Smart Pension

slenderkitten

HI i have 2 small pensions one with nest the other with Smart Pensions, i don't know much about the latter.

Generally speaking, is it better to put everything into one pension account?  Can i ask my employer to put the monehy into an account that i wish to use?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

slenderkitten said:

HI i have 2 small pensions one with nest the other with Smart Pensions, i don't know much about the latter.

Generally speaking, is it better to put everything into one pension account?  Can i ask my employer to put the monehy into an account that i wish to use?

Highly unlikely, if they did that for you they could end up doing it for everyone and that could be a nightmare for whoever does the payroll.  They could have 100 employees and 100 different pension schemes to deal with.

You may be able to transfer money from your employers scheme to a pension of your choosing every now and again but realistically there will only be one place they will pay the contributions into in the first place.

Albermarle

slenderkitten said:

HI i have 2 small pensions one with nest the other with Smart Pensions, i don't know much about the latter.

Generally speaking, is it better to put everything into one pension account?  Can i ask my employer to put the monehy into an account that i wish to use?

Nest and Smart have a similar offering. They have  a similar ongoing charge, although Nest is a bit cheaper but they charge 1.8% on contributions, which is a bit unique nowadays.
They both offer a small range of investments ( about 10)
The performance of the investments your money is in, far outweighs small difference in charges and who the pension provider is. 

slenderkitten

Smart pension charges £1.75 a month, nest i not sure what nest charges me.  just wondered if better to put them in to one.  nest only offer the below funds to pick from

Nest Retirement Date Fund  - it defaults to this one, i changed it from this one to the sharia one and got an increase of a hundread pounds in the first week 

Nest Ethical Fund

Nest Sharia Fund

Nest Higher Risk Fund

Nest Lower Growth Fund

Five-year cumulative performance*

This is the total amount earned on money invested five years ago

Nest 2040 Retirement Date Fund (growth phase)	Nest Ethical Fund (growth phase)	Nest Higher Risk Fund	Nest Lower Growth Fund	Nest Sharia Fund
46.7%	46.3%	51.0%	7.1%	116.1%

Five-year annualised total return*

This is the average amount of money earned by this fund each year, over the last five years

Nest 2040 Retirement Date Fund (growth phase)	Nest Ethical Fund (growth phase)	Nest Higher Risk Fund	Nest Lower Growth Fund	Nest Sharia Fund
8.0%	7.9%	8.6%	1.4%	16.7%

Annual total performance* 

This is the average amount of money earned by this fund since launch

Nest 2040 Retirement Date Fund (growth phase)	Nest Ethical Fund (growth phase)	Nest Higher Risk Fund	Nest Lower Growth Fund	Nest Sharia Fund
8.0%	8.8%	9.1%	0.7%	13.7%

What do these funds invest in?

Nest 2040 Retirement Date Fund (growth phase)	Nest Ethical Fund (growth phase)	Nest Higher Risk Fund	Nest Lower Growth Fund	Nest Sharia Fund
Excludes tobacco, controversial weapons, and in the process of excluding fossil fuel-related companies that won’t help us achieve net zero carbon emissions	Only invests in companies and investments that pass our ethical policy standards	Excludes tobacco, controversial weapons, and in the process of excluding fossil fuel-related companies who won’t help us achieve net zero carbon emissions	Only invests in bonds	Only invests in Sharia-compliant company shares

smart pension 

Managed options

Smart Sustainable Growth Core

Smart Sustainable Growth

Smart Sustainable Growth Plus

Do it yourself options

• Smart Sustainable Growth Fund
  Aims to take advantage of Environmental, Social and Governance factors by investing more in companies which score well in these areas and benefit people and the planet by allocating to investments which help with environmental and social issues.
  Fund fact sheet
  Amount to invest

  Enter a whole number without decimal points.

  
  
• Smart Global Bond Index Fund
  Aims to invest in different types of bonds in the UK and overseas, taking into account Environmental, Social and Governance factors.
  Fund fact sheet
  
  
• Smart Sharia Fund
  Aims to create long term appreciation of capital through investment in a diversified portfolio of securities which meets Islamic investment principles.
  Fund fact sheet
• 
  
• Smart Annuity Fund
  The Fund aims to improve potential outcomes for investors likely to purchase fixed annuities by providing a diversified exposure to assets that reflect the broad characteristics of investments underlying a typical traditional level annuity product.
  Fund fact sheet
  
• 
  
• Smart Income Fund
  Aims to provide long-term investment growth up to retirement, and to support flexible income during retirement, taking into account Environmental, Social and Governance factors.
  Fund fact sheet
• 
  
