Magement of pensions

noclaf

I would not discount the Standard Life (SL) pension depending on how their fees stack up Vs HL.
My former work pension scheme used Standard Life and in hindsight think I should of considered keeping the funds there as had a good selection of Vanguard passive funds and overall fees (platform and funds) were competitive + a decent and easy-to-use website. SL have various different employer schemes so assume there are both good and average ones in terms of fund choices and fees but having a narrow set of funds isn't always a bad thing if it stops you chopping and changing.

If I were in your position, would review all fees and if applicable benefits linked to your work pensions then assuming no other benefits of retaining the current 3 pensions consolidate into one platform (HL?), pick a single global equity fund from one of the established players (Vanguard/HSBC/BlackRock/Fidelity...yes there are others but to keep simple) invest the whole lot into that single fund then review periodically as required and get on with life.....don't be like me who reviews far too often and obsesses My over-simplified view but with a similar timeframe to you I am loosely following that approach.

squirrelpie

HL is an expensive platform if you invest in 'funds', but its charges are limited if you invest in exchange-traded instruments (shares, ETFs, ITs etc). I find their website and customer service to be good.

LHW99

And thanks for your comments on SJT - I know these people through other contacts and they have advised that they can get more value from my money than where it is at the moment 9obviously with the standard caveats)

I suspect they can (get more value) - the question is, will you get more value

Albermarle

Timbo29 said:

Hello all

I've read quite a few posts and thank you for all the contributions. I was interested in people thoughts on my circumstances. My pots are as follows. 

A lifesight worth £12 
A HL SIPP worth £8k
A standard life pension worth £22k

As I am now self employed with still at least 20 years to work, I'm looking to get rid of my HL product as it has grown steadily I got hit previously. 

I'm considering using a SJP financial advisor or another independent financial advisors and not sure if I should only give my HL product? 

Just be aware that you will be lucky to find an advisor interested to manage the whole £42K, never mind just the £8K.
Although if you plan to keep contributing that will help.
Also note that even an IFA will want to combine all three pensions into one that they use, and there will be an initial charge of >£1000 and an ongoing charge of 1%.
Cheaper than SJP though. 

penners324

You'd be better rolling everything in HL.

Not sure the pots are big enough to get an IFA involved.

bjorn_toby_wilde

Worth checking the suggestion above from @noclaf about using your Standard Life pension. Often employers negotiate pretty low charges on occupational pensions and they may be lower than you’re getting at HL.

If the choice of funds is good then it might be cheaper than the other options.

Timbo29

bjorn_toby_wilde@penners324@Albermarle@LHW99@squirrelpie@noclaf

I fee like I have got my head around things more now. I'll continue to review the performance and fees over the next year. 

Moonwolf

As others have said, put everything into your Hargreaves Lansdown or, if the Standard Life is an old employer scheme with a good discount and you get the discount on funds that you add, perhaps use that one. 

If you are trying to chose between the two it is worth looking at the online and app offering as well to see which you find easiest.

Select global tracker funds, like the Vanguard suggested above and carry on adding to it. If you are nervous because of Woodward, tracker funds are less at the whim of the fund manager and have two or three different ones.

For reference I rolled everything into Standard Life because I kept the employer scheme "discount" of 0.72% so I have a total charge of 0.295% or 0.294% on tracker funds AND they have generally grown by more than managed funds, and I'm not paying an IFA.

I do have a small percentage in couple of managed funds but they are expensive (pushing my total charges up to 0.34% at the moment) and poorly performing so I really should have given up on them by now.
 

Wobble101

I’m fairly new to this too but there is good advice earlier, especially about going with a diversified tracker fund. 

I too would caution against SJP - relative to the value of your portfolio it is going to cost you a lot, with ongoing costs as well as the initial fee. 

Have you come across the Meaningful Money podcast series - lots of information there about how to do this yourself. Worth a listen?