Am I being ripped off?

Investor67

Would greatly appreciate the forum's thoughts.
I have been invested in the Royal London Governed Portfolio 7 since 2016 on advice of an IFA. It has an AMC of 0.4% so I do benefit from a discount. RL also has a profit share which has paid out each year at around 0.18%. 
My concern is that for some reason I agreed to pay to the IFA an ongoing "wealth management" fee of 0.75% of the value of the pension. This is in addition to the 1% I paid him to arrange for the transfer of other pension pots to RL. However, the only "wealth management" service I receive from him is an annual review of the pension. He says that he regularly monitors the pension and is in contact with RL and will advise me of any changes.  That's it!  Complete rip off? 

contr_arian

Read the other IFA/DIY threads on here.
You're paying 0.75% for an annual review - fire the IFA and DIY.

Investor67

Definitely good advice!

Prism

If you choose to go it alone have a read about some other equivalent multi asset funds from HSBC, Vanguard and Blackrock

Investor67

I am looking at the Aviva Pension Baillie Gifford Managed FP. Minimum of 60%in shares and looks less heavy in UK equity than my RL plan. Are there particular Vanguard funds worth watching?

dunstonh

With any service you pay for, it is only you that can decide whether it is value for money or not.  If you do not value the service then end the service.

I am looking at the Aviva Pension Baillie Gifford Managed FP. Minimum of 60%in shares and looks less heavy in UK equity than my RL plan. Are there particular Vanguard funds worth watching?

The RL pension has multiple governed portfolios along with a range of single sector funds.

The Aviva BG Managed is only available from Aviva on their insured pensions.

All the Vanguard funds are potentially suitable depending on what you are trying to achieve.

The Royal London pension with Governed Portfolios are generally aimed at consumers who are clueless when it comes to investing.   It prevents mistakes being made.

Albermarle

You do not mention the amount of money involved . 0.75% would be a lot for a Million quid but competitive for say £200K .
So you are very unlikely being ripped off , you are paying a pro the going rate to manage your investments for you .
Whether you need to pay someone or better to do it yourself  is another question, discussed in many threads on this forum with some polarised opinions , I think it is fair to say.

[Deleted User]

I see no reason whatsoever for an ongoing “advisory” service if you are invested in a single fund.  Even a baby can “manage” that. 

Apart from it, RL portfolios look bad to me. All of them. Misleading and a lot of hidden risks. 

Investor67

No I don't think the annual review service is worth it.  Pot is 450k so he receives over 3k annually. He does not manage anything. I am clueless about pensions so the full blown DIY route would not be a good idea for me. I would like to transfer out of RL into another pension plan and pay a fixed fee for annual reviews. In the meantime, I will educate myself!

[Deleted User]

Investor67 said:

No I don't think the annual review service is worth it.  Pot is 450k so he receives over 3k annually. He does not manage anything. I am clueless about pensions so the full blown DIY route would not be a good idea for me. I would like to transfer out of RL into another pension plan and pay a fixed fee for annual reviews. In the meantime, I will educate myself!

You could read a couple of books and educate yourself. These days its simpler than it used to be.  A little bit of time is a good investment into your future financial security

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

I pay my FA about £3,000 every year and take myself on a decent holiday!

I do my investments myself, buying funds I have researched. This are funds, where a manger does the leg work on the investments. That is what they are paid for! Mty spread is overt 8 funds in total, with their performance running at around 4.5% for my ISA and SIPP is around 8% over three years. Funds range ion the last three months from +9% to a loss -5%. Since the bang of March 2020, I have regained ground, now a loss of just £1,300 this year since March. But year on year, still good!