Advice please. Firms for Final Salary Transfer £330k

Slaw69

After over 2 months of waiting I finally received my CETV over the weekend. This stands at £330k.

After weighing up various options and when I'm likely to retire I don't think staying in the scheme suits me personally. I want to be able to take a lump sum at 55 but then be free to leave the remainder until a time of my choosing to start taking a regular income.

With my current scheme I can take lump sump at 55 and start pension (not an option as I'm a high rate tax payer) or take lump sum and wait until 65 to start taking a pension. This too is not really how I want things to work. I might just need odd amounts here and there or I may choose to drop my hours in my 60's and take some income but not a full pension. I also want to protect my pot so if something happens to me it can be left to my wife/chidren.

Before requesting my CETV I lined up Tideway and Tilney. I did think about AJBell but I'm not proficient at investing myself so that's probably not a good idea. Tideway have now changed the goalposts since my original call and will now not do business on a CETV under £400k (when I spoke to them in September it was £300k)

Do any of you know of other firms who handle final salary transfers for this size CETV?

Also my CETV is dated a fortnight ago even though I only just received it and I have the Christmas holiday period and a short month of February to contend with during my 3 month beat the clock scenario! Not ideal...

Thanks for any advice.

PeacefulWaters

You need an IFA with the appropriate qualifications first. This will probably take longer than three months to complete.

dunstonh

Do any of you know of other firms who handle final salary transfers for this size CETV?

Every provider does. It isnt the provider that is the problem. It is the requirement for you to get an IFA to go through the advice process. The adviser will typically choose the provider.

Dorian1958

I am going through this at the moment with a similar size CETV and 2 other Government DB pensions which I am retaining. You need a financial adviser that is both independent and ideally a pension transfer specialist. On approaching some firms I found that they farmed out the transfer to a specialist outwith the firm; I didn't like this business model. I checked the FCA register. This took me several weeks and involved (quite rightly) me completing risk profiles and having several meetings before I was happy to go ahead with my chosen IFA. My IFA chose the provider based on my individual circumstances. The IFA fee for the advice and transfer is 1.25% of the CETV.

Slaw69

Thanks. So I'm best to find a local IFA first rather than finding the big firms? I have seen a list on the Moneyfacts website so I guess the ones listed are regulated OK. I'll need a day off work to hit the phones as time is against me.

Slaw69

I assume the fee is payable upfront and not out of the transfer pot? That's something I'll need to consider if I have to pay a high % fee now.

xylophone

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/transferring-out-of-a-defined-benefit-pension-scheme

The Money Advice Service has a retirement adviser directory you can use to draw up a shortlist.

All the advisers and firms on the directory are regulated and will also show whether they have advisers who are qualified to deal with transfers from DB schemes.

We suggest you contact at least three firms to find one that suits your needs.


http://www.pruadviser.co.uk/content/knowledge/technical-centre/pension_transfer_conversion/

Currently a pension transfer specialist must have CF30 (customer function) and hold a qualification from:

G60 or AF3 (CII)
Pensions paper of Professional Investment Certificate (IFS)
Fellow/Associate of Pensions Management Institute
Fellow/Associate of Faculty of Actuaries

Full details of the qualifications accepted are available in the FCA Training and Competence Handbook. The FCA heavily discourage direct offer or execution only in pension transfers and if this is to take place then the firm must make, and retain indefinitely, a clear record that no advice was given.

PeacefulWaters

Slaw69 wrote: »

I assume the fee is payable upfront and not out of the transfer pot? That's something I'll need to consider if I have to pay a high % fee now.

You'll be presented with a range of fee options. I paid £7k on a £600k pot and it was deducted from the fund.

Dorian1958

Yes you have to find an IFA that you are happy with first; could be local, but might not be, depends upon your choice/needs. For instance you may get one at a fee level you are happy with, but they may be far from you in terms of geography - that might not matter. So, you need to work out what is important to you, how long the IFA has been operating, their qualifications, how accessible they will be, price, face to face contact etc and compare this what they are offering. Hitting the phones is just the first stage.

Dorian1958

My fee is coming out of the transfer pot on completion of transfer; IFA's have a variety of different charging structures so you need to understand what they are proposing and choose according to your preference/needs.

Aegis

Dorian1958 wrote: »

I am going through this at the moment with a similar size CETV and 2 other Government DB pensions which I am retaining. You need a financial adviser that is both independent and ideally a pension transfer specialist. On approaching some firms I found that they farmed out the transfer to a specialist outwith the firm; I didn't like this business model. I checked the FCA register. This took me several weeks and involved (quite rightly) me completing risk profiles and having several meetings before I was happy to go ahead with my chosen IFA. My IFA chose the provider based on my individual circumstances. The IFA fee for the advice and transfer is 1.25% of the CETV.

The only warning I will add here is that if the adviser is only remunerated based on the transferred value, there's a potential conflict of interest. You may therefore wish to agree an analysis fee which is not contingent on any one course of action, thereby removing the temptation to think of the transfer as a means to get paid.

I don't think this conflict of interest causes widespread problems, but for something as irrevocable as a pension transfer, you might wish to be certain that the fees aren't the main justification for a transfer.