Insistent client transfer

NannaH

I’ve been having a discussion on another site with someone with a DB pension with a projected £1000 a year income, hovering around £30k cetv -  they are adamant that they’ve found a company who will do a transfer against advice, called Square Mile.    I find this hard to believe, given the people on here over the last couple of years who’ve found it impossible. 

NoMore

Defined Benefit (DB) pension transfer advice | Square Mile Asset Management | Independent Wealth Management | London (sm-asset.com)

I assume its the above, they do mention they take on "insistent clients assuming FCA guidance is followed in full"

Whether they actually do or not I don't know.

NannaH

She’s allegedly spoken to them to confirm but hasn’t been forthcoming with any charges or other details. 

Why would they be able to do it when no other company can?  🙄

Pat38493

Probably they will set up a stakeholder pension and transfer it in to that?

Marcon

NannaH said:

I’ve been having a discussion on another site with someone with a DB pension with a projected £1000 a year income, hovering around £30k cetv -  they are adamant that they’ve found a company who will do a transfer against advice, called Square Mile.    I find this hard to believe, given the people on here over the last couple of years who’ve found it impossible. 

It isn't impossible and never has been. A stakeholder pension is required to accept any transfer from any UK registered pension scheme. The member can do the transfer themself, so no need to be an insistent client.

Advice is still needed if the transfer is £30K+ and the transferring scheme has 'safeguarded rights' of any sort, to allow the transferring scheme to release the funds to the new pension arrangement. They don't need to see the advice, let alone check if the member is following it; the requirement is simply that the member has 'received advice'.

The problem was that people on this forum were reluctant to accept they were wrong, so the myth was perpetuated for far too long eg https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6417848/insistent-client-pension-transfer

NannaH

Nobody, to my knowledge,  has done the stakeholder db transfer thing on here,  people would be shouting about it all over the shop if they had.  ‘Friend of a friend hearsay doesn’t count 😉

Marcon

NannaH said:

Nobody, to my knowledge,  has done the stakeholder db transfer thing on here,  people would be shouting about it all over the shop if they had.  ‘Friend of a friend hearsay doesn’t count 😉

Other people have confirmed it: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6429497/pension-value-halved/p2

I have seen it, more than once. I just don't feel any need to 'shout it all over the shop'.

Transfers are governed by legislation, not what people post on a forum!

NannaH

No,
that wasn’t confirmation. 

Albermarle

NannaH said:

She’s allegedly spoken to them to confirm but hasn’t been forthcoming with any charges or other details. 

Why would they be able to do it when no other company can?  🙄

AIUI, any pension provider could take an insistent client if the correct process had been followed. The issue is that they do not want to take them on, due to fear of future litigation/compensation claims.
If I remember correctly AJ Bell and Pension Bee would accept transfers from insistent clients until a couple of years ago.

dunstonh

NannaH said:

Nobody, to my knowledge,  has done the stakeholder db transfer thing on here,  people would be shouting about it all over the shop if they had.  ‘Friend of a friend hearsay doesn’t count 😉

I was in that camp too.    With all those threads over long periods that said to people "try a stakeholder", not one of them came back and said it worked.  Some of the posters kept moaning and moaning and you would have thought they would have posted that it worked for them, but they didn't.      With the few stakeholders remaining available a couple were intermediary only but a couple, as it turned out, were not but we couldn't be sure as no-one had confirmed it worked.

However, eventually, there was a thread where someone said it worked for them.   It was known to be possible at the product level.  That was never in doubt.   The issue was whether the distribution method would block it (i.e. if the sales involved an intermediary or not).   And it turns out Aviva and Standard Life do not use intermediaries (in-house salesforce) to do it.  So, they accept it.

they are adamant that they’ve found a company who will do a transfer against advice, called Square Mile.    I find this hard to believe, given the people on here over the last couple of years who’ve found it impossible. 

They are an intermediary.   The decision by an intermediary to do it on an insistent client basis is one that every firm makes for itself.   However, the information coming from PI brokers was that advisers should not do insistent client transfers.     However, if an intermediary has decided to do it then that is their choice and at their risk.   The vast majority of intermediaries and most product providers stopped accepting insistent clients.

Probably they will set up a stakeholder pension and transfer it in to that?

No need.  If an intermediary sets up a pension, they take on the liability for the sale.  So, it doesn't need to be a stakeholder.  It can be any pension they like.    The stakeholder route is useful for when you get an adviser that says a transfer is unsuitable and wont transact on insistent client basis.

xylophone

The stakeholder route is useful for when you get an adviser that says a transfer is unsuitable and wont transact on insistent client basis.

Best to set it up with either of SL or Aviva before attempting any transfer in.....?

As for Square Mile - post 12 here refers

https://moneyforums.citywire.com/yaf_postst15702_SIPP-Insistent-Client-Transfers.aspx