Aviva Fees

Tryinghardtosave

Some time ago I had an email from Aviva telling that they were changing their fees. They now charge a flat 0,35% on you portfolio up to 500k and then nothing above that. They now also scalp some of the interest on any cash that you may be holding in your accounts as well. 
I was paying the flat maximum fee of £10 per month for my shareholding, and will see this increase significantly for myself with the new fee structure. 
Is this a "normal" rate for them to charge now? or am I just being tight here !!!!
I might have to start shopping around to see what else exists out in the market. 

Albermarle

It is not simple to compare platform charges as they all do it slightly differently.

At one end there are ones that are free, or virtually free.
There are ones with a flat fee, which are best suited to those with large amounts.
Then the % chargers vary from 0.15% to 0.45%.

It depends as well in some cases whether you have a general investment account, or a S&S ISA or a pension.

Tryinghardtosave

I have a works pension - which is actually charged at 0.4% - I must email them and ask about that, I have a SIPP - which was another pension transferred over to Aviva and a S&S Isa. In total it is not an insubstantial amount and the fees have gone up 10 fold. 

Albermarle

Tryinghardtosave said:

I have a works pension - which is actually charged at 0.4% - I must email them and ask about that, I have a SIPP - which was another pension transferred over to Aviva and a S&S Isa. In total it is not an insubstantial amount and the fees have gone up 10 fold. 

There are normally two charges when it comes to pensions.
There is a platform/management fee and a charge for the actual investments you hold.
The figures mentioned in my previous post were for platform fees only. These you normally see/pay directly.
Investment fees are taken internally by the investment fund, so you pay them indirectly rather than directly.
Investment fees can range from 0.1% to 1.8%.

However some pension providers, and this will often include workplace pension providers, just have one fee to cover both.
If 0.4% covers both you have a good deal.

Aylesbury_Duck

I have what's called a "Group Personal Pension" with Aviva.  It's deferred and has a with-profits element which gives an annual bonus.  I'm charged 1% in total fees (on a current plan value of c.£170k) with a discount of about £370 applied last year, making the effective charge something like 0.75%.

Tryinghardtosave

I have a SIPP with Aviva and have many share holding within it. With their new charging structure they now apply the 0.35% fee to the value of the holdings. They also now take a chuck of any interest earnt by the cash that is in there as well. 
I'll have a search to see if there are any better companies for my SIPP holdings with lower fees and I will probably start a new thread to ask/discuss it. 

kempiejon

As mentioned what you hold, shares, funds, OEICS, ETFs etc influence fees. As do type of account SIPP, ISA, GIA. How cash is treated and any interest rates are variable.
Usually this is a good place to start an education
https://monevator.com/compare-uk-cheapest-online-brokers/

Tryinghardtosave

Aviva's new fee structure is a flat 0.35% against the value of what you hold with them regardless of what it is - share, funds etc. So I will be going from a flat £10 per month fee ( the maximum they were charging for share holdings ) to circa £100 a month, and I will get less interest now on any cash in the SIPP as well - so a double whammy. 
I will certainly look to other platforms now to consider moving my SIPP. 

Albermarle

Tryinghardtosave said:

Aviva's new fee structure is a flat 0.35% against the value of what you hold with them regardless of what it is - share, funds etc. So I will be going from a flat £10 per month fee ( the maximum they were charging for share holdings ) to circa £100 a month, and I will get less interest now on any cash in the SIPP as well - so a double whammy. 
I will certainly look to other platforms now to consider moving my SIPP. 

If I remember correctly from other threads, the interest Aviva paid on cash in the account was higher than normal.
I think they were paying similar to the better easy access accounts, whereas most SIPP providers pay more like 2.5%/3%. 

MetaPhysical

I moved to Interactive Investor from Aviva because of their platform fee and because they add a significant markup to most funds.  I reduced my fees massively by moving away from Aviva into an II SIPP.

Aylesbury_Duck

MetaPhysical said:

I moved to Interactive Investor from Aviva because of their platform fee and because they add a significant markup to most funds.  I reduced my fees massively by moving away from Aviva into an II SIPP.

It's something I need to consider.  I'm paying 1.0% with Aviva at the moment, on a £170k pot.  It looks like I could have a SIPP with II for £6 a month, which would be a huge saving...BUT...

What I'm not sure about is whether moving is a sensible idea.  Mine is a Group Personal Pension plan, with a plan value of £170k, and a transfer value of £200k,  Within the plan I have the following mix:

UK Equity  £32k
Global Equities £116k
With Profits £10k
With Profits Bonus Added £11k

Now I think I understand the concept of the With Profits element - the bonus is there to smooth out the ups and downs of fund performance - but is it too simplistic to view the WP bonus as exactly that, a bonus, that could be considered to offset some of the annual management charge?  Over the last few years, the WP bonus has varied between £700 and £1200 each year.  It still doesn't close the gap between what is currently a £1700 AMC and what could be a £72 AMC with II, but I am curious.

Are there any other potential pitfalls arising from moving from a Group Personal Pension plan to a SIPP?