Scottish Widows to AJ Bell

SteveC3

As I'm leaving work this week (Age 61), I have been mulling over the drawdown options. My current SW Portfolio funds have been less than spectacular and accessing incomes seems painful. I have around 450k and I'm looking to move it to AJ Bell. Costs are similar, but the fund choice within AJ Bell seems a lot better for the price. I'm happy to vary income over volatile periods and was therefore thinking of placing, say 50% into a Global tracker (Fidelity world Index) and the rest in a 50/50ish fund. I'll be looking to take 3% a year initially, but will monitor and modify as needs be. I may want to take some additional lump sums until SP age of 66.
I would appreciate any comments or suggestions.
Many thanks

tacpot12

I did exactly this move because access was painful and the fund choice was quite limited. AJ Bell have been very good; I've only ever had good service from them.

A withdrawal rate of 3% should be fine under all conditions, but you might be able to withdraw more safe if you have any DB pensions and a full state pension. If you've not obtained a recent state pension forecast, I would suggest you do so.   

Steve182

Is your SW scheme occupational or private?

If occupational be sure to check you are not entitled to protected tax free cash (>25%)  first, which will normally be lost in a pension transfer.. I had 41% tax free cash in my occupational scheme. I transferred  out to AJ Bell 2 years ago without losing this benefit, but it was quite complicated and certain conditions needed to be met, which will not happen with a bog standard pension transfer.
 

garmeg

tacpot12 said:tacpot12 said:

I did exactly this move because access was painful and the fund choice was quite limited. AJ Bell have been very good; I've only ever had good service from them.

A withdrawal rate of 3% should be fine under all conditions, but you might be able to withdraw more safe if you have any DB pensions and a full state pension. If you've not obtained a recent state pension forecast, I would suggest you do so.   

I did exactly this move because access was painful and the fund choice was quite limited. AJ Bell have been very good; I've only ever had good service from them.

A withdrawal rate of 3% should be fine under all conditions, but you might be able to withdraw more safe if you have any DB pensions and a full state pension. If you've not obtained a recent state pension forecast, I would suggest you do so.   

You say 3% is safe and i would like to say it is but the calculator on Fisher Investments make it look a bit marginal at lower growth rates but their numbers look a bit pessimistic to me.

SteveC3

It's an occupational scheme with no extra tax free cash. What about funds selection with AJ Bell? I'm thinking of mainly equities in a tracker for say 50% to leave untouched for 5 to 10yrs and a 50/50 fund for the remainder from which I will draw from in the early years. Any recommendations on their funds?

Steve182

SteveC3 said:

It's an occupational scheme with no extra tax free cash. What about funds selection with AJ Bell? I'm thinking of mainly equities in a tracker for say 50% to leave untouched for 5 to 10yrs and a 50/50 fund for the remainder from which I will draw from in the early years. Any recommendations on their funds?

I must confess I don't use their funds, and most FA's would frown upon my own high risk/not so properly diversified asset allocation. I'm not personally a tracker fan. I have seen some successful active managers have added real value, well above the premium in fees charged. I'm a fan of SMT and Fundsmith. Others will disagree.

SteveC3

Steve182 said:

SteveC3 said:

It's an occupational scheme with no extra tax free cash. What about funds selection with AJ Bell? I'm thinking of mainly equities in a tracker for say 50% to leave untouched for 5 to 10yrs and a 50/50 fund for the remainder from which I will draw from in the early years. Any recommendations on their funds?

I must confess I don't use their funds, and most FA's would frown upon my own high risk/not so properly diversified asset allocation. I'm not personally a tracker fan. I have seen some successful active managers have added real value, well above the premium in fees charged. I'm a fan of SMT and Fundsmith. Others will disagree.

I was actually looking at the Fundsmith Equity fund within AJ Bell!

garmeg

Steve182 said:

SteveC3 said:

It's an occupational scheme with no extra tax free cash. What about funds selection with AJ Bell? I'm thinking of mainly equities in a tracker for say 50% to leave untouched for 5 to 10yrs and a 50/50 fund for the remainder from which I will draw from in the early years. Any recommendations on their funds?

I must confess I don't use their funds, and most FA's would frown upon my own high risk/not so properly diversified asset allocation. I'm not personally a tracker fan. I have seen some successful active managers have added real value, well above the premium in fees charged. I'm a fan of SMT and Fundsmith. Others will disagree.

Rathbone Global Opportunities and Blue Whale Growth are two more good funds.

i hold both of these.

Mind you Woodford was very good, until he wasn't.

Steve182

SteveC3 said:

Steve182 said:

SteveC3 said:

It's an occupational scheme with no extra tax free cash. What about funds selection with AJ Bell? I'm thinking of mainly equities in a tracker for say 50% to leave untouched for 5 to 10yrs and a 50/50 fund for the remainder from which I will draw from in the early years. Any recommendations on their funds?

I must confess I don't use their funds, and most FA's would frown upon my own high risk/not so properly diversified asset allocation. I'm not personally a tracker fan. I have seen some successful active managers have added real value, well above the premium in fees charged. I'm a fan of SMT and Fundsmith. Others will disagree.

I was actually looking at the Fundsmith Equity fund within AJ Bell!

Fundsmith has a fairly low risk rating on Trustnet (for equities). Currently it's 74. That means it's supposed to be 26% less volatile than FTSE100, which I'm sure it's outperformed every year since its inception
https://www.trustnet.com/factsheets/o/lsx3/fundsmith-equity-t-acc
Usual caveat about past performance being no guarantee etc etc ....

Steve182

garmeg said:

Steve182 said:

SteveC3 said:

It's an occupational scheme with no extra tax free cash. What about funds selection with AJ Bell? I'm thinking of mainly equities in a tracker for say 50% to leave untouched for 5 to 10yrs and a 50/50 fund for the remainder from which I will draw from in the early years. Any recommendations on their funds?

I must confess I don't use their funds, and most FA's would frown upon my own high risk/not so properly diversified asset allocation. I'm not personally a tracker fan. I have seen some successful active managers have added real value, well above the premium in fees charged. I'm a fan of SMT and Fundsmith. Others will disagree.

Rathbone Global Opportunities and Blue Whale Growth are two more good funds.

i hold both of these.

Mind you Woodford was very good, until he wasn't.

My very basic analogy on Woodford... making a comparison with the building trade...
Woodford had been an excellent carpenter for years, but one day he thought he could make more money as a bricklayer.  So he decided to open a bricklaying business, and encouraged people to invest in it. Everyone knew he had been a successful builder for years so they all backed him. Problem was that all his prior experience was in carpentry, and he had never laid a brick in his life. Most people (investors) didn't realise this .......no wonder it all came tumbling down.. 

BuildTheWall

SteveC3 said:

It's an occupational scheme with no extra tax free cash. What about funds selection with AJ Bell? I'm thinking of mainly equities in a tracker for say 50% to leave untouched for 5 to 10yrs and a 50/50 fund for the remainder from which I will draw from in the early years. Any recommendations on their funds?

For tracker funds, aren’t you better off with Vanguard platform? Or even iWeb if it’s a one off investment. Not sure if AJ Bell has a cap.