Aegon Workplace SSIP

Gengis

Hi my employment TUPED over in 2022.  Prior to that I was with Aegon and had my pension invested in 4 separate funds.  On going the 'new' firm I am still with Aegon and have the same level of contributions but they have put me on Aegon Managed Core Retirement Pathway which does not look great.  I am 47 and the pension fund is around £310k -  I want to have around £650k by age 62 so I can retire.  I am not very confident in t/f the pension would you recommend obtaining advice from a FA to merge the pensions and select new funds if necessary.  i had some quotes of 2-3% of the fund which seems very high as all I need is some advice on the Ageon fund and where to invest so was hoping for a flat fee of say £300 - £400.  

Do you think a £650k + target is acheivable - i am contributing 23% of salary (including employer contirbution)  

Thanks 

Dazed_and_C0nfused

would you recommend obtaining advice from a FA

Definitely not.  There is very rarely a good reason to use a financial advisor (salesman).

An independent financial advisor would be a much better option (if you want advice).

Gengis

Thanks - sorry yes I did mean an independent FA.  

Albermarle

 i had some quotes of 2-3% of the fund which seems very high as all I need is some advice on the Ageon fund and where to invest so was hoping for a flat fee of say £300 - £400.  

The lowest fee I have ever heard was £500, but no idea if that is still available or not. For that you would get some portfolio recommendations but little else. ( No advice on family finances, tax issues etc )

Some investment platforms/pension providers offer their own advice services, that tend to be cheaper than an IFA, but will only recommend their own products. As already said an IFA is usually the best route, but you may at least want to investigate if Aegon have anything to offer.

Otherwise if you explain this comment ( ie why does it not look great?) but they have put me on Aegon Managed Core Retirement Pathway which does not look great. Plus detail the four funds in your previous pension, then you might get some good feedback on here.

Gengis

Thanks 
I thought the Managed Core fund was very low risk i.e. a lifestyle fund and you t/f to that fund when you are close to retirement?  the growth on the data sheet looks poor.

The other funds  are

1                 Aegon BNY Mellon MA Growth ARC Pn– 0.42% charges  - 

2                 Scot Eq BaillGiff 60/40 wweqpn arc – 0.35% charges 

3                 SE Uni LFS collection ARC– 0.11% - 

4                 Scot eq growth core ptfl ARC– 0.10% 

these did take a hit last year but seem to be recovering. 

if anyone can recommend other funds that would be appreciated or some tips on how to research them.  Aegon will not offer any advice which is frustrating hence the reason why I may need a IFA

thanks 

dunstonh

Aegon Workplace SSIP

I didn't think Aegon had a workplace SIPP. That is a new one for me.   Aegon retirement choices and Aegon Retire Ready are the main workplace pensions but neither is a SIPP.   In a later post, you mention your funds and they are ARC funds.   ARC is not a SIPP.  (not that it matters as you dont get any say in the matter with workplace pensions.  you get what you are given). 

  i had some quotes of 2-3% of the fund which seems very high as all I need is some advice on the Ageon fund and where to invest so was hoping for a flat fee of say £300 - £400.  

A flat fee is possible if you dont want to move to better product with better servicing.  However, £300-£400 is too low for the level of work required if you want to select within the existing pension.   And you should never use an FA.  The choice is either to DIY or use an IFA.  FAs are largely sales reps of their employers company (or agents of that company) or use wealth management methods via their preferred platform and DFM.

The lowest fee I have ever heard was £500, but no idea if that is still available or not. 

We used to have our cap & collar fee set with a minimum of £500 but not any more.     The number of hours to take on a transaction case from beginning to end just make £500 unrealistic.

if anyone can recommend other funds that would be appreciated or some tips on how to research them.  Aegon will not offer any advice which is frustrating hence the reason why I may need a IFA

Aegon won't offer advice because they are not advisers.   Advisers offer advice.  Product providers offer products.  Fund houses offer funds.    If you want advice, you seek an adviser.

The ARC range, for the benefit of others that don't have it, is comparable to the old fashioned fund supermarkets of 20 years ago (and the software Aegon use with ARC often feels the same way!).  They also have some insured funds and mutli-asset funds with underlying passives on their internal range that are low cost (0.05%-0.10%)

Gengis

Thanks yes it is ARC think will shop around fir an IFA

Albermarle

I thought the Managed Core fund was very low risk i.e. a lifestyle fund and you t/f to that fund when you are close to retirement?  the growth on the data sheet looks poor

I do not know this product specifically, but I doubt it is very low risk. It will still contain equities and bonds , which can both move around significantly in price, as we have seen in 2022.

Putting aside 2022, then the idea of these lifestyle funds is have a higher equity % until you get around 10 years before the predicted retirement age. Then slowly the equity % is reduced and the bond/gilt % is increased. This in itself is not such a bad thing except most of these lifestyle funds overdo the derisking. If you intend to go into drawdown, rather than buy an annuity, you really need to have a minimum 40% equity in the portfolio, usually more. 

