True Potential/Arthur Browns

rushy5150

Hello all - myself and my wife both have pensions with True Potential and use Arthur Brown as a broker/advisor

https://www.tpllp.com

http://www.arthurbrowns.co.uk/

We are not the best when it comes to understanding pensions so how do we know we have a good one? I personally find all the small print pretty murky and it's really difficult to compare pension plans (as opposed to say buying insurance) for instance why do we need to pay a fee to a broker - can't we go to True Potential directly?

Also if anyone has any advice regarding True Potential/Arthur Browns we would be grateful

Cheers

dunstonh

We are not the best when it comes to understanding pensions so how do we know we have a good one?

If you are unable to work it out yourself then you should use an IFA. Not an FA tied to one or a handful of providers.

I personally find all the small print pretty murky and it's really difficult to compare pension plans (as opposed to say buying insurance)

There is more complexity as you have multiple distribution channels, multiple types of pension and around 30,000 different investment options available. It would be daft to compare insurance on price as the primary driver and pensions are no different.

for instance why do we need to pay a fee to a broker

You dont. If you want to DIY then you need to transfer your pension to a provider that operates in the DIY market. You dont use brokers with pensions. Broker applies to insurance.

Also, going DIY does not mean it is cheaper. If you DIY badly then it can be a costly mistake. There are expensive DIY providers as well as cheap just as there are in all distribution channels.

can't we go to True Potential directly?

No. They operate through their own people. In effect, you are going directly to them and you are paying their charges. Their product is also available to IFAs.

Arthur Browns are IFAs. So, they can place your pension with providers on the whole of market. So, if you dont like TP, then tell your IFA and they can tell you why they think it is the best option for you or let you know the alternatives.