Which pension company should I stay with?

Abbafan1972

Hi there,
I have a large personal pension which started off with the HSBC and has since been moved to ReAssure, I get yearly statements for this one.
I also have one with Standard Life, which was a company pension, there's not a lot in it really, but I have since left the company, so there's no more contributions going in.  There's also a couple of really old company pensions, which I'm trying to trace.
I want to either keep the ReAssure one or Standard Life and transfer everything into the one - does anyone know which one would be best to keep?
Thanks in advance.

SonOf

It is unlikely the old HSBC one will take transfers in. It probably isnt viable to do it either as HSBC products were not known for being value for money (old style pension, probably on 1% p.a. or higher).   Standard Life have issued dozens of different versions of pensions over the years and have also had different charging depending on the type of pension and distribution channel.    Many legacy SL plans will accept transfers in but not all will.  

There is no way any of us here can tell you which is best as we have no access to the information.  And there is a good chance that both can be improved upon with a modern plan.

ffacoffipawb

SonOf said:

It is unlikely the old HSBC one will take transfers in. It probably isnt viable to do it either as HSBC products were not known for being value for money (old style pension, probably on 1% p.a. or higher).   Standard Life have issued dozens of different versions of pensions over the years and have also had different charging depending on the type of pension and distribution channel.    Many legacy SL plans will accept transfers in but not all will.  

There is no way any of us here can tell you which is best as we have no access to the information.  And there is a good chance that both can be improved upon with a modern plan.

Personally i would transfer all the pensions that arent being contributed to, to Hargreaves Lansdown or AJ Bell Youinvest. I have had good service from both of these.

Abbafan1972

Thanks, it seems the SL one can accept transfers but I'm not sure about the ReAssure one at the moment.
Also, I'm in the the process of tracing 2 other company pensions, one's an AXA and the other was Administered by Entegria Ltd, Birmingham but they now come up as XPS pensions.

ffacoffipawb

Abbafan1972 said:

Thanks, it seems the SL one can accept transfers but I'm not sure about the ReAssure one at the moment.
Also, I'm in the the process of tracing 2 other company pensions, one's an AXA and the other was Administered by Entegria Ltd, Birmingham but they now come up as XPS pensions.

Axa will either be with Aviva or Phoenix i think.

Abbafan1972

ffacoffipawb said:

Abbafan1972 said:

Thanks, it seems the SL one can accept transfers but I'm not sure about the ReAssure one at the moment.
Also, I'm in the the process of tracing 2 other company pensions, one's an AXA and the other was Administered by Entegria Ltd, Birmingham but they now come up as XPS pensions.

Axa will either be with Aviva or Phoenix i think.

I have been able to register online for my AXA one, as I had a card come through the post and it was through Hartlinkonline or something, there was contact details on the website, but the other one was when I worked for Equifax, I just have the one letter that's a statement from 2001, but there's no plan number on the letter.  The address on the back of the letter, they are not there anymore. 

CapricornLass

Have you tried tracing them throught the Pensions Tracing service on www.gov.uk?  Search under Find Pension Contact Details -  you might find them that way.

You might also want to get onto BBC I-player and listen to today's edition of MoneyBox Live before  you transfer anything, as the question of whether you should transfer old pensions across or leave them where they are was one of the topics under discussion.

Albermarle

You should check the charges on the SL pension . The website only tells you the standard charge  but very often there is a discount on ex company pensions. After the discount the charges are often very competitive . You should call them to find out .

kinger101

I'd also consider the types of funds you wish to hold.  If it's index trackers, there's very few of these available in some schemes, and the ones that are available tend to be cack.  That's my experience with Scottish Widows at least.

Abbafan1972

kinger101 said:

I'd also consider the types of funds you wish to hold.  If it's index trackers, there's very few of these available in some schemes, and the ones that are available tend to be cack.  That's my experience with Scottish Widows at least.

I will investigate things before I transfer anything - not sure what index trackers means though!

Albermarle

I will investigate things before I transfer anything - not sure what index trackers means though!

An index tracker does what it says on the tin . It follows an index such as the FTSE 100 . If you invest in it, your investment goes up and down in line with the FTSE 100, without you having to buy the shares in the 100 companies in the index.

They are simple, cheap but quite volatile . Best for younger people and for those who have a high risk tolerance.

If you are not familiar with investing , you might be better with Standard Life's 'easy option' where they match your investment with your circumstances, age and risk tolerance. You can always change it later anyway.