Switch pension from Aviva to ii

dont_use_vistaprint

Hi, I have an  IPP with aviva  with everything turned off so it’s operating much like a SIPP now. I am thinking of switching to II because as the pension has grown the fees have become expensive and it looks like I could be saving around £100 a month on fees by switching to ii.

I retired just over a year ago and I’m no longer paying into the pension and will be starting to access it very soon.

One issue is that the S6 growth fund is not going to be available in the ii platform, other issue is it’s all or nothing, I can’t transfer half to test it works. 

So I will need to sell all the units , transfer as cash, choose new funds & buy new units?

do you know how long I will be out of the market for?

 I’m really nervous about switching, especially when it’s done so well but £100 a month will pay my utilities ! 

DeLaSole

Perhaps someone has a more recent experience to share but in July 2023 my wife initiated a cash transfer out of Aviva on a Monday evening and on the Friday morning it was ready to invest on ii.

dont_use_vistaprint

DeLaSole said:

Perhaps someone has a more recent experience to share but in July 2023 my wife initiated a cash transfer out of Aviva on a Monday evening and on the Friday morning it was ready to invest on ii.

Any issues / regrets switching ?

dunstonh

aviva are very quick with transfers on the ex CGNU side and Aviva platform side.   Ex Provident Mutual plans are sluggish.  The S6 range (usually policy numbers starting with two letters and then numbers eg TK) tends to be very fast - circa 2-3 days.    Indeed, you are likely to find that it would be ii that is the slower one in the process.

However, be on guard.    If ii is not on the Aviva greenlist and you are using ETFs then you may get captured by the anti-fraud checks that could slow it down for months.  if you are using OEICs, then that shouldnt be a problem.

DeLaSole

dont_use_vistaprint said:

DeLaSole said:

Perhaps someone has a more recent experience to share but in July 2023 my wife initiated a cash transfer out of Aviva on a Monday evening and on the Friday morning it was ready to invest on ii.

Any issues / regrets switching ?

No issues or regrets. She had a couple of pensions, including an Aviva Stakeholder, which she moved to ii. She's had limited dealings with ii's customer service but they've been efficient in their response time and quality of information when contacted.

I have a couple of pensions, including the Aviva Stakeholder, which have the protected age (55) so didn't move to ii myself.

dunstonh

DeLaSole said:

dont_use_vistaprint said:

DeLaSole said:

Perhaps someone has a more recent experience to share but in July 2023 my wife initiated a cash transfer out of Aviva on a Monday evening and on the Friday morning it was ready to invest on ii.

Any issues / regrets switching ?

No issues or regrets. She had a couple of pensions, including an Aviva Stakeholder, which she moved to ii. She's had limited dealings with ii's customer service but they've been efficient in their response time and quality of information when contacted.

I have a couple of pensions, including the Aviva Stakeholder, which have the protected age (55) so didn't move to ii myself.

Aviva will notify the receiving scheme if there is a protected scheme age, and some schemes will continue the protected scheme age.  i don't know if ii do but it may be worth asking them.

ali_bear

You could also switch to another Aviva product such as their SIPP. This is likely to be quicker and easier. Then switch again if needed. 

MallyGirl

I just transferred from L&G to ii. It had to be cash as the funds weren't available on II. I did not sell to cash myself- I just told II it was cash and L&G did the sell to cash when they got the request. It took 2 weeks from submitting the II request to the cash being available to invest again in ii

MetaPhysical

I switched from Aviva to II in May.  It was very easy.  I came out of my employer's default fund inside Aviva which was under-performing and moved into funds inside II.

Aviva sell the funds into cash (no in-specie was available for the funds I had in Aviva) , the cash gets transferred to II and lands inside the SIPP as cash where it immediately starts earning interest.  It is then up to you to select whatever investments you want.

I have been very happy with the transfer at both ends.  II were brilliant organising it all and Aviva very accommodating of the switch.  It took about two weeks, most of that at the Aviva end selling the funds I held there.

DRS1

If I were the OP I might be wondering if ii tell you the funds have landed or do you need to keep logging on to check.

Pat38493

I have done this before a couple of years ago Aviva to II and no issues - saved a lot in charges already.  

I think the Aviva pension that I had was only using insured funds so it wouldn't have been possible to do an in specie transfer - it was all sold to cash and then transferred.  Also as far as I remember, there was no cash facility under my control so Aviva had to do the selling and transfer.  I can't remember how long it took but it wasn't long.

However as Dunstonh alludes - it probably depends which part of Aviva you are in as I guess they acquired other pension businesses over the years which may not operate in the same way with the same people.