Pension Trust maintenance period

Telboy147

I have a smallish pension with SEI Master Trust, last year I took a 25% tax free lump sum using their online portal, it was a piece of cake and I received the funds within 2 weeks. This year I decided I tried to withdraw it all as I have now retired. I have been given the run around for about 6 weeks, firstly they couldn't find all my information and sent me a Lump Sum Allowances form to fill out, I did this promptly and returned it the next day. I never received any acknowledgement of receipt for over a week. I phoned them and was told my application was due to be done today (24th October) I have now received an email saying that SEI Master Trust is implementing a maintenance period from 23rd October to 4 December during this time no transactions can take place. they say they need time to change their investment strategy. It seems they purposely delayed my application so that it fell into this period. Has this happened due to high demand for funds after Martin Lewis's recent advice on pensions? has anyone else experienced this? should I be concerned about my funds? Cheers Terry

dunstonh

t seems they purposely delayed my application so that it fell into this period.

That seems highly unlikely.

Has this happened due to high demand for funds after Martin Lewis's recent advice on pensions?

LOL.  
A) Martin Lewis doesn't give advice on pensions.  
He doesn't wield anywhere near that sort of power.
C) It is linked to the appointment of XPS as the sole administrator from Capita, and bringing it in line with their systems and controls.   Master Trust schemes differ from personal pensions in how they invest.   

 has anyone else experienced this?

Yes.  Everyone else with SEI Master Trust., which is approx 207,000 members.

should I be concerned about my funds?

No. It's a DC fund.   
You just managed to time it during a period of upheaval as it moved between two administrators' investment processes.

Telboy147

The maintenance period ties in nicely the period leading up to the budget, I'm still convinced this is a bit underhand.
From the Guardian recently: Data from Financial Conduct Authority showed that UK pension savers withdrew more than £70bn from their retirement pots in 2024-25 – up almost 36% on the £52bn taken out the year before. Of this, £18.3bn was tax-free cash – an increase of 62% on the £11.3bn the previous year.

Many financial experts say “budget jitters and fiscal rumours” are driving this trend as speculation swirls about what measures the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will announce in her budget on 26 November.