Equitable Life with profits pension / takeover.

allgreek

POPPYOSCAR said:

if you did not choose anything the default was the secure cash investment for 6 months with automatic transfer after 6 months. 

I think the choice of funds for the automatic transfer depends on your age, however you can make your own choice of the funds to override this. I am debating whether to stick with the default for me of Multi-asset Cautious or choose Money Market instead.  If I go for Money Market, I would hope to retain the value, but I would miss out on any recovery in stock and bond markets. I expect recovery in the markets to take 4 to 5 years, so I'm probably better off with Money Market. The reason I don't just take all the money out is the amount of tax I would have to pay on that.

At least this decision allows me to do something with a potential benefit. Most of my other investments (where the majority of my retirement income comes from) have dropped substantially in value and there is nothing I can do about that.

POPPYOSCAR

SoftCentaur said:

When I got my uplift figure, I read that it would be held as cash for 6 months - so when the markets started to drop, I was not too concerned. However, I had misunderstood the situation. My Equitable plan consisted of the 'With Profits' element, plus the rest - which was split between 3 of their funds, which were invested in stocks and shares.


When moved to Utmost, the 'With Profits' element was put in the cash fund for six months - but the rest continued to be invested in shares. Before I realised this, I had lost thousands.
 
So "Notnobody", if your Equitable was 100% With Profits then you still have your quoted value. If not, you would have lost a fair chunk of the remainder.  As did I.

Did it not show this on your uplift letter?

Notnobody

SoftCentaur said:

When I got my uplift figure, I read that it would be held as cash for 6 months - so when the markets started to drop, I was not too concerned. However, I had misunderstood the situation. My Equitable plan consisted of the 'With Profits' element, plus the rest - which was split between 3 of their funds, which were invested in stocks and shares.

When moved to Utmost, the 'With Profits' element was put in the cash fund for six months - but the rest continued to be invested in shares. Before I realised this, I had lost thousands.
 
So "Notnobody", if your Equitable was 100% With Profits then you still have your quoted value. If not, you would have lost a fair chunk of the remainder.  As did I.

Hi, I found the letter!  It says  the whole lot has been transferred to a secure cash investment fund and the price is guaranteed  not to fall below the price set at 1 January 2020.   Then it says the investment timeline is 6 months from 1st July and the investment is 'Investing by Age Strategy'.  Does that mean I have till 20 July to take funds?

archer123

If your Equitable with-profits was moved to Utmost secure cash (QRAZ fund) this has not lost a penny. In fact is guaranteed not to lose up until June2020. After then if you do nothing they move it for you based on your age profile.
If the markets are in turmoil, or you choose another strategy, Utmost will follow your instructions over the phone, after some security check questions. That's what they told me. I'm assuming you can opt to stay in QRAZ secure cash fund.
So again, I'll sit on my hands until nearer the time. And not lose the uplift.

busybee44

Do you know if someone died before 1 January will their beneficary get the uplift?

Joey_Soap

Many of us, me included have no idea where our money is or where it is invested. The whole thing with Mercers as admin has been a disaster. And it still is. From Mercers, silence. Useless company.

allgreek

busybee44 said:

Do you know if someone died before 1 January will their beneficary get the uplift?

Paragraphs 20.35 to 20.37 ( pages 16 and 17) in the "Explanatory Document Part B" sent out by Equitable last year might have an answer for this. I'm not sure because the paragraphs refer to "the person whose life is insured" and I don't know if a pension policy provides insurance for a life.

Joey_Soap

Joey_Soap said:

Many of us, me included have no idea where our money is or where it is invested. The whole thing with Mercers as admin has been a disaster. And it still is. From Mercers, silence. Useless company.

Miracles do sometimes happen. Today, after months of being told nothing, I heard from Mercers that my group AVC pot is sitting in Utmost's cash fund. The uplift apparently, is 70%. Now I just await the previously promised transfer out information that I was promised a month ago. Not holding my breath. But I am grateful that something is actually happening now.

New_World_Man

Now over 5 weeks since I started the transfer process. Still pending. My former EL with profits policy was being held in cash by Utmost (so no excuses about needing time to sell off funds before any transfer can take place). While I accept that transfer times are not set in stone, it does seem like a long time.

Maffo65

New_World_Man said:

Now over 5 weeks since I started the transfer process. Still pending. My former EL with profits policy was being held in cash by Utmost (so no excuses about needing time to sell off funds before any transfer can take place). While I accept that transfer times are not set in stone, it does seem like a long time.

Did you start the transfer process using the Origo platform, or by mailing printed transfer forms ?

If both your current and new pension provider use the platform, they should have made this available to you, it's much faster.

Here is a complete list of participating providers.

Either way, bear in mind that all pension providers are very short staffed at the moment, so delays in processing times are to be expected.