moving a pension internationally

dunstonh

I'm an app developer by trade and combined with my age this is partly responsible for the fact that I do value a good user interface and keeping up with everything that's happening. This is certainly the way the industry is going and if you look at where current investment lie then companies like Aviva will have their work cut out to stay relevant in the years ahead.

Aviva wont have their work cut out. They are using FNZ and moving their platform pensions on to their software. FNZ power many other platforms as well.

According to their staff, aviva have two portals. One is their broker portal, which I'm limited to as I was signed up through broker. It is barely a portal; i was told i'd be able to view all these reports and stats and be able to make changes but in reality i'm able to choose which month to download as an excel file (it just gives me overall earnings) and I can change my password. It's a joke and I could have built it myself in an afternoon. Aviva have said they can put me onto their own system which gives more insights but from what I can see it's not a huge amount better, and it frustrates me that such a divide exists. It's also a sore point that I effectively paid extra to be on a worse platform.

Aviva have more than that. Are you sure you are even on their platform as the platform and not a pension from the life and pensions side of Aviva?

If I have a client that says online interface is important to them I wouldnt use Aviva (that may change when they move to FNZ). However, they are low cost and have a wide range of investments. The vast majority of people don't give two hoots about an app. If costs were the driver, then Aviva is a good choice.

This is why nutmeg appeals to me. I've checked their recent performance and it compares well to aviva.

Aviva offer around 2000 investments via their platform. Nutmeg have about 5. You lose total control of the investments with Nutmeg. But you will have an app that gives you no control. Assuming you were to have similar investments in the Aviva platform pension as to those in Nutmeg, you would find the Aviva pension is nearly half the annual charges of Nutmeg.

Nutmeg is a basket case finacially as well. It increases it's losses every year at a greater rate than it increases its turnover. Its growing fast but just two years ago, its turnover was the same as a single office IFA firm. Its a tiny player making massive losses.

Joey_Soap

In my opinion, there are just too many sharks in this business. I'd avoid the use of any "advisers" for this. Look up the list of approved QROPS (now called ROPS) on the HMRC website. In there, there is a list of HMRC approved QROPS (or ROPS) schemes in Australia. You need to contact the QROPS provider(s) in Australia who will explain it to you and send you the forms to fill in. No need for an adviser, I repeat, way too many sharks in this market. A personal recommendation for a QROPS from someone in Australia who has done it recently is what I'd look out for. HTH.