4 pensions into 1 ? (analysis of funds and ongoing charges)

carpy

hi
i have 4 pensions with the oldest dating back to 1997.
they've all remained untouched from the day they were taken out, apart from things beyond my control like pension provider transfer.
i think it's about time (and well overdue!) i started looking at them in detail as i intend to start taking from them in 11yrs (at 55), so want to make sure they're doing the best they can be in that period.
i'm going to look at 3 things;
are there better funds i could/should transfer into? (almost certainly)
are there cheaper providers? (definitely i would think!)
finally should i combine all 4 into one pot?
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circa £31k - aviva portfolio (54% liontrust sustainable future managed s6 / 46% bny mellon multi-asset growth s6)  - overall charge 0.97% 
circa £24k  - scottish widows - adventurous (60% SW SSgA 50:50 Global Equity Index Fund, 22% bond, 18% property) - overall charge 0.39%
circa £29k - clerical medical (now scottish widows) - unsure on the funds on this one (need to dig out paperwork)       - overall charge 1.25% (ish)
circa £38k - aviva (was friends life) - unsure on funds but has a minimum 3% growth guarantee                               - overall charge is a fixed amount about £44pa
......................................................................................................................
any advice/thoughts/observations welcome! thank you

dunstonh

i think it's about time (and well overdue!) i started looking at them in detail as i intend to start taking from them in 11yrs (at 55), 

That will not be possible.  The minimum age will not be 55 at that point as it is going up in 2028 to 57 and plan is then to link it to 10 years less than the state pension age (so it will go to 58).

are there better funds i could/should transfer into? (almost certainly)

Not all old plans are bad.  Some can be real gems worth keeping.  So, do not assume.

are there cheaper providers? (definitely i would think!)

Overall, costs have reduced over the years but some old plans were priced on the contributions more than the annual ongoing.  So, if you are not paying into them, some old ones can be cheaper than modern plans.

There is insufficient information to go on.  Where did you get the charges from?   Are these from the fund factsheets or are they the actual charges relevant to you? (fund factsheets show the maximum default and not any discounted charges - and most people get some form of discount).

carpy

sorry my mistake on the age, i was aware of that.
i think i'm correct on the charges i've quoted (they're taken from my spreadsheet records and checked against the fund sheets, although on some they're not entirely clear). they're about right.
the clerical medical one is quite high on charges...
i'm thinking of maybe consolidating them all into one low cost pot with someone like Vanguard who have very low fees?

dunstonh

the clerical medical one is quite high on charges...

Many of the old CM plans had a higher default charge but decent fund based discounts.   Towards the end of their life (before debranded into SW) their plans were very cheap if you had over £20k in them.

carpy

it's 1.25% but i get a 0.1% reduction for £20k+

Brynsam

carpy said:

sorry my mistake on the age, i was aware of that.
i think i'm correct on the charges i've quoted (they're taken from my spreadsheet records and checked against the fund sheets, although on some they're not entirely clear). they're about right.
the clerical medical one is quite high on charges...
i'm thinking of maybe consolidating them all into one low cost pot with someone like Vanguard who have very low fees?

Before you do that, consider the possible advantages of not consolidating them all. See https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-3550085/STEVE-WEBB-merge-small-pension-pots.html

dunstonh

carpy said:

it's 1.25% but i get a 0.1% reduction for £20k+

That's not good.  We used to get them at 0.5% net of discount for the internal funds.  They did have external funds as well which cost more.

Albermarle

The last one has some kind of guarantee. So this will be more difficult to transfer ( probably will need regulated advice ) and you might be better not giving up the guarantee.
Also you do not say which one of them is currently active/being subscribed to ? If it is linked to an employer then you will have to probably stick with it.

carpy

dunstonh said:

carpy said:

it's 1.25% but i get a 0.1% reduction for £20k+

That's not good.  We used to get them at 0.5% net of discount for the internal funds.  They did have external funds as well which cost more.

i think it is an external one (going by this list) as listed under 'newton' rather than their own funds.

Albermarle said:

The last one has some kind of guarantee. So this will be more difficult to transfer ( probably will need regulated advice ) and you might be better not giving up the guarantee.
Also you do not say which one of them is currently active/being subscribed to ? If it is linked to an employer then you will have to probably stick with it.

yes i did think i might keep that one as it's a nice bit of surety