One year before drawdown - crazy to move SIPP (from LifeSight)?

TimeToEatCake

Thanks @Scrudgy.  That's very reassuring to hear.

MK62

TimeToEatCake said:

I have a concern too that my fund will be out of the market (think that LifeSight funds, whilst managed by LGIM, are bespoke so no option to move "in specie").  I think this might be too much of a risk given the size of my fund and the proximity to drawdown (although I can drawdown from my other SIPP with HL to start with) so I should probably make LifeSight work however I can.

    

If you are "de-risking" from 100% equities because you fear an equity market correction/crash devaluing your pension savings, then being out of the market might be a good thing....while it's possible you might miss out on any gains which might occur during that time, you'd also avoid any losses too (which, essentially, is the very point of "de-risking")

As for moving your pension, if your current provide/platform does not give you what you want, then the decision is fairly easy in my view.......there's no shortage of options, and transferring shouldn't be too much of a pain (though that varies with providers).......and if your current provider proves to be obstructive, would you really want to have stayed with them anyway?

TimeToEatCake

Thanks @MK62. Yes, you're right - since my primary objective at the moment is to avoid the impact of a correction, being out of the market is not a problem.  I've decided to move my fund; am just researching different providers now.

leosayer

My opinion hasn't changed. 

Lifesight don't offer short or intermediate term government bond funds so instead I met my fixed income allocation requirements via their cash fund and via funds on a separate SIPP.

That's far from ideal as I'm locked into Lifesight until next year but after that, I'll transfer to my SIPP.

arthur_fowler

leosayer said:

My opinion hasn't changed. 

Lifesight don't offer short or intermediate term government bond funds so instead I met my fixed income allocation requirements via their cash fund and via funds on a separate SIPP.

That's far from ideal as I'm locked into Lifesight until next year but after that, I'll transfer to my SIPP.

Have you looked at transferring out your existing pot?

I recently took a huge chunk out of my Lifesight pension but was able to leave it open for ongoing employer/employee contributions.

Bostonerimus1

FYI you should always look at your finances holistically, so if you have money with a couple of providers or DB pensions in addition to DC pensions then it might not matter than don't have good fixed income funds available in one if you do have them in the other. Also you can include the CETV of the DB pension as part of your fixed income portfolio. 

Also "de-risking" if you have maybe 30 or 40 years of retirement to fund has been show to be "more risky" than keeping a high equity allocation. Of course nothing is certain and the modeling uses historical data and personal circumstances are important, but bonds and gilts have their own issues.

leosayer

arthur_fowler said:

leosayer said:

My opinion hasn't changed. 

Lifesight don't offer short or intermediate term government bond funds so instead I met my fixed income allocation requirements via their cash fund and via funds on a separate SIPP.

That's far from ideal as I'm locked into Lifesight until next year but after that, I'll transfer to my SIPP.

Have you looked at transferring out your existing pot?

I recently took a huge chunk out of my Lifesight pension but was able to leave it open for ongoing employer/employee contributions.

Transferring out is not a feasible option for me because my Lifesight pot allows me to take >25% tax free cash due to a link to my DB pension.

TimeToEatCake

Bostonerimus1 said:

FYI you should always look at your finances holistically, so if you have money with a couple of providers or DB pensions in addition to DC pensions then it might not matter than don't have good fixed income funds available in one if you do have them in the other. Also you can include the CETV of the DB pension as part of your fixed income portfolio. 

Also "de-risking" if you have maybe 30 or 40 years of retirement to fund has been show to be "more risky" than keeping a high equity allocation. Of course nothing is certain and the modeling uses historical data and personal circumstances are important, but bonds and gilts have their own issues.

Thanks @Bostonerimus1.   It feels complicated (to me) because I'm trying to make sure I can fund the next 11 years before I access my DB pension (I can take earlier at a reduced annual amount but prefer not to because that and my SP are the way I'm going to be comfortable that I have income in the event of a long retirement).  Once I start accessing the DB pension I think I'll be fine with the DC in a high % of equities.

My HL SIPP has £115k in it so if I converted all of that to bonds/cash, it would be 18% of my DC pots that are fixed income.   There are also the other limitations of LifeSight like no income funds so probably best to move.  It fills me with dread though given the size of the pot and whether there could be a problem at transfer time (it was quite worrying when my low 5-figure pot was transferred in to LifeSight and it wasn't showing up in my account for two weeks after the previous provider told me that they had completed the transfer).  

Or maybe 18% of my DC pots in fixed income is sufficient if I also change some of my investments in my S&S ISAs which I am likely to need to withdraw over the 11 years.... urgh, I just need to make a decision...

TimeToEatCake

arthur_fowler said:

leosayer said:

My opinion hasn't changed. 

Lifesight don't offer short or intermediate term government bond funds so instead I met my fixed income allocation requirements via their cash fund and via funds on a separate SIPP.

That's far from ideal as I'm locked into Lifesight until next year but after that, I'll transfer to my SIPP.

Have you looked at transferring out your existing pot?

I recently took a huge chunk out of my Lifesight pension but was able to leave it open for ongoing employer/employee contributions.

@arthur_fowler, so you did partial transfer out of LifeSight without any problem? 

arthur_fowler

TimeToEatCake said:

arthur_fowler said:

leosayer said:

My opinion hasn't changed. 

Lifesight don't offer short or intermediate term government bond funds so instead I met my fixed income allocation requirements via their cash fund and via funds on a separate SIPP.

That's far from ideal as I'm locked into Lifesight until next year but after that, I'll transfer to my SIPP.

Have you looked at transferring out your existing pot?

I recently took a huge chunk out of my Lifesight pension but was able to leave it open for ongoing employer/employee contributions.

@arthur_fowler, so you did partial transfer out of LifeSight without any problem? 

I transferred out the entirety of the pot and left it open so that my employer and I can continue to contribute.