Do Standard Life charge a fee for transferring out a Workplace Pension to another provider?

mutterances

I have a Workplace Pension with Standard Life. It was setup by my former employer in about 2017.

I'm now starting a new job, and considering having my Workplace Pension with Nest. I'd like to transfer the existing pension pot away from Standard Life to Nest.

I've established Nest do not charge for transferring my pension in, but despite half an hour of searching, both on the Standard Life website and via Google, I cannot determine whether Standard Life will charge a fee for me transferring out to Nest.

Does anyone know what the current position on this is? Ideally, if you have a link to an article on the Standard Life website that clarifies if there is a charge or not, this would be appreciated.

Many thanks!

Brie

Easiest thing might be to ask for a transfer quote from Standard Life.

mutterances

Thanks Brie - I have just sent them a message too, but given the time of year especially I'm not too sure what their reply speed will be :-|

If nothing else I'm hopeful someone on this forum might have transferred away their Workplace Pension from Standard Life recently, and able to confirm if they were hit with fees - although I appreciate there may be some variability dependent on circumstances.

Thanks :-)

Albermarle

Normally there are no charges nowadays for transferring a pension, so seems unlikely that a mainstream provider like SL will have a charge, but probably still best to check.

mutterances

Albermarle said:

Normally there are no charges nowadays for transferring a pension, so seems unlikely that a mainstream provider like SL will have a charge, but probably still best to check.

Thank you, that's my thoughts too. I did come across a forum from 2019 that said they'd scraped transfer fees, but I worried there was an outside chance they may have introduced them recently! I'll share back on here when I get a response :-)

Albermarle

Why are you transferring by the way? Because of lower charges ? Often the standard SL charge(s) are discounted for workplace pensions, but it is not always that obvious from the paperwork. Maybe check this as well when you contact them.

mutterances

Albermarle said:

Why are you transferring by the way? Because of lower charges ? Often the standard SL charge(s) are discounted for workplace pensions, but it is not always that obvious from the paperwork. Maybe check this as well when you contact them.

Thanks for that

So the reasons are multiple tbh, including to do with a change of employment in the new year. Fees are relevant but honestly not the decider - the 'discounted rate' I'm getting with SL is 0.672% versus what Nest claim will be 0.3% if I switch to them though.

One of the things I like about Nest is their apparent stance on responsible investing - this may be partially green or white-washing, but I don't see that SL mention anything with regards to this in my policy or in their help portal, which makes me think their investments are far more likely to be in the fossil-fuel related industry and similar.

It might just be easiest for me to stick with SL for now and consider my options a few months further down the track. I don't think they are offering me anything I'm going to miss in switching to Nest, but at the same time it does look a bit of a hassle to get switched when a few other plates are currently already spinning!

mutterances

Btw, I've just heard back from Standard Life, and they have confirmed there are no fees (at least in my case) for transferring my Workplace Pension to another provider So that is answered at least!

Albermarle

mutterances said:

Albermarle said:

Why are you transferring by the way? Because of lower charges ? Often the standard SL charge(s) are discounted for workplace pensions, but it is not always that obvious from the paperwork. Maybe check this as well when you contact them.

Thanks for that

So the reasons are multiple tbh, including to do with a change of employment in the new year. Fees are relevant but honestly not the decider - the 'discounted rate' I'm getting with SL is 0.672% versus what Nest claim will be 0.3% if I switch to them though.

One of the things I like about Nest is their apparent stance on responsible investing - this may be partially green or white-washing, but I don't see that SL mention anything with regards to this in my policy or in their help portal, which makes me think their investments are far more likely to be in the fossil-fuel related industry and similar.

It might just be easiest for me to stick with SL for now and consider my options a few months further down the track. I don't think they are offering me anything I'm going to miss in switching to Nest, but at the same time it does look a bit of a hassle to get switched when a few other plates are currently already spinning!

Although transferred funds will be charged at 0.3%, any new contributions are hit with a 1.8% initial charge. This combination of a high initial charge ( almost unheard of elsewhere) and a low ongoing charge , is unique to NEST, amongst mainstream providers anyway.

Btw, I've just heard back from Standard Life

This is a tick for SL, as some providers response to queries is very slow/ even non existent at times.

mutterances

Albermarle said:

Although transferred funds will be charged at 0.3%, any new contributions are hit with a 1.8% initial charge. This combination of a high initial charge ( almost unheard of elsewhere) and a low ongoing charge , is unique to NEST, amongst mainstream providers anyway.

Btw, I've just heard back from Standard Life

This is a tick for SL, as some providers response to queries is very slow/ even non existent at times.

Very good point re the 1.8% contribution charge with Nest, thanks for pointing that out. I'm sure I would have seen that further along, but at this point that's most useful to do a bit of spreadsheet analysis on which is better over time.

And yes I agree, it was nice that SL came back to me so quick. This said, it was after I sent the third message that they confirmed there was no transfer-out fee, and their emails before this were pretty lacking!

engagedandopen

Have Standard Life not moved you into this, mutterances -

invsum_1esg.pdf (standardlife.co.uk)

Alternatively, if you're in their Managed fund, their Managed Multi-Asset 20-60% fund or their Stock Exchange fund (a managed global equity fund with, generally, a slight UK home bias), they have updated the objectives to include Responsible/ESG considerations.  They have gone all-in on Responsible Investing by default this year; check out their website.