Fidelity SIPP experiences

mania112

The point i'm making is that if you think that the fund managers are giving a slice to Fidelity, those charges aren't transparent after all, right?

taking_stock

"The lowest cost SIPP in the UK" - Financial Times SIPP review May 2012.

"Reassuringly low cost

At Fidelity we know that every penny you add to your pension counts towards a more comfortable retirement. We have kept our costs low so you can get off to a great start. Our pension has no set-up fee, no initial charges and no administration charges. Standard annual management charges will apply."

from

https://www.fidelity.co.uk/investor/products-services/sipps/default.page


now there's the info from which people can make up their own minds.

mania112

†Please remember that some funds also have what's known as a 'bid-offer' spread, so there may be additional charges to pay

^^ yes, Fidelity marketing material is the best place to make an unbiased decision. (and you missed the small print, by the way).

I'm not here to argue, or to say you're wrong - perhaps Fidelity ARE the cheapest way to save for retirement.

Point I am making (again) is that Product Providers do nothing for free.

So your funds @ 1.7% may have a 'hidden' cost to Fidelity of 0.7% and you may find that same fund elsewhere at 1% with a product cost of 0.25%.

I'm not too bothered to prove you right or wrong, just general thoughts, nothing is free.

EDIT: And bid/offer spread is normally 5% in my experience (meaning £100 in, is immediately only worth £95 if you want it back out again).

taking_stock

sigh

" OEICs have a single share price, the mid-market price... OEICs have no bid-offer spread"

http://www.trustnet.com/Education/UT.aspx?ms=3

dunstonh

no buy or switch fees, no annual fee and no trail commission. only fee is the the standard management fees of the underlying investment OEICs.

the standard retail charge includes the trail commissions.

jamesd

taking_stock wrote: »

presumably out of the commission on the funds people buy....

Right. About 0.75% for a typical fund with a 1.5% charge, they say, and no rebate unlike say Hargreaves Lansdown, just full retail fee including advice commission amount, but without providing and advice. They take 0.75% a year for the top ten funds, taken by the fund manager then paid by the fund manager to Fidelity.

Also apparently no clean funds, where the total fund annual charge is 0.75% or so instead of 1.5%, but where there's a fee paid to the platform independently. Which can be more or less expensive depending on the amount invested.

taking_stock wrote: »

with this information, can we have a sensible discussion as to whether other providers are cheaper (given fidelity's investment constraints etc)?

Of course. Which funds do you expect to be using? What sort of total amount across all funds? Can't really compare charges without knowing what the charges are for and the total amount affects which platforms are cheapest, because the cheaper ones may have an annual charge independent of the funds.

supremetwo

https://www.fidelity.co.uk/investor/pensions/fidelity-sipp/options-at-retirement.page

* We hope to have drawdown available in this product later this year.

And drawdown fees can be large.

http://www2.skandia.co.uk/Images/Content%20modules/Working%20with%20Skandia/Table2%20Sipp%20Fees%20can%20be%20numerous.pdf

jet11x

I've recently transferred to Fidelity from Hargreaves Lansdown as fees for my SIPP are a lot lower with Fidelity. However, it's clearly become apparent that the platform is not very good. The main problem is not being able to see that state of order once you've given them and it seems orders can block each other. Added to that you can't put specific orders into the site, you can only rebalance your portfolio. I've found even when I talk to people at Fidelity they are confused the status of orders and hence the amount of cash currently available for investment. I'll stick with them for now as I hope I can adjust to their capabilities and in the hope they'll improve.

greenglide

Added to that you can't put specific orders into the site, you can only rebalance your portfolio.

You mean sell £100 of X, sell £55 of Y and use the proceeds to purchase the equivalent amount of Z in one transaction?

My impression is that you can, I am sure I have.

stevec2004

No, if you want to buy £xxxx worth of funds online, it isn't possible without rebalancing the ENTIRE portfolio, involves selling some funds in your portfolio you don't rally want to sell and this is done first. This delays the purchase since the selling of funds is done first, supposed to be done simultaneously but in practice causes a 2 day delay. Regular monthly contribution purchases also cause delays in online fund purchase since they only deal with one transaction at a time (first purchase must be settled/completed before they will look at the second transaction). So, my advice would be avoid online switches at all costs!!! Telephone orders/switches are supposed to be better.