Can a SIPP transfer be partial?

bowlhead99

FaTB72 wrote: »

A partial transfer of my pension pot is something I will definitely be looking into early next year now that Vanguard are releasing a SIPP product. Unfortunately my company will only send pension contributions to Hargreaves Lansdown charging a 0.45% platform fee. Vanguard will charge 0.15%. Obviously I'll only be able to pick from Vanguards own funds (that's fine by me). Having the additional choice of funds on the HL platform might be nice for some, but is it really paying 3 times the amount for ?

It is not 'worth' paying 3 times the amount for the exact same funds; if you were going to hold Vanguard ones at HL anyway, then doing a periodic partial transfer out of HL to Vanguard will save you some money. But if the amounts are not large, the savings are not a lot in actual pounds - for example some people would take several years to even get £5k in their pension, and the 0.3% on that much is only £15 a year so not worth jumping up and down about.

HL is not bad for some types of investments (e.g. the 0.45% is capped earlier on exchange-traded shares like ETFs and investment trusts). Some people wouldn't be satisfied with the range of funds at Vanguard, while others would - your current workplace pension may not be your only investments and you would probably find some fund or combination of funds that could do a reasonable job with that portion of your wealth, via Vanguard.

Every time my account balance with Scottish Widows (employer pension) gets up to £10k+, I transfer most of it out to my personal SIPP, ensuring I keep a bit in SW so that the account isn't closed as it would be expensive to miss any employer contribution. I can't be bothered doing this more than once or twice a year so I don't really look at moving it until there's at least £10k in the pot (an arbitrary figure I know). If for some reason HL can't handle a partial transfer out while keeping the account open, obviously it's better to keep with them to get the employer free money.

FaTB72

I believe my pot is big enough to make it worth moving. I was thinking leave maybe £5k with HL, and transfer whatever has built up on an annual basis.