• Smart Cash Fund
  Aims to maintain capital and provide a return in-line with money market rates by investing in a range of money market securities denominated in sterling.
  Fund fact sheet
  
  
• Smart All Stocks Index-Linked Gilts Index Fund
  Aims to track the return of the FTSE Actuaries British Government Index-Linked All Stocks Index, which features UK government bonds with returns linked to the Retail Price Index (RPI).
  Fund fact sheet
  
  

  
  
• Smart World Emerging Markets Equity Index Fund
  Aims to provide access to key emerging economies taking into account Environmental, Social and Governance factors.
  Fund fact sheet
• 
  
• Smart North America Equity Index Fund
  Aims to provide broad exposure to companies in the North American equity market, taking into account Environmental, Social and Governance factors.
  Fund fact sheet
  
  
• Smart World (ex UK) Developed Equity Index Fund
  Aims to provide broad exposure to large and mid-cap companies in the developed world, excluding the UK, taking into account Environmental, Social and Governance factors.
  Fund fact sheet
  
  
• Smart UK Equity Index Fund
  Aims to track the return of the FTSE 100 Index, which contains the largest listed companies on the UK stock market
  Fund fact sheet
  
  
• Smart Ethical and Climate Fund
  Aims to track a filtered index, which excludes companies that operate in industries that breach certain ethical criteria.
  Fund fact sheet
  
  
• Smart Growth Fund - Lower risk
  This fund carries the lowest risk of fluctuation to your savings than other growth funds available but also reduced likelihood of a high return, but it may be suitable if you are concerned about volatility.
  Fund fact sheet
  
  
• Smart Growth Fund - Higher risk
  This fund carries a higher risk of fluctuation to your savings than other growth funds available but has the potential for high growth, though this is not guaranteed.
  Fund fact sheet
  
  
• Smart Sustainable Growth Core
  Aims to take advantage of Environmental, Social and Governance factors by investing more in companies which score well in these areas.
  Fund fact sheet
  
  
• Smart Sustainable Growth Plus
  Aims to take advantage of Environmental, Social and Governance factors and benefit people and the planet by having a high allocation to investments contributing to solutions for environmental and social issues.
  Fund fact sheet
  
  
• Smart Active Impact Equity Fund
  The aim of this fund is to invest in equities which provide growth over the long term (being a period of five years or more) and invest in companies that contribute to the achievement of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
  Fund fact sheet
  
  
• Smart Active Impact Bond Fund

  Aims to invest in bonds which have an environmental impact and generate financial return above the global green bond market, taking into account Environmental, Social and Governance issues when selecting investments.

  Fund fact sheet
  
  

I'm considering the do it yourself, can anyone help me understand which to go for?

Albermarle

Smart charges 0.3% of your total funds per year + £1.75 a month

Nest charges 0.3% of your total funds per year, but a one off 1.8% charge on your contributions.

I'm considering the do it yourself, can anyone help me understand which to go for?

Which investment to choose is different for different people. It depends largely on your age and your risk tolerance ( in simple terms will you panic if the investment plummets 40%, or 30%, or 20 % etc) 
Other factors include what are objectives, to retire early, retire with a basic income or aiming higher.

The issue is you are asking for personal financial advice when nobody knows you or your situation. In the end if you DIY, you have to decide yourself. 

slenderkitten

Albermarle said:

Smart charges 0.3% of your total funds per year + £1.75 a month

Nest charges 0.3% of your total funds per year, but a one off 1.8% charge on your contributions.

I'm considering the do it yourself, can anyone help me understand which to go for?

Which investment to choose is different for different people. It depends largely on your age and your risk tolerance ( in simple terms will you panic if the investment plummets 40%, or 30%, or 20 % etc) 
Other factors include what are objectives, to retire early, retire with a basic income or aiming higher.

The issue is you are asking for personal financial advice when nobody knows you or your situation. In the end if you DIY, you have to decide yourself. 

i'm looking at the funds fact sheet for each of them i dont yet understand how to interpret the graphs on there, how do i understand them?

i'm in my mid 40's there's no chance of early retirement, i'll retire when I am no longer able to, i've only started this pension last year so there isn't much in it.  I'm looking at medium risk right now, I dont know which of the above are high risk and what their performance is like. 

I was going to go for sharia though i'm not sure again, the factsheet isnt clear enough for me even their managed ones I don't know much about them.  I would be interested in the sharia one as the nest one is far  out-performing their other offerings right now.

