes you’ve guessed it, it is one of the worse performing pensions I have.
Economics is not an exact science, if it were, the world’s economy wouldn’t be in parlous state it is in, and all financial advisors would retire after a few years work, rich men and women.
A reasonably well educated bright adult is quite able to make decisions, providing they are given the correct information. There’s the rub, most pension providers simply will not give the information to the end user and treat you as if you are incapable of understanding simple arithmetic, and that a high yield usually incurs high risk and a low yield low risk, mostly.
So come on then, can anyone tell me?

ok - so briefyl tell us which facts you sought and were denied?