Need advice in transferring my pension?

dunstonh

I'm pretty sure I could convince an independent network to authorise me to represent them (I have various CII qualifications, but have no intention to give advice).

So you would never meet the required criteria that exists. A new member to a network would either need competent adviser status already as well as the post RDR qualification levels. Some operate training schools for those looking at it for a career path but that doesnt come cheap. You would have to obtain competent adviser status but that is the stage you would fail as you would have no intention to give advice. You would not be able to get CF30.

I don't believe I've misunderstood at all. I'm well aware of what independent means (replaced Whole of Market on 01/01/2013). As above, I was simply suggesting to the OP that they should check the personal qualifications and credentials of their adviser, as "CFP" or "Dip CII" mean far more than "IFA".

An IFA has to have Dip CII (or the IFS equivalent) as a minimum. They also require a statement of professional standing to trade. You only get that certificate from the qualification board once you have qualified and meet the CPD requirements. The best thing to do is make sure the person is listed on the FCA register and has CF30. if they do, then you know they have the qualifications and regulatory permissions.

bmm78

pipkiksass wrote: »

I was simply advising the OP to check out the personal qualifications of their IFA, if they go down that road.

If you had just left it at that, I don't think anyone would have had an issue.

pipkiksass wrote: »

I'm pretty sure I could convince an independent network to authorise me to represent them (I have various CII qualifications, but have no intention to give advice). I would then be able to state that I offer independent advice in my ToB

Well, you would need a minimum Level 4 qualification, satisfy whatever recruitment criteria the network has, and then have the authorisation approved by the FCA. You'd be set up as a trainee under their Training and Competence scheme, and have virtually everything you did subject to 100% monitoring until signed off as competent, along with having to complete whatever tests, roleplays etc they deemed appropriate. People playing with anything other than a straight bat wouldn't get beyond that point.

Not sure what point you are making with this anyway? You said to check the level of qualifications, but then suggested that as long as you have the qualifications anyone can call themselves an IFA??

pipkiksass wrote: »

I don't believe I've misunderstood at all. I'm well aware of what independent means (replaced Whole of Market on 01/01/2013). As above, I was simply suggesting to the OP that they should check the personal qualifications and credentials of their adviser, as "CFP" or "Dip CII" mean far more than "IFA"

Yes, you have misunderstood. The Retail Distribution Review replaced the Depolarised regime, introduced a new stricter definition for Independent, and brought all other forms of advice (tied, multi-tied, whole of market not meeting independence requirements) under the umbrella of "Restricted". Independent is not the same thing as "Whole of Market", and neither was it pre RDR.

Not that the finer details of RDR matter much to anyone outside of ivory towers in Canary Wharf, but the wider issue is that you and other posters on this thread are making criticisms of IFAs based on misconceptions and myths. It doesn't help anyone to make sound decisions and weigh up the potential costs and benefits of an IFA vs DIY.

Personally I don't think the OP is going to get much value from an IFA on a £12,000 pension pot, but I don't need to post disjointed jibberish to underline that point.

addedvaluebob

dunstonh wrote: »

Given the misinformation you have given and your continuous anti adviser posting, I think it is fair to point out your errors and your bias. The advisers posting here are not being paid by posters. They contribute at no cost to other posters. You have an anti adviser bias. You gain personal satisfaction at putting people off.

Again, showing your lack of knowledge. A lot of this is software driven but the software is whole of market.

What panels? As you are making accusations of fraud, I think it is fair that you provide evidence to support it. Or perhaps we should just treat it like the other points you have raised and been wrong about it as well.

I'm not anti-adviser I am anti the myths put out on here that every IFA is truly independent or that a lot of the financial advice requires an adviser to transact it

The evidence is clear in FCA 14/5.

As part of this review the FCA looked into 28 firms where they had doubts about their independence, they identified that 2 of them were not giving independent advice and investigated a further 17. Of these 6 were found not to be independent, and they had concerns about a further 4 but had no hard evidence at the time of the report.

Also from the same report:

Networks failing to ensure that all appointed representatives (ARs) are meeting the independence requirements (e.g. ARs were biased towards the use of a distributor influenced fund)

It also covers the question of advisers using panels and not really looking at the whole of market.

Obviously the FCA are as misinformed as I am.

To anyone thinking of using an IFA I suggest they read it first and make sure they ask the relevant questions before using an adviser.

leumas

Thank you everyone for the advice, and apologies if my post has accidentally kicked off a larger debate around IFA's.

In summary, it seems like IFA's can be very useful in some circumstances, but given my relatively low pot size it would likely not be financially viable to see an IFA about transferring my pension. Instead I'm probably better off leaving the existing pension where it is (I assume it will just sit there at current value), and opening up a new DIY pension online with someone like Cavendish and start paying into that.

Then when my employer finally starts paying into a pension as they will be required to by law at some point I should pay into that also as it's essentially a pay rise - is that right? Is there any limit to the number of pension pots i'm allowed to have?

dunstonh

The evidence is clear in FCA 14/5.

It is. On page 4 of that report in the "our findings" section the FCA said:

Our review found that a significant number of firms appear to understand the new requirements and there were no indications that these firms were acting in any way other than independently in practice.

Like any review it will find areas for improvement or changes to best practice. Of the 113 firms reviewed, 88 of which were calling themselves independent, it found 2 that it was certain were not meeting IFA criteria. A further 28 may not have been but were unable to tell. So, it carried out a further review into 17 of those 28 and found that 6 of those 17 firms were not independent.

It should be noted that there is a very fine line between restricted advice and independent. That is all the regulator is looking at. Is there a restriction in place. No matter how small, it cannot call itself an IFA. The FSA definition was different to the FCA definition and it has seen many firms move from IFA to restricted (but whole of market) due to very small restrictions. Often the restriction being that the adviser does not wish to transact in certain high risk/niche areas that only a tiny amount of the population would ever use but they would remain whole of market in the other areas. Under the FSA, that firm was allowed to call themselves independent. Under the FCA, that firm cannot as any restriction is restricted.

Obviously the FCA are as misinformed as I am.

I refer you to the FCA summary mentioned above.
Our review found that a significant number of firms appear to understand the new requirements and there were no indications that these firms were acting in any way other than independently in practice.

Kendall80

Forgive my thread-crashing but is transferring your pension really this complicated?


I have a small 17k pot (cash equiv. value) from a previous employer. I'm looking to transfer it into a bestinvest SIPP and make regular contributions thereafter. I've received the forms from my current provider and it seems all I have to do is fill out the one myself and send back with ID. Then forward the others onto bestinvest so that they fill in and send to current provider.


Am I missing something?

dunstonh

Kendall80 wrote: »

Forgive my thread-crashing but is transferring your pension really this complicated?


I have a small 17k pot (cash equiv. value) from a previous employer. I'm looking to transfer it into a bestinvest SIPP and make regular contributions thereafter. I've received the forms from my current provider and it seems all I have to do is fill out the one myself and send back with ID. Then forward the others onto bestinvest so that they fill in and send to current provider.


Am I missing something?

The paperwork is not difficult. Knowing whether you should do it or not, where to move it to and how you would invest is more difficult. From an adviser point of view, you also have the heavy regulatory requirements (which are not comparable to DIY) and what the FOS would expect to see if they were looking at it.

When going DIY, it all comes down to knowledge and understanding. Such as the discussions we have been having on your investment thread.

In this case, as has been said several times, its a small pot that probably isnt worth using an IFA. However, even at £600 to transfer it, that could still end up cheaper than say if the OP was to put the pension in a Virgin Stakeholder which has no up front charge.