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Pension switching initial charges

I have a pension fund with Standard Life which was started by my ex employer (now no longer trading).

I have recently been talking to an IFA at the Welbeck Group about transferring the pot to a new personal plan of which I have more control over. I have discovered the proposal he is suggesting contains an initial transfer fee of 8.5%. This seems very high to me - is this within the usual range?

Thanks
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Comments

  • mania112
    mania112 Posts: 1,981 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    No, that's ridiculously high.

    anywhere between 0% - 5% is about acceptable, but you'd normally have no trouble finding a quality IFA who would do it for 3%
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 121,289 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    8.5% is a massive fee. Typically anything upto 5% is the norm nowadays. Subject to the amount involved, it could be because it is low value?
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • zagfles
    zagfles Posts: 21,686 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Chutzpah Haggler
    If you want control over it, you could transfer it to a SIPP at 0% initial charge.
  • dunstonh wrote: »
    8.5% is a massive fee. Typically anything upto 5% is the norm nowadays. Subject to the amount involved, it could be because it is low value?

    Circa £30k, so the fee is almost £3k. Ridiculous?
  • Aegis
    Aegis Posts: 5,695 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    jotpilot wrote: »
    Circa £30k, so the fee is almost £3k. Ridiculous?
    Unbelievably so...
    I am a Chartered Financial Planner
    Anything I say on the forum is for discussion purposes only and should not be construed as personal financial advice. It is vitally important to do your own research before acting on information gathered from any users on this forum.
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 121,289 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    a fee of that size on that amount is very very high. In fact it is greedy as hell. I wonder if the adviser is in his last months...
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • GhIFA
    GhIFA Posts: 619 Forumite
    Far too high!
    I am an IFA. Any comments made on this forum are provided for information only and should not be construed as advice. Should you need advice on a specific area then please consult a local IFA.
  • mania112
    mania112 Posts: 1,981 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    edited 17 November 2012 at 12:28AM
    In the New Year a set of 'revised' rules and regs are going to be put in place which are designed to stop clients being over-charged, as in this case.

    In reality however, nothing will change. The general public just need to make themselves aware how much they should be paying and realise when they're being over-charged.

    Often the fees are taken from the pension pot, and for some reason people seem to lose sense of the value of money when it's not directly coming out of their bank account. It's still your money and paying 8.5% on £30k is a huge sum.
  • Thanks for the comments.

    He is trying to justify it by saying the fee by saying "the high initial charge pays for all the advice now and for the next 30 years."

    Thoughts?
  • zagfles
    zagfles Posts: 21,686 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Chutzpah Haggler
    edited 17 November 2012 at 10:46AM
    jotpilot wrote: »
    Thanks for the comments.

    He is trying to justify it by saying the fee by saying "the high initial charge pays for all the advice now and for the next 30 years."

    Thoughts?
    Why would you want to pay up front for 30 year's worth of advice? What if this IFA is rubbish and you want to switch to a different one? What if they stop trading? Would you pay up front for 30 year's worth of any other service which you haven't yet had any experience of?

    Shop around, call a few IFAs for quotes, if you need advice. Or consider whether you really need to switch at all?
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