Equitable Life with profits pension / takeover.

Rob_in

shoi wrote: »

My OH age 50(ish) has appx 20K in EL, but according to what I can see hers is already Unit Linked and not With Profit, so she wouldn't qualify for any uplift.

No. Uplift is only for with profits members. It would appear that if they think you are a with profits member they should have already written to you with the proposal details including what you stand to gain. If you received nothing either they don't have your details or you aren't a with profits member.

[Deleted User]

Rob_in wrote: »

May I ask... what providers are you using for that 0.1% average (I assume there's a basket of them)?

I am now based in Canada. My investments (ETFs) are with a Canadian broker. There are no charges to hold or purchase - only to sell, and then it’s a tiny charge per operation. Annual charges on ETFs have been going down towards zero. The other cost is exchange as some of the ETFs I hold are traded in USD but there are ways to minimise this too.

Sorry this isn’t directly applicable to you, but I was looking at using the same approach with AJ Bell in the UK and the costs can be kept quite low as long as the total investment value is significant.

shoi

Rob_in wrote: »

No. Uplift is only for with profits members. It would appear that if they think you are a with profits member they should have already written to you with the proposal details including what you stand to gain. If you received nothing either they don't have your details or you aren't a with profits member.

No we just got the huge tome. Thanks anyway

MPwannasavemoney

Interesting thread which I found after trying to read the more than 1kg of documents including the latest about the funds.

I have a mix of policies, some with profits and some unit linked. My personal illustrations for the with profits had different levels of uplift showing so I guess it is dependent on how many years until retirement that gets factored in.

For the unit linked policies I understand that policyholders are part of the transfer and they must vote for that too or object. What I could not see in the documents is whether the existing unit linked funds get transferred or they simply cash it in and I have to pick one of the new funds, has anyone seen anything about this? If I have to pick a new fund well the selection given isn't very sophisticated is it.

So I only get 1 vote it seems, if I wanted to vote FOR for the with profits and against for the unit holding I am unable to do so! Think I might transfer the unit holdings now rather than wait.:think:

MPwannasavemoney

shoi wrote: »

No we just got the huge tome. Thanks anyway

You got it because you have to vote for the transfer, there are 2 things for with profits holders to vote on and just one for the unit holders (I believe).

sapere_aude

Thanks to Scot_39 for clarifying the issue that is important to many with-profits policy holders. But doesn't the last sentence negate the first two? If Utmost is not "entitled" why the disclaimer "no plans" and what is "immediate future"..tomorrow, next week, next month.

I brushed off the cobwebs from my original policy document and could find no reference to transfer fees.


[FONT=&quot]"Exit Fees[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Equitable do not charge exit fees or penalties, and Utmost has agreed to administer all Transferring Policies to an equivalent standard. Therefore, Utmost are not entitled to charge any fees for a Policyholder exercising their right to transfer to another provider.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Utmost also has no plans to introduce any such fees in the immediate future."[/FONT]

pafpcg

Don't rely too much on the wording of a single short email - there's a risk that the writer has tried to simplify and ended up with inconsistencies.

My understanding is that Equitable currently imposes no transfer-out fees or charges (that may be why there's nothing in your policy!) and under the terms of the agreement between Equitable and Utmost, no such charges will be made by Utmost for twelve months after the Implementation Date (1-Jan-2020). What happens after 1-Jan-2021, depends on Utmost. I'd expect any changes to policy terms & conditions would involve a significant notice period.

I'm basing my understanding on Section 58 "Management of the Transferring Policies and annual management charges" on page 45 of Part B of the Explanatory Booklet. The sub-sections consistently stipulate that Utmost will match specific standards and not exceed limits to charges for a twelve month period after implementation; what happens after twelve months is presumably entirely at the discretion of Utmost.

Part A of the Explanatory Booklet on page 10 referring to the transfer from Equitable to Utmost says "The Transfer would not change any Policyholders’ terms and conditions."

keiran

I, like many ?thousands of others, have EL WP via the NHS Scheme.

Info has been non-existent from the Scheme, and EL does not send us any info directly ( though one can see what's on the EL website)

I understand that the Scheme Trustees will vote on behalf of all us members:-
1) Presumably they'll vote "for" the resolutions?
2) Presumably that'll mean x thousands of votes, and not just one vote?
3) Can I assume that we WILL get the info on investment choices, individually?

I am surprised by the lack of info from the Scheme and wonder if others in this situation know any better?

pafpcg

keiran wrote: »

I, like many ?thousands of others, have EL WP via the NHS Scheme.
Info has been non-existent from the Scheme, and EL does not send us any info directly ( though one can see what's on the EL website)
I understand that the Scheme Trustees will vote on behalf of all us members:-
1) Presumably they'll vote "for" the resolutions?
2) Presumably that'll mean x thousands of votes, and not just one vote?
3) Can I assume that we WILL get the info on investment choices, individually?

I am surprised by the lack of info from the Scheme and wonder if others in this situation know any better?

There are posts about Group Schemes earlier in this thread starting with JoeySoap's post #99 onwards and feetup's post #111 specifically on the NHS AVC scheme.

Answering your specific questions:

1: Trustees can place both a single "yes" and "no" vote (assuming the scheme members indicate both positive and negative preferences in whatever exercise the trustees undertake in surveying their members). [See 46.3 on page 38 of Part B of the Explanatory Booklet]

2: All votes will have a "vote value" depending on the value of the policy funds held with Equitable on 1-Apr-2019. Trustees will be able to split the vote value of their vote in accordance with their scheme members' preferences. [See 80.16a on page 58 of Part B of the Explanatory Booklet]

3: Feet-up (post #115) has asked the NHS Scheme directly but not has reported any success so far.

feet_up

3: Feet-up (post #115) has asked the NHS Scheme directly but not has reported any success so far.

There is a predictable reason for my not reporting success - There hasn't been any!

I have asked (in response to their refusal to consider my initial general enquiry)

[FONT=&quot]1 What, if any, is the proposed uplift in policy values to NHS/Equitable Life AVC policyholders?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]2 How will the trustees vote on this matter?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3 What advice have the trustees sought, and what advice has been given?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3 How have the trustees gone about establishing the opinions of policyholders ?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]4 What steps have the trustees taken to keep policy holders informed, and what plans do they have to do so in the future?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]5 How will the transfer of Policyholders funds take place, and what are the timescales for the transfer (if accepted)?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]5 May I have the email addresses and names of the trustees?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]6 May I have PR or press office contact details for your organisation[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]NHS Pensions have responded (7 times) to tell me essentially that it is nothing to do with them. They have passed my formal complaint on to the complaints team (who will reply within 15 working days!).[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]I spoke to someone in Equitable who was very helpful and knowledgeable and sighed heavily when I mentioned the NHS ( and didn't contradict the view I expressed about their competence). They thought NHS were offered the same deal as everyone else.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]I tracked down a contact at the Dept of Health and Social Care (A senior Policy Adviser) and 10 days ago was told:
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]"We have only recently received the information from Equitable Life and therefore may not yet be in a position to answer all your questions. However, please be assured that we considering the information we have received and will communicate with those affected once we have done so."(sic)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I think this is just a more polite form of the Capita response. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]In my case the sum is small, and my enthusiasm for banging my head agailst a brick wall is limited. I will however be contacting the press, my MP (The Chancellor) and The Trustees (who I have found - but not from NHS Pensions).[/FONT][/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]Hope this update is of interest.
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