Ongoing search for a place for my pension

Brie

Well I've been chipping away at my occupational schemes and now just have one to sort out.  

It's a DC scheme and must either be put into an annuity or transferred out to another pension of some sort.  I've pretty much ruled out annuities as everything I've seen about them says they are not good value currently.  (happy to be told I'm wrong if I am)

So like everyone else who has posted here I've taken the advice that I need to find an IFA.  And goodness knows I've tried.  One has told me a can't have a pension in the UK as I'm not a UK citizen.  Another just stopped responding to any messages (& no I wasn't badgering him).  The latest I started talking to in December and after an online meeting he submitted some queries to the scheme in February.  No word on any progress so I emailed mid April (knowing how busy end of tax year is I didn't want to try earlier).  He responded to say the team he's in had been busy but he'd chase up the scheme for the info he needed.  No word again on anything.  I phoned the scheme admin today and apparently they had replied to him in April stating that my authority was out of date.  He hasn't bothered to contact me about this so obviously nothing has been progressed at all.  I'm thinking I don't want to be putting up with bad customer service like this so am now looking at other options. 

So I think I could move the fund into a Barclays SIPP.  That apparently is just the wrapper and the fund would be with AJBell.  AJB has a £125+VAT annual fee plus other fees may be applied (but no info what).  And Barclays would have a £100 pa fee plus some specified ones.  But nothing said about any percentages.  I already have some accounts with Barclays hence this being a somewhat easy option.

Problem is that this being a SIPP would be execution only.  And I was really hoping to find a managed fund.  

Am I right in thinking that I have to continue my search for a IFA or simply go to a big firm that just has FAs available?  

Any suggestions?  Ideas?  Help???

Shimrod

Brie said:

Well I've been chipping away at my occupational schemes and now just have one to sort out.  

It's a DC scheme and must either be put into an annuity or transferred out to another pension of some sort.  I've pretty much ruled out annuities as everything I've seen about them says they are not good value currently.  (happy to be told I'm wrong if I am)

So like everyone else who has posted here I've taken the advice that I need to find an IFA.  And goodness knows I've tried.  One has told me a can't have a pension in the UK as I'm not a UK citizen.  Another just stopped responding to any messages (& no I wasn't badgering him).  The latest I started talking to in December and after an online meeting he submitted some queries to the scheme in February.  No word on any progress so I emailed mid April (knowing how busy end of tax year is I didn't want to try earlier).  He responded to say the team he's in had been busy but he'd chase up the scheme for the info he needed.  No word again on anything.  I phoned the scheme admin today and apparently they had replied to him in April stating that my authority was out of date.  He hasn't bothered to contact me about this so obviously nothing has been progressed at all.  I'm thinking I don't want to be putting up with bad customer service like this so am now looking at other options. 

So I think I could move the fund into a Barclays SIPP.  That apparently is just the wrapper and the fund would be with AJBell.  AJB has a £125+VAT annual fee plus other fees may be applied (but no info what).  And Barclays would have a £100 pa fee plus some specified ones.  But nothing said about any percentages.  I already have some accounts with Barclays hence this being a somewhat easy option.

Problem is that this being a SIPP would be execution only.  And I was really hoping to find a managed fund.  

Am I right in thinking that I have to continue my search for a IFA or simply go to a big firm that just has FAs available?  

Any suggestions?  Ideas?  Help???

The starting point for choosing a new platform is the monevator comparison table

https://monevator.com/compare-uk-cheapest-online-brokers/

You don't mention how big this pension is, but when deciding which platform to choose, consider whether flat fee (like ii) or percentage based charging is best based on the value of your pension. The Barclays SIPP is one of the more expensive offerings.

There have been a number of threads recently commenting that annuities are not good value - however annuity rates have gone up so it's something you may want to reconsider. There have been a number of threads on here recently making the same (incorrect) observation. 

Marcon

Brie said:

Well I've been chipping away at my occupational schemes and now just have one to sort out.  

It's a DC scheme and must either be put into an annuity or transferred out to another pension of some sort.  I've pretty much ruled out annuities as everything I've seen about them says they are not good value currently.  (happy to be told I'm wrong if I am)

Have you read any recent posts from @dunstonh on the subject? Currently good value, albeit rates are now dropping.

Why do you need a financial adviser - does your DC scheme have safeguarded benefits?

Brie

Marcon said:

Brie said:

Well I've been chipping away at my occupational schemes and now just have one to sort out.  

It's a DC scheme and must either be put into an annuity or transferred out to another pension of some sort.  I've pretty much ruled out annuities as everything I've seen about them says they are not good value currently.  (happy to be told I'm wrong if I am)

Have you read any recent posts from @dunstonh on the subject? Currently good value, albeit rates are now dropping.

Why do you need a financial adviser - does your DC scheme have safeguarded benefits?

is there some post in particular re @dunstonh?

And I'd need an FA of some sort if I had a SIPP as it's been a good 10 + years since I did any stock trading and don't want to get too deep into the whole thing again.

Marcon

Then maybe a non-SIPP pension would be better suited to your needs? A lot of people would be better off with that option, but the constant repetition of 'open a SIPP' makes many (especially novices) think they must be the way to go.

QrizB

Brie said:

Marcon said:

Brie said:

I've pretty much ruled out annuities as everything I've seen about them says they are not good value currently.

Have you read any recent posts from @dunstonh on the subject? Currently good value, albeit rates are now dropping.

Why do you need a financial adviser - does your DC scheme have safeguarded benefits?

is there some post in particular re @dunstonh?

You can see example annuity rates here:

https://www.hl.co.uk/retirement/annuities/best-buy-rates

And this post by dunstonh is typical of recent ones on the topic:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81503841/#Comment_81503841

Annuities are being sold like hotcakes at the moment.  The rates are the highest they have been since 2008.