Opportunity to move money from company pension

TheCyclingProgrammer

I was wondering if anyone could give some advice on how to best deal with a company pension account that has accumulated just under a 6 figure balance.

I have a SIPP that I used to contribute to regularly when I ran my own business - I regularly invested into Vanguard Lifestrategy 80% and my investment is about 23% up overall, but since I became employed a few years ago I stopped contributing to it. I have been contributing a regular amount into my company pension that was operated through Smart Pension - they had a limited number of funds, I was investing in their highest risk fund, I moved this into a moderate risk fund during COVID and then left it alone. It hasn't performed brilliantly.

My employer has now switched to Scottish Widows which I believe means I should now be free to close my Smart Pension account and transfer the balance - I guess I could transfer it over to my new company pension or transfer it into my SIPP and start investing the funds into Vanguard. I haven't yet been able to see the range of funds available to me through Scottish Widows but I've been told I should have a wider selection.

For the amounts we're talking about, is it worth paying to speak to an IFA? My first thought was to just transfer to my SIPP and start investing into Lifestrategy 80%, maybe over the course of 12 months rather than in one lump sum but I'm not really sure.

soulsaver

Pensions threads: Pensions, annuities & retirement planning — MoneySavingExpert Forum

TheCyclingProgrammer

Sorry, I didn't realise there was a dedicated pensions board - can a moderator move this?