Drawdown experiences

SouthCoastBoy

Once I leave my current workplace I'm planning to move my company pension (to my knowledge Willis Tower Watson don't provide drawdown) to a new provider, I think it is going to be between AJ Bell, Fidelity, H&L and II. I currently use H&L for my S&S ISA and Personal SIPP but a bit pricey so most probably will go somewhere else with the company pension. Current value of company SIPP is approx £400k.

If anybody has any experiences of the above providers I will be interesting in reading them, especially with regards to drawdown. Thanks in advance.

Albermarle

I have not started drawdown yet ( although relatively newly retired) but I have some experience of Fidelity.
Like HL, their charges are 'all in ' ie no extra charges for almost anything eg withdrawals.
For a £400K SIPP the discounted platform charge (0.2%) is for all of it  ( not just the part above £250K , like HL and AJ Bell) 
For exchange traded funds ( shares, ETF's & IT's) the platform charge is capped at £45 in the SIPP ( £200 at HL; £100 at Aj Bell) 
II is different of course , because they have a fixed rather than % charge . So normally works out cheaper , for funds anyway.
Fidelity ( and HL) keep crystallised and uncrystallised funds separate , but others usually do not and just have a % figure.

coyrls

I think you need to decide how you are going to manage your drawdown payments and then decide which platform provides the best support for your method.  I use II for drawdown with no problems but my drawdown method is very simple: a single annual withdrawal from fully crystallised funds.

tacpot12

I'm with AJ Bell and have my pension portfolio in drawdown. I'm pleased with the service and the costs. Currently AJ Bells fees per annum are under 0.1% of the portfolio value.

squirrelpie

I use HL and have a SIPP in drawdown. Service is good and range of investments is wide. I use ITs and ETFs instead of funds, as a matter of personal preference of investment vehicles, so my fees are limited as already mentioned.

jim8888

I'm using Interactive Investor and my DOH is using Fidelity on drawdown at the moment. We are taking a monthly income from each pot of £1040 which keeps us within the annual tax free allowance. You do need to know a bit about what you are doing - you'll have to sell investments to convert to cash that you can then withdraw, for example - but I'm sure both these companies will help you with the process. I was thankful that I did understand a bit about investing and pensions before I entered drawdown, so the more thought you give to a withdrawal strategy, the better. It took me about a year to decide on how I wanted to take our pensions, a lot of it spent on these boards! 

ian16527

I have just started the drawdown process with Fidelity.

The initial call was about 45mins to set it up and they then send a illustration out with another form to complete. You can tell them which funds you want to move on this form also.

You don't have to convert funds to cash, they will transfer pro rata to the drawdown account if you do nothing.

I haven't set up a monthly drawdown figure yet, but the TFLS is due to be paid tomorrow according to the pending orders page.

There was also talk of a monthly UFPLS service starting later in the year via the website. Currently you have to do this manually each time.

Albermarle

There was also talk of a monthly UFPLS service starting later in the year via the website. Currently you have to do this manually each time.

There have been a number of past threads where posters wanted to do this , but it seems not possible with a number of retail providers, so this could be a good development for some.

Linton

My wife uses AJBell.    Everything has been handled efficiently and there have been no problems but we she only takes occasional lump sums.  It is up to you to ensure that there is sufficient cash in the account about 2 weeks before their monthly "payroll" run.

L9XSS

Used small pots rule for H&L and Fidelity.....both excellent and efficient and no charge.
AJ Bell wanted to charge £295 plus VAT.............

Linton

L9XSS said:

Used small pots rule for H&L and Fidelity.....both excellent and efficient and no charge.
AJ Bell wanted to charge £295 plus VAT.............

Isn't the charge because you transferred in and wanted to close/ransfer out within 12 months?  I dont believe there otherwise is any charge by AJBell for using the small pots rule. See https://www.youinvest.co.uk/sipp/charges-and-rates