Are Standard Life Funds any good or is it worth me switching?

mania112

ozzage wrote: »

I moved my IFA-advised Standard Life personal pension into a HL SIPP recently.

The performance of my pension hadn't been too bad, but I moved it for the following reasons:

1. I found comparing the performance, both overall and per-fund with my other investments very difficult.

2. I found the fee structure more opaque, and despite sending them specific questions about fees and commissions I was never very satisfied with the answers.

3. I found finding my exact SL funds on eg Morningstar, Trustnet quite tricky, which gave me little confidence in knowing that they were good or not as I was never sure if I was looking at the right thing.

4. I often wanted historical fund prices and this was a nightmare to get. They have a section for it on their website but my funds weren't there.

5. I couldn't look at my payment history and simply see how many units I'd bought for each fund at what price.

6. I couldn't do any of the nice analysis that HL provides (x-ray tool, compare performance charts with other funds, indices etc) so I never felt I really understood what my funds were, or how they were doing.

7. I couldn't easily include my pension in a "cross-account" analysis as I can do now (since my ISAs and SIPP are both with HL)

So I took the opportunity to pick my own funds and transferred into Hargreaves Lansdown and am glad I did. Although I wasn't unhappy with the performance before, I now feel much more in control of the situation.

My response to all of the above is: What qualifies you to know you have selected the best [range of] funds? The fact that it's easier to monitor might not actually have any benefit to you. How do you know what to switch into if they perform poorly?

My suggestion for anyone in your position (wanting to closely monitor performance) would be to use an IFA for ongoing servicing, management and advice, and when you want to know something - give them a call.

A professional will always know what moves to make and when, the fact you can now see 'historical performance' has very little benefit to you.

ozzage

mania112 wrote: »

My response to all of the above is: What qualifies you to know you have selected the best [range of] funds? The fact that it's easier to monitor might not actually have any benefit to you. How do you know what to switch into if they perform poorly?

My suggestion for anyone in your position (wanting to closely monitor performance) would be to use an IFA for ongoing servicing, management and advice, and when you want to know something - give them a call.

A professional will always know what moves to make and when, the fact you can now see 'historical performance' has very little benefit to you.

Based on that logic, the investment section of MSE may as well not exist

I DIY the rest of my investments already, as well as the SIPP and ISA of my partner and my daughter's JISA, so it was just a matter to starting to do so with my pension as well.

Personally I'm happy with my ability to choose what's best for me. I wasn't ready for that when I started the pension, but I've learned an awful lot in the intervening years and like many on here, I trust myself more than others.

In basic terms, I think that anybody who has reached the point where the things I listed above become a problem, is probably at the stage where DIY is the right option

ozzage

mania112 wrote: »

My suggestion for anyone in your position (wanting to closely monitor performance) would be to use an IFA for ongoing servicing, management and advice, and when you want to know something - give them a call.

Just to add to this... in my view (sorry if this offends) it shows a lack of understanding the current state of affairs for most people under the age of 40.

I'm of the internet generation. I don't want to CALL anybody to find something out! I want to log on whenever I want, if I happen to be awake and curious to see what my portfolio is doing!

The low quality of Standard Life's website was, in the end, largely responsible for me leaving because I couldn't get the information I wanted, when I wanted it. They wouldn't even let me log on when I wanted because they closed it down every night!

That's why firms like HL are doing so well. The industry is largely stuck in the dark ages!

Andydiff

lentrix92 wrote: »

Hi there

I have a very similar pension setup:-

Standard Life Managed Pension Fund
Standard Life International Equity Pension Fund
Pension With Profits Fund
Pension Millennium With Profits Fund
Standard Life Euro Equity Pension Fund
Standard Life FTSE tracker

In total worth c.33k - The fee's on the above are 0.7 after discounts.

I also have a 'frozen' work pension at Friends life for c.50k - being charged 0.72%.

Was looking to merg the 2 into 1 and looking for a deal.
Stan Life said they would do the new merged amount for 0.65%.

I could do a sipp BUT unfort i have limited funds to invest atm (£40 p/m) so it is probably too little for a sipp.

Also the sl 'with pfts' has just paid its bonus but is prob still subject to a release fee

I could merge both into a provider via cavendish for slightly cheaper.....

Any thoughts/ ideas.....?

Hi,
I am 45 and have a Standard
Life pension flex with 95k in the following funds
SL managed pension fund 25%
SL pacific basin equity pension fund 25
SL North American equity pension fund 25
SL uk equity pension fund. 25
They told me that because I have over 50k in the fund I get discounts of .2 so I only get charged .8%
Risky and high volatility I know but I just want growth.
How can you be charged only .7 with 33k?
I suppose the real question is. Am I being ripped off?
I started the pension in 2003 and recently merged some other funds I had into this one abd there is no mvr or transfer penalty. Would I be wise to seek the Vanguard option earlier on in this forum or a lower cost sipp?
Cheers for any advice

Rich1976

ozzage wrote: »

Just to add to this... in my view (sorry if this offends) it shows a lack of understanding the current state of affairs for most people under the age of 40.

