Ex Navy pension - Sun Life Financial of Canada

downshifted

I'm trying to help a friend sort out her financial affairs.


She was in the Navy, and seems to have 2 personal pensions from that time. (I guess she must have transferred out, which was probably a bad idea) The pension policies are with Sun Life Financial of Canada. She gets annual statements, although did not have the latest to hand.



Statement 1 1988 Personal Pension plan as at 30/1/17



Start date 30/1/91, Selected Retirement Date 08/24 (age 60)



Universal Managed Fund 769.232 units £5926.16


Statement 2 Personal Pension Redress Plan as at 16/07/15


Start date 17/07/01, Selected Retirement Date 08/24 (age 60)



Pension Review Managed Fund 1587.164 units £3460.02

I've tried to look up the values today and if I have found the correct funds it looks like the Universal Managed fund is now £8.77 per unit and the Pension Review Managed Fund is £2.94 per unit

Does anyone know what might have happened here? Could she/should she transfer these out into a SIPP or other pension and do better through reduced fees, beter performance etc? She has defined benefits from the Local Authority subsequently, her normal retirement age is now 66 and she would expect to work until then.


Many thanks for any help

MallyGirl

I transferred my 2 SLOC pensions into a SIPP. It suited me and was easy.

I don't know what the 'what happened here' question is about - if the value has dropped that will be as a result of the choice of fund and its stock market performance. Fees were very high on my pensions at the beginning, with a big hit if I transferred, but I was out of that situation by the time I was ready to make the move.

Performance is dictated by choice of fund(s) not the provider, on the whole. The fees will be on her statement. She needs all the up to date info to hand before making any decisions.

xylophone

The mention of redress suggests that the decision to transfer out of her Defined Benefit was reviewed - did she make a complaint about poor financial advice?

Is the 1988 pension plan a S32 Policy with GMP?

downshifted

She won’t have made any complaint personally, maybe a generic complaint was made?

xylophone

Was it part of a review?

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/pensions-review.html

downshifted

Thanks for this. I don’t think we’re going to find out easily what happened in the past, so probably best to focus on what to do next. I’m thinking a HL SIPP with something like a Vanguard Lifestyle tracker would be best, and certainly lower in fees than the current situation. She will contact them for more info. Thanks again

xylophone

Has she checked whether the policy is a S32 with GMP?

http://www.financialadvice.net/s32_buy_out_plan/zone/1288

Has she obtained a new state pension statement?

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

downshifted

She has a state pension statement. I don’t think it’s a S32 as there seems to be provision for additional payments (none made)

Thank you

AnotherJoe

downshifted wrote: »

Universal Managed Fund 769.232 units £5926.16

Pension Review Managed Fund 1587.164 units £3460.02

I've tried to look up the values today and if I have found the correct funds it looks like the Universal Managed fund is now £8.77 per unit and the Pension Review Managed Fund is £2.94 per unit

Does anyone know what might have happened here? Could she/should she transfer these out into a SIPP or other pension and do better through reduced fees, beter performance etc? She has defined benefits from the Local Authority subsequently, her normal retirement age is now 66 and she would expect to work until then.

AFAICS they have both gone up in value. So what do you mean by "what's happened here?" ?

downshifted

Really she’s looking to compare the return and fees against what she could do by taking it out and putting it into a SIPP. We will give them a call to try to understand the original transfer out and what her options are now

I just wondered if anyone on here had been in the same position and knew a bit more

AnotherJoe

downshifted wrote: »

Really she’s looking to compare the return and fees against what she could do by taking it out and putting it into a SIPP. We will give them a call to try to understand the original transfer out and what her options are now

I just wondered if anyone on here had been in the same position and knew a bit more

A SIPP is just a "wrapper" for investments. So the performance she "could" have got is entirely dependent upon the investments. Plus any extra costs, for example the SIPP cost itself , will she have used an adviser who will also add a cost to manage it if she didn't DIY it. Then there's the risk level of those investments, in general higher risk can bring higher return but it can also bring higher losses. The same applies looking forward, you'd be comparing the risk level of the current scheme and it's inbuilt costs vs what she will choose to select

So there's no way anyone can be in the same position not knowing what she would have chosen in the past and will choose going forward.

Sun Life aren't going to be able to tell you what happened in the past. Some (frankly dodgy/scammy) adviser sold her Sun Life and would have got commission (which is why they sold it). At some point later and judging by the names, there was a complaint and she got an extra amount. But all Sun Life will know is that someone bought some of their product and later bought some more. They won't know the back story.

Maybe someone like Dunston can comment on these specific SL schemes she is in but she would best need to pay an IFA to look at this and understand the costs and advise on new funds based on her risk level. It might be they are inherently expensive but without understanding risk you can't separate one from the other.