LHW99

Some providers let you choose your "retirement date" - if you set that to 70 for example, there probably wouldn't be much lifestyling taking place before 62.

Pat38493

dunstonh said:

Aegon Workplace SSIP

I didn't think Aegon had a workplace SIPP. That is a new one for me.   Aegon retirement choices and Aegon Retire Ready are the main workplace pensions but neither is a SIPP.   In a later post, you mention your funds and they are ARC funds.   ARC is not a SIPP.  (not that it matters as you dont get any say in the matter with workplace pensions.  you get what you are given). 

  i had some quotes of 2-3% of the fund which seems very high as all I need is some advice on the Ageon fund and where to invest so was hoping for a flat fee of say £300 - £400.  

A flat fee is possible if you dont want to move to better product with better servicing.  However, £300-£400 is too low for the level of work required if you want to select within the existing pension.   And you should never use an FA.  The choice is either to DIY or use an IFA.  FAs are largely sales reps of their employers company (or agents of that company) or use wealth management methods via their preferred platform and DFM.

The lowest fee I have ever heard was £500, but no idea if that is still available or not. 

We used to have our cap & collar fee set with a minimum of £500 but not any more.     The number of hours to take on a transaction case from beginning to end just make £500 unrealistic.

if anyone can recommend other funds that would be appreciated or some tips on how to research them.  Aegon will not offer any advice which is frustrating hence the reason why I may need a IFA

Aegon won't offer advice because they are not advisers.   Advisers offer advice.  Product providers offer products.  Fund houses offer funds.    If you want advice, you seek an adviser.

The ARC range, for the benefit of others that don't have it, is comparable to the old fashioned fund supermarkets of 20 years ago (and the software Aegon use with ARC often feels the same way!).  They also have some insured funds and mutli-asset funds with underlying passives on their internal range that are low cost (0.05%-0.10%)

My employer pension is with Aegon and I have access to both Retireready and ARC.  The pension calls itself an "Aegon SIPP Pension" in Retirready and an "Aegon SIPP Uncrystallised" in ARC, and in ARC there seems to be a large number of options available for fund purchase.  However the SIPP might be a brand name as, so far as I can tell, you cannot directly purchase individual shares for example, which should be possible if it's a true SIPP I think.

dunstonh

Pat38493 said:

dunstonh said:

Aegon Workplace SSIP

I didn't think Aegon had a workplace SIPP. That is a new one for me.   Aegon retirement choices and Aegon Retire Ready are the main workplace pensions but neither is a SIPP.   In a later post, you mention your funds and they are ARC funds.   ARC is not a SIPP.  (not that it matters as you dont get any say in the matter with workplace pensions.  you get what you are given). 

  i had some quotes of 2-3% of the fund which seems very high as all I need is some advice on the Ageon fund and where to invest so was hoping for a flat fee of say £300 - £400.  

A flat fee is possible if you dont want to move to better product with better servicing.  However, £300-£400 is too low for the level of work required if you want to select within the existing pension.   And you should never use an FA.  The choice is either to DIY or use an IFA.  FAs are largely sales reps of their employers company (or agents of that company) or use wealth management methods via their preferred platform and DFM.

The lowest fee I have ever heard was £500, but no idea if that is still available or not. 

We used to have our cap & collar fee set with a minimum of £500 but not any more.     The number of hours to take on a transaction case from beginning to end just make £500 unrealistic.

if anyone can recommend other funds that would be appreciated or some tips on how to research them.  Aegon will not offer any advice which is frustrating hence the reason why I may need a IFA

Aegon won't offer advice because they are not advisers.   Advisers offer advice.  Product providers offer products.  Fund houses offer funds.    If you want advice, you seek an adviser.

The ARC range, for the benefit of others that don't have it, is comparable to the old fashioned fund supermarkets of 20 years ago (and the software Aegon use with ARC often feels the same way!).  They also have some insured funds and mutli-asset funds with underlying passives on their internal range that are low cost (0.05%-0.10%)

My employer pension is with Aegon and I have access to both Retireready and ARC.  The pension calls itself an "Aegon SIPP Pension" in Retirready and an "Aegon SIPP Uncrystallised" in ARC, and in ARC there seems to be a large number of options available for fund purchase.  However the SIPP might be a brand name as, so far as I can tell, you cannot directly purchase individual shares for example, which should be possible if it's a true SIPP I think.

It is a bit of a trend for non SIPPs to market themselves as SIPPs.  However, the water is muddied by there being opinions on what a SIPP is.   

Many platform pensions that have whole of market investment selection but don't do property or unregulated investments do not refer to themselves as SIPPs.   Whilst pensions that clearly have very little, if any SIPP functionality, do refer to themselves as SIPPs.