I've also heard people talking about sipp pension, and people stating I should "invest in pension"; i am not sure if they mean just adding more money into my existing pensions or opening this sipp pension or something else; I know nothing about all this?

Any help?

Marcon

slenderkitten said:

I've also heard people talking about sipp pension, and people stating I should "invest in pension"; i am not sure if they mean just adding more money into my existing pensions or opening this sipp pension or something else; I know nothing about all this?

You are investing in a pension if you're contributing to your employer's workplace scheme. To help you understand the basics, do some reading such as https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/

Pasting a huge wall of text isn't helpful to anyone and is likely to deter people from reading your thread, so you might want to delete it to encourage people to respond.

Going the DIY route is only for those who know what they're doing - and looking at your posts,  you don't remotely fall into that category (join about 99% of the population on that one!). If the pensions are still only 'small', you've not really got much cash to play with, so taking under-informed risks probably isn't going to be your best bet.

slenderkitten said:

HI i have 2 small pensions one with nest the other with Smart Pensions, i don't know much about the latter.

Generally speaking, is it better to put everything into one pension account?  Can i ask my employer to put the monehy into an account that i wish to use?

Maybe look at Smart Pension's website?

Nothing at all wrong with having two different pensions - and no, your employer won't change their preferred choice of provider.

slenderkitten

Marcon said:

slenderkitten said:

I've also heard people talking about sipp pension, and people stating I should "invest in pension"; i am not sure if they mean just adding more money into my existing pensions or opening this sipp pension or something else; I know nothing about all this?

You are investing in a pension if you're contributing to your employer's workplace scheme. To help you understand the basics, do some reading such as https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/

Pasting a huge wall of text isn't helpful to anyone and is likely to deter people from reading your thread, so you might want to delete it to encourage people to respond.

Going the DIY route is only for those who know what they're doing - and looking at your posts,  you don't remotely fall into that category (join about 99% of the population on that one!). If the pensions are still only 'small', you've not really got much cash to play with, so taking under-informed risks probably isn't going to be your best bet.

slenderkitten said:

HI i have 2 small pensions one with nest the other with Smart Pensions, i don't know much about the latter.

Generally speaking, is it better to put everything into one pension account?  Can i ask my employer to put the monehy into an account that i wish to use?

Maybe look at Smart Pension's website?

Nothing at all wrong with having two different pensions - and no, your employer won't change their preferred choice of provider.

Do employers have to pay any additional admin fees to set up and run pension plan? 

slenderkitten

Hi, 

I have 2 pensions one with Nest the other with Smart Pension, I need to increase what is in them.

I've read some posts about SIPP's, and others stating I should invest in pension.  I'm wondering if I should open a SIPP or not, or just pay additional money into my existing pensions?

Any thoughts?

Albermarle

slenderkitten said:

Hi, 

I have 2 pensions one with Nest the other with Smart Pension, I need to increase what is in them.

I've read some posts about SIPP's, and others stating I should invest in pension.  I'm wondering if I should open a SIPP or not, or just pay additional money into my existing pensions?

Any thoughts?

A SIPP will just have a lot more choice of investments. From your other thread it seems you are struggling with the investment choice in Nest and Smart, so having a lot more choice is probably not a good idea. 

Albermarle

slenderkitten said:

Marcon said:

slenderkitten said:

I've also heard people talking about sipp pension, and people stating I should "invest in pension"; i am not sure if they mean just adding more money into my existing pensions or opening this sipp pension or something else; I know nothing about all this?

You are investing in a pension if you're contributing to your employer's workplace scheme. To help you understand the basics, do some reading such as https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/

Pasting a huge wall of text isn't helpful to anyone and is likely to deter people from reading your thread, so you might want to delete it to encourage people to respond.

Going the DIY route is only for those who know what they're doing - and looking at your posts,  you don't remotely fall into that category (join about 99% of the population on that one!). If the pensions are still only 'small', you've not really got much cash to play with, so taking under-informed risks probably isn't going to be your best bet.

slenderkitten said:

HI i have 2 small pensions one with nest the other with Smart Pensions, i don't know much about the latter.

Generally speaking, is it better to put everything into one pension account?  Can i ask my employer to put the monehy into an account that i wish to use?

Maybe look at Smart Pension's website?

Nothing at all wrong with having two different pensions - and no, your employer won't change their preferred choice of provider.

Do employers have to pay any additional admin fees to set up and run pension plan? 

Yes, they will have a contract with their chosen provider. Plus the payroll dept will be reluctant to send contributions to more than one provider, as too much hassle.