Migrating from personal pension account to SIPP (charges, limitation and other caveats)

twister_teddy

hi experts
I have a couple of personal pension pots which I would like to move to SIPP. With my current pension provider I am paying 0.50% for the management fee/year. The combined current pension pots value is around 175k.
The key reason for the moving the pension will be to reduce the management fee and I was looking for a simple table where I could compare the fees for the major SIPP providers without the need to research each single supplier. 
Additionally, if there are any thing else I should consider moving from personal pension account to SIPP, any advise around there would be useful please. I would like easy access to the SIPP account as my current provider provides a very intuitive web portal and app access.

Thrugelmir

Are you prepared to manage your own investments? Returns are equally important as fees. 

[Deleted User]

Download this spreadsheet
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5583030/coolly-comparing-investment-platform-charges-snowmans-spreadsheet/p1

twister_teddy

Thrugelmir said:

Are you prepared to manage your own investments? Returns are equally important as fees. 

Yes - I have been making the investment decisions and managing the funds etc

twister_teddy

Deleted_User said:

Download this spreadsheet
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5583030/coolly-comparing-investment-platform-charges-snowmans-spreadsheet/p1

Thank you - exactly what I was looking for. 
Vanguard looks attractive with the charges, I currently use hargreaves lansdown for ISA account and really like the user interfaces and support from HL. Is there a way to test the Vanguard platform and how do they rate in customer services and ease of investments etc when compared to HL as an example. 
The next best seems to be aj bell youinvest however the fees seems to be slightly higher. 

Linton

What does the 0.5% cover?  Is it both the fund manager fees and the charge for use of the platform or just the latter? SIPPs charge separately but I believe that PPs may bundle both into the individual fund management fee.

As to other things to consider - not a lot really. From a quick think...
 - All the mainstream SIPP providers have very functional web interfaces of varying degrees of elegance so that should not be a problem. App access is more variable - some have an app but the functionality may be much more limited than the web interface.
 - It is possible that some funds you hold may not be available generally and therefore you may have to find something equivalent, but given the enormous choice available on most SIPPs that should not be a problem.
 - It is possible that a personal pension has some guarantees that would be lost on transfer but only if it is a very old one and a very old pension is unlikely to have an intuitive web portal.
 - Some platforms have limited access to some investments.  eg funds only or shares only, foreign shares or UK only etc etc but I guess that in general the options will be far wider than your PP.
 - Some platforms have a high charge but options such as drawdown may be free.  Others have a lower ongoing charge but you need to pay for particular services.  So the total cost will depend on your usage pattern.
 - Customer Support varies from almost immediate phone access to knowledgable staff to possibly slow response to emails.  In general you get what you pay for.
 

Linton

twister_teddy said:

Deleted_User said:

Download this spreadsheet
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5583030/coolly-comparing-investment-platform-charges-snowmans-spreadsheet/p1

Thank you - exactly what I was looking for. 
Vanguard looks attractive with the charges, I currently use hargreaves lansdown for ISA account and really like the user interfaces and support from HL. Is there a way to test the Vanguard platform and how do they rate in customer services and ease of investments etc when compared to HL as an example. 
The next best seems to be aj bell youinvest however the fees seems to be slightly higher. 

Yes but Vanguard only sell Vanguard funds. The HL SIPP will be almostr identical to the HL ISA with a very wide range of options.

twister_teddy

Linton said:

twister_teddy said:

Deleted_User said:

Download this spreadsheet
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5583030/coolly-comparing-investment-platform-charges-snowmans-spreadsheet/p1

Thank you - exactly what I was looking for. 
Vanguard looks attractive with the charges, I currently use hargreaves lansdown for ISA account and really like the user interfaces and support from HL. Is there a way to test the Vanguard platform and how do they rate in customer services and ease of investments etc when compared to HL as an example. 
The next best seems to be aj bell youinvest however the fees seems to be slightly higher. 

Yes but Vanguard only sell Vanguard funds. The HL SIPP will be almostr identical to the HL ISA with a very wide range of options.

Okay, that's no good then. I'm invested in a number of funds from all over and would like to have those options. 
How is AJ Bell coverage around funds, stocks for SIPP etc. 

twister_teddy

Linton said:

What does the 0.5% cover?  Is it both the fund manager fees and the charge for use of the platform or just the latter? 

0.5% for just the platform fee. The funds have additional varying charges.
Thank you for all the details, my personal pension isn't an old platform and I don't think there are any specific benefits that'll stop me moving across to another provider.
Apart from reducing the annual management fee from 0.5% to something lower is there anything else I'm looking to gain by moving  to SIPP. 

Linton

A J Bell covers a wide range of funds (2000+) , UK shares and shares from 24 other exchanges across the world.  Perhaps there are more esoteric things they also sell, I dont know.  Mrs L has her SIPP & ISA with them andwe have had no problems.

kangoora

The other disadvantge with Vanguard is they don't support flexible drawdown, not sure if that is relevant to the OP but was promised to be available in 20-21, not sure if that is still current