aviva versus aegon versus other

hilarykl

Advice needed re consolidating pensions. we want to consolidate my husbands pension, 57 year old male, we prefer to move aegon pension into aviva. aegon is more expensive and some goes to the IFA. Aegon has performed worse. we have 26k in aegon and 11 in aviva. I cant find any sites that show me how safe aviva is or whether in fact aegon has been performing better and this would be foolish
all advice gratefully received

xylophone

If you are employing an IFA he should advise you as to your best option?

bigadaj

xylophone wrote: »

If you are employing an IFA he should advise you as to your best option?

It sounds as though the OP wants to ,move pensions and stop paying the IFA, however if diying then the potential savings in costs and fees need to be balanced by the need to do research and educate yourself. As well as remembering that you will need to take responsibility for your decisions, though investment risk always lies with you and would never be taken by an IFA.

Pensions are now largely wrappers, and someone needs to determine the investments that go into them. Costs are an important factor, but for many people the range of investments, montioring r and research toollx can also be important. Also remember that whilst diying can often be cheaper, it can be the case that an ifa can negotiate discounts that mean that they can be less costly, not with the cheapest tracking options but possible with more complex instruments.

dunstonh

aegon is more expensive and some goes to the IFA.

Surely the IFA gets the same irrespective of company used?

Aviva and Aegon are very similar in cost across the major pension contracts. You can find little windows where one will be lower cost than the other but at this time, they are both very close.

Aegon has performed worse.

not possible. Both Aviva and Aegon offer whole of market contracts. So, the same fund in both pensions would perform the same.

I cant find any sites that show me how safe aviva is

Unless you are in With Profits it doesnt matter.

What does the IFA say?
Which Aviva and Aegon contracts are you comparing as both have several available?

hilarykl

Thank you

My IFA originallyw rote to me to say move the aegon, and sent me a graph of its performance, but I am not comfortable with him, I find him pushy
also aegon pushed the cost up so much that we have paid in after tax in almost as much as is in the fund rather than gaining alot
I prefer us to go solo and loose this IFA, as we have the aviva scheme through a work related pension which we kept on after my husband was made redundant at the time

However there are alot of postings where people have found problems with aviva and it hasn't performed as well last year as previously and I cant easily find the info I want

Perhaps this is beacuse I am too inexperienced? I welcome feedback especially if there are web sites to look at or any one who hasdone similar

dunstonh

also aegon pushed the cost up so much that we have paid in after tax in almost as much as is in the fund rather than gaining alot

Contracts dont go up in cost normally after they are taken out.

However there are alot of postings where people have found problems with aviva and it hasn't performed as well last year as previously and I cant easily find the info I want

Ignore those postings. They are irrelevant. Aviva can offer nearly 27,900 funds on its main pension contract. Even its most basic one has around 30 and some of those are doing fine (indeed, many on that contract are index trackers and by default they dont under or over perform)

Perhaps this is beacuse I am too inexperienced?

Possibly as a fair bit of what you are saying is either wrong or out of context. Nothing to be ashamed of. I get a decorator in because I am useless at that. I get people in to service equipment etc. Its all about knowing what you know and dont know.

Since October 2012, IFAs have to benchmark alternative pensions to not only stakeholder but also the employer scheme. So, I would expect any adviser recommending an alternative to employer scheme to say what their recommendation is better and have the justification to support it.

hilarykl

Thansk you very much

aegon is stake holder

the aviva is designer pension taken out after the group pension with norwich union was moved after my husband was made redundant and we carried on paying

neither are with profits

it seems to me that both firms are equally safe and if we dont suffer too many penalties it makes sense to move into one pot to stop paying commission and management fees on both

I am very grateful for peoples thoughts and input

dunstonh

it seems to me that both firms are equally safe and if we dont suffer too many penalties it makes sense to move into one pot to stop paying commission and management fees on both

You dont pay commission. You pay fees. Commission is factored into those fees. You will always pay fees. Fees are virtually always percentage based. So, if both plans had the same percentage fees then the charges would be the same whether you combined them or kept them apart.

Both pensions are also old versions and have been replaced with newer ones. So, another option to consider is whether a new pension altogether is better.

hilarykl

Thank you, do you mean SIPP

jem16

hilarykl wrote: »

Thank you, do you mean SIPP

Not necessarily. A SIPP is generally for an experienced investor who wants the extra features that it provides. A modern Personal Pension could be the answer.

brianrhill

hilarykl wrote: »

Thansk you very much

aegon is stake holder

the aviva is designer pension taken out after the group pension with norwich union was moved after my husband was made redundant and we carried on paying

neither are with profits

it seems to me that both firms are equally safe and if we dont suffer too many penalties it makes sense to move into one pot to stop paying commission and management fees on both

I am very grateful for peoples thoughts and input

Why are you only considering 2 providers? There are dozens of providers available.