Pension fees - who's managing my pot?

Nick9967

Wonder if anyone can guide me,
Got 2 pensions with SW.
First is easy and is my current work place pension paid in by both work and myself each month, small and fairly insignificant for now.
I have another with SW (that fact is just a coincidence) around 200k+ and is my main pension pot, this is the accumulation of me transferring all of my old pensions into one some years ago. I did this using Aspira who were at the time my then workplaces pension advisors, think i paid 0.75% per year at the time , there was a clear agreement that should i leave that employment i would continue to receive advise should i want to at that rate +0.10% .
I left that employment 2/3 years ago ( went via another employer - didn't work out -  still paying into the main pot) and ended up where i am now (much less well paid job and running myself down to retirement hopefully) i pay a nominal amount each month into the main pot to keep it active.
What i cant seem to find out (Aspira taking so long to come back its painful) is why no one at all , not SW and not Aspira, is taking any sort of fee at all from my pot? Is there a possibility the funds are invested as per Aspria's input, last I'm aware of is at least 2 years ago, and they just sit there and no one is taking a fee? 
I do wonder if in that case I'm being a bit stupid in not having someone manage that pot - It's grown ok ish to date, about 4% this year ish so far, last input i had was to make the risk level 7/8-10 , but that was 2-3 years ago -
Note I'm 53 and semi retirement is planned at 58 (i have other money)  
thanks

Albermarle

What i cant seem to find out (Aspira taking so long to come back its painful) is why no one at all , not SW and not Aspira, is taking any sort of fee at all from my pot? Is there a possibility the funds are invested as per Aspria's input, last I'm aware of is at least 2 years ago, and they just sit there and no one is taking a fee? 

You could look at it the other way around . If Aspira are hard to contact and appear not be having any input then you would be pretty fed up if they were extracting 0.85% fee from you , so you have saved nearly £2000 !

Personally I would phone SW for clarification of the situation and ask for Aspira to be removed ( if they are still actually registered as your advisor ) Then get a new IFA or DIY/just leave it as is . 

4% growth this year is a good result but your risk level might need looking at as you go into retirement . Most ( not all) people like to reduce the risk level as they stop working .

i pay a nominal amount each month into the main pot to keep it active.

There is no need to contribute to keep a pension pot active.

my current work place pension paid in by both work and myself each month, small and fairly insignificant for now.

Many people as they approach retirement do the opposite and put as much as possible in their pension whilst still working but it depends on your overall situation .

Nick9967

Yes i could look at the 2k saving for sure, i did consider just leaving as is, my worry would be if the market went a little pear shaped who would move my money around in order to give it the best chance? or indeed save it from collapse completely.
On your last point mine's a little different , 20 years of commuting and 18 hour days was enough for me, i'd prefer less money more life! which i have now, breakfast with the family and home for dinner! very little in life is as good as that every day! ,

Albermarle

i did consider just leaving as is, my worry would be if the market went a little pear shaped who would move my money around in order to give it the best chance? or indeed save it from collapse completely.

That is not how it works . The markets move very quick and by the time you ( or me ) have decided to do something, it will already be too late . So you have to set your investments portfolio in line with your attitude to risk, and then just sit out the ups and downs of the markets. When markets go down the best course of action is normally to do nothing and wait for it to recover.

7/8 out of 10 is quite high up the risk scale and if we did have a really bad market downturn ( worse than the recent Covid one ) , your £200K could drop by up to 30/35%, although it would most likely recover again in time . If this prospect scares you then you probably need to come down the risk scale a notch or two .

The chance of mainstream pensions funds collapsing down to zero is not a real possibility so you can forget about that doomsday scenario.

Linton

Nick9967 said:

Yes i could look at the 2k saving for sure, i did consider just leaving as is, my worry would be if the market went a little pear shaped who would move my money around in order to give it the best chance? or indeed save it from collapse completely.
On your last point mine's a little different , 20 years of commuting and 18 hour days was enough for me, i'd prefer less money more life! which i have now, breakfast with the family and home for dinner! very little in life is as good as that every day! ,

Moving money around in response to short term market moves is considered to be bad investing and on average leads to lower returns.  Its easy to sell after a significant fall, which is a bit late, but much more difficult to decide when to rebuy. Also, the market often bouces back immediately after a significant fall leaving you with a loss.  A better approach is to accept the markets are going to be volatile in the short term and set up your investments so that the effect is not so severe you panic.

If the gobal markets collapse completely forever your pension will be the least of your problems.  Investing is based on the premise that in the long term prices rise.  If you do not believe that you would be foolish to invest.

Nick9967

I get you now, yes what you say makes sense to me, i suppose that big quetsion now would be at what risk level am i prepared to stay at and until when , and when i reach "when" what do i change that to etc etc, i suppose this is part of what you pay an IFA for , i also suppose that it would have been Aspira who chose my funds at SW:
SW Baillie Gifford North American Equity Pension 18.668%    SW Fidelity Asia Pension 15.041% SW Invesco-Perpetual orporate Bond Pension 10.274%Scottish Widows Cash Pension 5.653%Scottish Widows European Pension 3.354% Scottish Widows Fixed Interest Pension 10.858%Scottish Widows International Pension 15.91%   Scottish Widows Property Pension 1.178%UK Equity 19.063%
And without Aspira (or whoever) I'm swinging in the wind a bit on which funds/how long/risk etc, thats my worry  

Linton

Nick9967 said:

I get you now, yes what you say makes sense to me, i suppose that big quetsion now would be at what risk level am i prepared to stay at and until when , and when i reach "when" what do i change that to etc etc, i suppose this is part of what you pay an IFA for , i also suppose that it would have been Aspira who chose my funds at SW:
SW Baillie Gifford North American Equity Pension 18.668%    SW Fidelity Asia Pension 15.041% SW Invesco-Perpetual orporate Bond Pension 10.274%Scottish Widows Cash Pension 5.653%Scottish Widows European Pension 3.354% Scottish Widows Fixed Interest Pension 10.858%Scottish Widows International Pension 15.91%   Scottish Widows Property Pension 1.178%UK Equity 19.063%
And without Aspira (or whoever) I'm swinging in the wind a bit on which funds/how long/risk etc, thats my worry  

1) Yes, setting up your investments in line with your risk level and circumstances is a basic IFA role.  And yes, it is likely that your original IFA set up the investments.  SW certainly would not have done.

2) The portfolio looks moderately high risk/return awhich is what you want for long term investment.  It is very broadly invested ranging from the high return high risk BG fund with a high % of US Tech companies to the moderately cautious Fixed Interest fund and the very cautious Cash fund.    Overall in my view it looks sensible and I dont see anything to worry about. It does seem a bit old fashioned to me, which would not be be surprising,  in that perhaps now one would choose less Corporate Bond and UK Equity investment.  

Given you admitted lack of knowledge, the amount of money involved and as you are approaching retirement it could be worthwhile talking to a local IFA to reassess the investments and get advice on how to set up the portfolio for full time retirement.  This could be one-off or on an ongoing basis.

Nick9967

Sound advice thanks Linton

Albermarle

Nick9967 said:

Sound advice thanks Linton

It is a one off deal with the IFA , then you could leave the SW pension where it is and just follow any advice that you get for rejigging the portfolio.
If it is an ongoing arrangement then more than likely they will want to move your pension on to their favoured platform/provider as it is easier for them to monitor. 0.75% pa for a £200K pot is typical.
Also you might benefit from advice on any other savings or investments or pensions you have as an IFA will look at your total family financial position rather than just at one pension .