Vanguard pension - run a mile?

cmundo

I’ve just transferred out of Vanguard to ii as wanted to access wider investment opportunities.  Transfer took 20 working days which I felt a bit excessive as both use origo and I had sold down investment so everything was in cash.
I found Vanguards communication and query response a bit lacking and ambiguous which didn’t fill me with much confidence. 

VXman

No problems transferring pension in and used Vanguard for years and found their communication good.

However - I am currently on day 8 if waiting for cash to hit my bank account for a one off drawdown pension withdrawal. They do state it could take 5 business days which I think is too long anyway but 8!  Meanwhile £30K is floating around somewhere uninvested. Tried to ring yesterday but gave up after 1 hour waiting. 

dunstonh

 They do state it could take 5 business days which I think is too long anyway but 8!  

Do remember that the quoted timescales usually includes the trade and settlement period and payroll processing time.  It can take 3 days for Vanguard to get the money from the sale of funds

xylophone

Only occupational pensions tend to be slower and that is usually because a) they don't use Origo and b) they use professional administrators and they are usually awful for service times.

OP has said that the pensions he is seeking to transfer are currently with

 NOW and Aviva

It seems odd that he should be told

"Transfer not available for selected account"

and not be able to get any explanation.

VXman

dunstonh said:

 They do state it could take 5 business days which I think is too long anyway but 8!  

Do remember that the quoted timescales usually includes the trade and settlement period and payroll processing time.  It can take 3 days for Vanguard to get the money from the sale of funds

Just got through on the phone. Only 10 mins this time so that's better. Apparently they had a systems failure a day or two ago so were playing catchup.

Yes - timescales he explained. They state 4 to 5 working days but that is just to sell. Then its another 3/4 days to process the cash. To me that seems a bit lengthy - I'm sure they could do it quicker if they wanted.

moedeeb

I transferred my workplace DC to Vanguard and as it was paper based rather than Origo it ended up taking 4 months. There were simple mistakes on both sides and I had to act as a middle man with basics like correct email addresses etc. In the end it happened but I was about to scrap the whole thing as I needed some of my lump sum. I Think the lesson is to remove any stress and help where you can. Now I am with Vanguard things seem OK

Exodi

Transferred two pensions to Vanguard, no issues with either.

Communication is relatively quick through secure message (usually 1 day).

dunstonh

VXman said:

dunstonh said:

 They do state it could take 5 business days which I think is too long anyway but 8!  

Do remember that the quoted timescales usually includes the trade and settlement period and payroll processing time.  It can take 3 days for Vanguard to get the money from the sale of funds

Just got through on the phone. Only 10 mins this time so that's better. Apparently they had a systems failure a day or two ago so were playing catchup.

Yes - timescales he explained. They state 4 to 5 working days but that is just to sell. Then its another 3/4 days to process the cash. To me that seems a bit lengthy - I'm sure they could do it quicker if they wanted.

If it was the tax free cash, some platforms will pay it within minutes of it being keyed via CHAPS (assuming cash is available).   If its the taxable element, then going through payroll will add time.  That is inevitable.

So, CHAPS instead of BACs could speed it up but payroll delays would still exist.

Hoenir

VXman said:

dunstonh said:

 They do state it could take 5 business days which I think is too long anyway but 8!  

Do remember that the quoted timescales usually includes the trade and settlement period and payroll processing time.  It can take 3 days for Vanguard to get the money from the sale of funds

Yes - timescales he explained. They state 4 to 5 working days but that is just to sell. Then its another 3/4 days to process the cash. To me that seems a bit lengthy - I'm sure they could do it quicker if they wanted.

To process the cash they need to run a payroll. There'll be checks and balances performed as part of the process. Not just a question of arranging a BACs run. Which in itself takes two business days.