I'm of the internet generation. I don't want to CALL anybody to find something out! I want to log on whenever I want, if I happen to be awake and curious to see what my portfolio is doing!

The low quality of Standard Life's website was, in the end, largely responsible for me leaving because I couldn't get the information I wanted, when I wanted it. They wouldn't even let me log on when I wanted because they closed it down every night!

That's why firms like HL are doing so well. The industry is largely stuck in the dark ages!

Absolutely. This is why I like HL because their website allows me to research the funds I am interested in and is easy to monitor performance. If a fund appears to be lagging there are enough other funds to choose from. When I had pensions with L+G, Standard Life etc, like you say it was never very easy to compare one fund with another.

I too am of the internet generation and don't want to pay a Financial advisor to tell me what I can reasonably do myself by reading.

DIY investing isn't for everybody but I like to take a keen interest in all my finances and is something I enjoy doing

Rich1976

mania112 wrote: »

My response to all of the above is: What qualifies you to know you have selected the best [range of] funds? The fact that it's easier to monitor might not actually have any benefit to you. How do you know what to switch into if they perform poorly?

My suggestion for anyone in your position (wanting to closely monitor performance) would be to use an IFA for ongoing servicing, management and advice, and when you want to know something - give them a call.

A professional will always know what moves to make and when, the fact you can now see 'historical performance' has very little benefit to you.

Because I take an interest in investing and in the funds I have picked and closely monitor them. If a fund starts to slip then I make a change and the click of a button. A financial advisor isn't going to be more interested in my money than I am. If I make the wrong choice then yes it is my fault and I have to live with that

mania112

Rich1976 wrote: »

Because I take an interest in investing and in the funds I have picked and closely monitor them. If a fund starts to slip then I make a change and the click of a button. A financial advisor isn't going to be more interested in my money than I am. If I make the wrong choice then yes it is my fault and I have to live with that

Over the course of your lifetime a financial adviser will make more correct decisions than you will.

Your statement here is a good example. If your 'fund starts to slip' how do you know you should switch? How do you know selling a fund at a lower cost is better than holding out for it to grow again. How do you know the new investment is a better choice?

For example, those caught in the 2008 crisis started to switch into cash AFTER the crisis had already hit. Did you? If you switch into cash at this time you've already lost and moved the funds into something that will not grow and repair the damage.

I think you see where I'm coming from? I also see where you're coming from. I'm just of the mind that 'mechanics fix cars', 'painters paint walls' and 'Finance Professionals grow wealth'.

mania112

ozzage wrote: »

Just to add to this... in my view (sorry if this offends) it shows a lack of understanding the current state of affairs for most people under the age of 40.

I'm of the internet generation. I don't want to CALL anybody to find something out! I want to log on whenever I want, if I happen to be awake and curious to see what my portfolio is doing!

The low quality of Standard Life's website was, in the end, largely responsible for me leaving because I couldn't get the information I wanted, when I wanted it. They wouldn't even let me log on when I wanted because they closed it down every night!

That's why firms like HL are doing so well. The industry is largely stuck in the dark ages!

I agree with the dark ages, to a degree, but it certainly is changing.

I'm also under 40 (if you thought I wasn't) and I started my working life as an IT-geek.

HL are popular because of marketing. Nothing else. There are better, cheaper, products out there. There are many online products on offer.

HL take their fees from the investments. You don't see it. But you have to wonder what affect that has on their performance.

lentrix92

Andydiff wrote: »

Hi,
I am 45 and have a Standard
Life pension flex with 95k in the following funds
SL managed pension fund 25%
SL pacific basin equity pension fund 25
SL North American equity pension fund 25
SL uk equity pension fund. 25
They told me that because I have over 50k in the fund I get discounts of .2 so I only get charged .8%
Risky and high volatility I know but I just want growth.
How can you be charged only .7 with 33k?
I suppose the real question is. Am I being ripped off?
I started the pension in 2003 and recently merged some other funds I had into this one abd there is no mvr or transfer penalty. Would I be wise to seek the Vanguard option earlier on in this forum or a lower cost sipp?
Cheers for any advice

Hi AndyDiff - no idea tbh - i have had the pension since 2000 so might be a longer term discount ????

Im going to have a look at the sipp option .....if not might switch to another provider via an online broker like Cavendish online. The providers on there charge about. 0.5 - 0.6%

Andydiff

lentrix92 wrote: »

Hi AndyDiff - no idea tbh - i have had the pension since 2000 so might be a longer term discount ????

I'm going to have a look at the sipp option .....if not might switch to another provider via an online broker like Cavendish online. The providers on there charge about. 0.5 - 0.6%

Thanks for comeback Lentrix.
I think I'll just leave leave it where it is for a while and monitor the growth as it seems to be going up nicely at the moment.
I have heard some horror stories about peeps going into their own Sipp and not knowing what they're doing and I think I am in that category unfortunately. My ex financial adviser put me into SL with a broad spread back in 2003 and all I have done since then is change some of my funds into equity from bonds as I read bad things about bonds just recently.