Looking for a New Pension

harrinp1

I'm looking to start a new pension. I've spent a while looking around the web for information and think I will probably go down the Stakeholder/PPP route using cavendish.

I did look into the H&L Sipp but think this is probably not what I require, I'm just looking for Funds rather than individual shares, so if I can find a PPP with a good selection of Funds and low charges then this will probably suffice.

Looking at Cavendish's web site I'm trying to work out the differences as most providers seem to offer near identical SH/PPP, and the AMC seems to be the same. I understand SH have limits on charges but if the PPP charges are the same/lower are there and other pro/cons of PPP/SH I need to take into account.

Also what should I look for when choosing between these providers, I don't want to go for the cheapest if its not the best option.

I'm 35 and looking to start things off with 300-400 a month in contributions and am not too averse to going medium risk at this stage. As I am self employed it would be useful to be able to start/stop payments as required.

Thanks in advance.

dunstonh

stakeholders are a the novice investor option. Cheap, cheerful and likely to underperform a decent portfolio spread in a personal pension over the long term. Many stakeholders dont have the fund range required to have a portfolio spread, let alone a decent one.

personal pensions can range from cheaper to more expensive. Even for the same funds. For example, Norwich Union's personal pension can be cheaper than their stakeholder even if you use identical internal funds. After that though, there can be a lot of difference ranging from the fund supermarket pension with 900 or so funds to smaller fund range running around 100.

A contribution of £300-£400pm needs a decent investment spread attached to it. That has to be your priority. Investment options and style should be top of your list to research.

Once you have that considered, then you can look at charges and features (such as is phased retirement available? income drawdown an option? Waiver of premium quality? fund switching options? etc)

harrinp1

Thanks dunstonh,

So it looks like I need a PPP rather the SH which is what I had thought originally.

Can you please clarify what you mean by Investment Options and Style, is this purely what funds to spread my investment across?

EdInvestor

Most personal pensions now have access to a range of external high performance funds and these are the ones you want.Scottish Widows and Standard Life both have a good selection and lowish charges IIRC, L&G and NU may also be worth a look.

If you want the best quality funds however, you may find that H-L is a bit cheaper. The online functionality is also worth having IMHO - most of the insurance company offerings are really set up for IFAs to manage, not for the DIY punter so it's a pain getting anything done.

dunstonh

If you want the best quality funds however, you may find that H-L is a bit cheaper.

An execution only personal pension would be cheaper than HL's SIPP. Unfortunatly, Ed always compares full advice pensions against the HL's execution only offering. You should compare execution only against execution only.