Pension Investors

WELLSIANA1962

Just throwing this out to see if i can get any help or advice , i have just taken my allowed lump from a small pension pot i have with a local company , it left me with 60k plus and this year like many has lost not gained , my problem is the company i use now re evaluate my funds performance on a yearly basis and then recommend changes , and i only see them face to face every 2 years . I am now 56 and feel for the next years ahead i need a more regular hands on assistance to help with a volatile market and make more regular changes to help . Can anyone recommend any company's who they know do good jobs with smaller pots or even if they would stick it out . My fund is at the moment based with Old Mutual , and i myself could not manage it as i have no knowledge of any pitfalls or sectors . Help or advice appreciated .

AnotherJoe

WELLSIANA1962 wrote: »

Just throwing this out to see if i can get any help or advice , i have just taken my allowed lump from a small pension pot i have with a local company , it left me with 60k plus and this year like many has lost not gained , my problem is the company i use now re evaluate my funds performance on a yearly basis and then recommend changes , and i only see them face to face every 2 years . I am now 56 and feel for the next years ahead i need a more regular hands on assistance to help with a volatile market and make more regular changes to help . Can anyone recommend any company's who they know do good jobs with smaller pots or even if they would stick it out . My fund is at the moment based with Old Mutual , and i myself could not manage it as i have no knowledge of any pitfalls or sectors . Help or advice appreciated .

Chasing losses in the way you propose is a poor strategy likely to lead to a worse position not a better one.
Your fund is too small for hands on management, and hands on management, even if available would likely be counterproductive, even if only due to the costs which woudl be disproportionate to your amount.

Find a fund or funds that fit your risk profile and stick with it, or just go into cash if its too much for you. (odds are this will lose you more money in the long term because you'll wait to late to go back in but maybe you'll sleep better.)

Malthusian

Volatility over the past year has been nothing unusual and nothing that compares with the crash of 2008-09. If you are worrying, then either you are invested over your risk profile and need to reduce your potential returns, or you need to worry less so you can keep your potential returns the same.

Making more frequent changes would be expected to lose you money. And give you more to worry about. You would be exposed to the risk not just of normal market ups and downs, but of bad decisions by your adviser.

WELLSIANA1962 wrote: »

My fund is at the moment based with Old Mutual , and i myself could not manage it as i have no knowledge of any pitfalls or sectors .

Most advisers will not take on a pot of £60k. If you are still sure that you want more regular changes to your portfolio then you will need to gain that knowledge and make those changes yourself.

Most people who gain sufficient knowledge to self-manage their investments don't tinker with them regularly, because they know they would expect to lose money by doing so.

dunstonh

my problem is the company i use now re evaluate my funds performance on a yearly basis and then recommend changes , and i only see them face to face every 2 years .

Have you asked them if they will move to annually?
Or maybe face to face every two years with interim via email?

i need a more regular hands on assistance to help with a volatile market and make more regular changes to help .

Revent volatility is more like the norm. It certainly isnt unusual. Plus, the recent drop is not classed as a crash (20% drop is). We had a bigger drop in 2015/16.

Can anyone recommend any company's who they know do good jobs with smaller pots or even if they would stick it out .

that seems to suggest you are willing to have remote advice (i.e. email). So, that brings me back to asking if your current company will do that for you.

bostonerimus

Yikes, presumably spending more money in fees to try to time the market sounds like a dangerous strategy to me. You should have an asset allocation that will meet your retirement income needs and allow you to sleep well at night rather than worrying about market volatility. I hope that your financial advisers will tell you that.