Changing my pension investments - unable to do it without FA

ShoppingMum

Hi,

I rang Aviva and asked to have my pension changed to 80% cash and 20% low to medium share investment.  I am retiring in December 2025.  Aviva refused to do it and said it was their policy.

Is this correct and why I cannot deal with my own money the way I want?  

MyAviva only allows the change from one fund to another, but not to cash.

At the moment majority of my money is invested in the high risk shares.  This pension was an amalgamation of a few company pensions from the past places of employment.

What do I need to do in this case?  I am not very good at dealing with pension finance matters.

Thank you.

MX5huggy

What interest rate are Aviva paying on Cash ? 

What’s the approximate value? 

What are thinking if doing with the money in December? 

dunstonh

Is this correct and why I cannot deal with my own money the way I want?  

If you use a plan that does not have a cash account/facility, then you cannot transfer money into an account/facility that does not exist.

Whilst the newer Aviva platform has a cash facility (plans starting AV-) older plans do not.  However, many of those older plans will have a deposit fund that can be used instead.

In respect of funds, you have to state exactly which funds.  Aviva cannot pick them for you as they do not hold the regulatory permissions to give advice.

Changing my pension investments - unable to do it without FA

Your thread title doesn't match the content of your post.    
So, which is correct?

Marcon

ShoppingMum said:

Hi,

I rang Aviva and asked to have my pension changed to 80% cash and 20% low to medium share investment.  

Aviva refused to do it and said it was their policy.

Is this correct and why I cannot deal with my own money the way I want?  

Because your policy terms don't allow it:

ShoppingMum said:

 

MyAviva only allows the change from one fund to another, but not to cash.

Check what other funds they offer which offer which most closely align with your objective, or transfer to a newer style contract with Aviva.

DRS1

I suspect you may be invested in funds with Aviva and what you asked for is not a fund they would recognise.  You may want to try this
Fund Centre | Retirement fund information - Aviva
and see if you can get someone to let you know what funds are available for your particular pension.  They may have a cash fund (or they may call it a Deposit Fund) and a Global Equity Fund and you could split your pension 80/20 between those funds (I do not know what low to medium shares are but I imagine the global fund spreads the money around so you would be less exposed to Amazon going bust).
They may have a fund called Mixed Investment (0 - 35% shares) which you may want to look at (no idea what the non share investments are - unlikely to be all cash).

ShoppingMum

Thank you all!  There is so much to find out and check.  I will print all answers and analyse point by point.  

I was thinking that maybe the FA is required to change my pension into 80/20.  

Also, I know exactly which fund I want to change into but I did not want to discuss it further.  

I am very grateful for your input.

ShoppingMum

To add:  I will not be taking my pension out immediately in December, but I do not want to leave it to be influenced by volatile share market, hence 20% split.  I have other pensions to consider too.

kempiejon

ShoppingMum said:

To add:  I will not be taking my pension out immediately in December, but I do not want to leave it to be influenced by volatile share market, hence 20% split.  I have other pensions to consider too.

For those with several pensions who want to risk off one of them in expectation of drawdown shortly, might be better off to take a view about all of them at once and have that inform the strategy, rather than treat them in isolation.

ShoppingMum

Thank you.  Would you say that in this case I will need a FA?

kempiejon

ShoppingMum said:

Thank you.  Would you say that in this case I will need a FA?

Depending on the specifics of the pension in some cases not, most likely not as you described it as an amalgamation of a few older pensions and said MyAviva allow you to change funds. I think you need to get a handle on what you have though and if you're not inclined to do more learning to take personal control of your pensions provisions, tax planning and longterm financial plan and (I)FA is an option.

Some research https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement
You can get a free appointment to talk through your plans https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/pension-wise

ShoppingMum

Thank you very much.