Can a Stakeholder Pension become a SIPP

cactusworldnews

Can a Stakeholder Pension be transferred into a SIPP with another provider.

I have a Stakeholder Pension for my taken out about 12 years ago.
It is with Legal & General and I have just received the Annual Statement with details of the monthly management charges etc.

My question is can I switch this Stakeholder Pension into a SIPP with another provider, where I can take more control of investments (with lower charges) or does it always have to remain under the 'Stakeholder Pension' wrapper, and therefore only transfer to another provider who also deal with this type of product.

I hope this question makes sense

thanks

CWN

dunstonh

Can a Stakeholder Pension be transferred into a SIPP with another provider.

yes

where I can take more control of investments (with lower charges)

Although be aware that SIPPs generically tend to have higher charges. Personal pensions tend to have the least charges. Stakeholders are now largely a niche product for small values.

gadgetmind

I did exactly this with my wife's stakeholder but only because, 1) I was prepared to do the work to understand asset allocation, 2) I was also prepared to put in even more work to get the fees lower than she was paying in the stakeholder.

If you don't put in the work, you could easily have a portfolio that performs worse and has higher fees.

cactusworldnews

dunstonh and gadgetmind, thanks for your replies.

I left out the fact that it was for my son, so the timespan is a long one.

Can either of you (if allowed) point me in the direction of SIPP providers that may have lower fees, or sites where I may look to do some further research.

Thrugelmir

Take a look at X-O run by Jarvis Securities.

gadgetmind

cactusworldnews wrote: »

sites where I may look to do some further research.

Monevator.com and perhaps also read "Smarter Investing" by Tim Hale.

Both have a strong bias towards low fee passive investing. Some people think they can get better results by using their ninja skills to identify active managers who will beat their benchmark. Do some reading and decide for yourself.

dunstonh

Can either of you (if allowed) point me in the direction of SIPP providers that may have lower fees, or sites where I may look to do some further research.

Not allowed. Plus, I wouldnt be able to either as chances are a SIPP wouldn't be the best option (it could be but statistically unlikely). Plus, you havent said what assets you intend to you inside the pension.

bigadaj

gadgetmind wrote: »

Monevator.com and perhaps also read "Smarter Investing" by Tim Hale.

Both have a strong bias towards low fee passive investing. Some people think they can get better results by using their ninja skills to identify active managers who will beat their benchmark. Do some reading and decide for yourself.

I agree gadget, but then none of us invest in an absolutely passive manner, so you're effectively saying the average informed private investor will do no worse than the yacht owning fund manager, which may well be true.

gadgetmind

I don't think I'm saying that at all because I'm not quite sure what you mean!

bigadaj

gadgetmind wrote: »

I don't think I'm saying that at all because I'm not quite sure what you mean!

Fair enough, I'm trying to say that whatever you do isn't totally passive because you determine asset allocation, when and how much you rebalance by, whether you vary either of those over time, and whether you take punts on apparently under valued assets etc

That level of decision making and determination means that we are all taking an active part in our investments.

gadgetmind

bigadaj wrote: »

I'm trying to say that whatever you do isn't totally passive because you determine asset allocation

Ah OK.

Yes, I put work into asset allocation, mainly by looking at what's heavily oversold (or overbought) due to mad sentiment. However, other than these mild tilts, I don't indulge in market timing or stock picking, and don't stray too far from my target allocation.

At the opposite end of the spectrum are those who know nothing about asset allocation, leap from whatever (previously) trendy active fund that had done well but has gone off the boil to whichever new star who's done well recently.

Rinse and repeat.