Recommended SIPP Pension

AMO

Hi there,

I want to look into getting a SIPP pension so I can manage funds online and take a personal interest in the SIPP.

Whilst I can find general information on SIPPs, there are some I cannot find.

These are:

1) How do I know what level of fund choice I have in particular SIPPs? For example, can I just choose particular funds or can I say I want to invest in Apple or Facebook shares?

2) Financial advisors appear to be wary of SIPPs as they say that the charges are higher than a normal pension so it's difficult to know whether you are going to benefit.

3) How do I find out which SIPPs offer really good customer service so you have good visibility of transaction history and how much you are making/losing after taking into consideration the net effect of charges from the pension.

Thanks.

xylophone

http://www.sharesmagazine.co.uk/articles/take-control-of-your-retirement-with-a-sipp#.UafE72QadS4
http://www.hl.co.uk/pensions/sipp
http://www.libertypensions.com/blog/best-sipp-providers
http://www.which.co.uk/money/retirement/reviews-ns/self-invested-personal-pensions-sipps/
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-1712426/How-cheapest-low-cost-Sipp.html

Some reading for a start - then it's down to personal research?

dunstonh

2) Financial advisors appear to be wary of SIPPs as they say that the charges are higher than a normal pension so it's difficult to know whether you are going to benefit.

Generically that is the case. However, there are some exceptions to the rule. The problem with advised cases is that the typical UK consumer is low knowledge and low risk in nature. So, SIPPs are generally not suitable for them. Advisers are required to benchmark to rule RU64 (which effectively means you have to compare charges against stakeholder and say why you think the recommendation is better). For many people, you just cannot justify a SIPP over a personal pension (although its easy to rule out a stakeholder nowadays).

1) How do I know what level of fund choice I have in particular SIPPs? For example, can I just choose particular funds or can I say I want to invest in Apple or Facebook shares?

Research is the only way. However, most SIPPs will have a near whole of market approach. However, some will be priced with certain investment universes in mind (e.g. funds as a priority or shares etc).

3) How do I find out which SIPPs offer really good customer service so you have good visibility of transaction history and how much you are making/losing after taking into consideration the net effect of charges from the pension.

Research again.

AMO

Seems like for me it's SippDeal or Hargreaves Lansdown.

Anyone have any particular preference for either?

Thanks

SeniorSam

I moved my SIPP pension to Hargraeves Lansdowne and manage my own funds which are growing well. After lengthy research, I have selected three Invesco Perpetual funds, which have performed very well indeed, Fairly low risk, which is what I like, but with growth in excess of 6% and minimal costs, I am verty pleased. I have not sought advice as that costs more and I am confident in my selection of investments. Your age may have some bearing on the funds you should invest in, but chat with HL, they are very good

Sam

bowlhead99

AMO wrote: »

Seems like for me it's SippDeal or Hargreaves Lansdown.

Anyone have any particular preference for either?

I use Sippdeal (transferred in a lump sum about 9 months ago). The transfer process was smooth and customer service since then has been fine. I hold a selection of main market and AIM shares together with investment trusts, one or two etfs, and funds.

Compared to H-L:

Sharetrading transaction cost is a little cheaper at Sippdeal (9.99 a time compared to 11.95, and a discounted fee for going on a monthly regular investment plan which covers a range of shares and ITs and ETFs but not all of them). The downside is you also pay that same transaction fee (full or discounted) for buying funds, which HL allows you to deal for free. However, the positive for Sippdeal is that once bought, you can hold the shares or ITs or ETFs for free, while HL would charge you 0.5% p.a. It's capped, but basically at £4k or more of shares, HL would be charging you £200 a year while Sippdeal charge nothing. So that saving buys you a lot of transactions.

Also, there are some very low fee funds (e.g. popular trackers from Vanguard which some here like) which attract a platform fee on both platforms. HL would charge £1-£2 per fund per month for them, while at Sippdeal they charge a flat annual charge no matter how many qualifying funds you hold. If you don't hold any of these particular funds or structured products, no charges from Sippdeal but I do have two or three and so I pay the £12.50 a quarter.

While it remains to be seen what the two platforms' pricing will be next year or beyond, I think Sippdeal is competitive at the moment - it works for my holdings, and I have been happy with the service so wouldn't switch out if the price became marginally more expensive. They have a mobile phone app if that sort of thing is of interest - maybe not so much with a long term investment like a pension, but it has enabled me to place some trades during working hours which I would otherwise have had to do by phonecall.

I did much less comparison of the in-retirement costs (eg drawdown) when looking around as I'm nowhere near that and so would just switch to the most competitive platform nearer the time at whatever the price is - can't be known this far out for any of the providers.

I generally know what I'm doing and will use something like Trustnet to research funds and ETFs rather than needing anything specific built in to my sipp provider's site. Sippdeal basically has Morningstar research tools built in, HL's is proprietary I think. If you want the fluffy stuff then HL has a good reputation for an easy to use website and good phone service.