Moving pension from st James place.

mart40

Hello 
I have a pension with St James place and I was thinking of taking control of it myself. I was looking at putting it in a SIPP someone like Aj bell.Was wondering if anybody had done the same thing with their pension.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

mart40 said:

Hello 
I have a pension with St James place and I was thinking of taking control of it myself. I was looking at putting it in a SIPP someone like Aj bell.Was wondering if anybody had done the same thing with their pension.

Lots of people will have done it.

Have you checked if you are tied into SJP and if so, what the cost of moving your pension now would be?

You will also need to think about the funds you want to use within the SIPP.

Smudgeismydog

You’ll probably find that lots of us on this forum self manage.

As @Dazed_and_C0nfused noted, first check if there are penalties to move away from SJP. If you do have exit charges, this doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t move, but post back your current charges etc so we can help

Albermarle

mart40 said:

Hello 
I have a pension with St James place and I was thinking of taking control of it myself. I was looking at putting it in a SIPP someone like Aj bell.Was wondering if anybody had done the same thing with their pension.

You will not get much in the way of positive comment in this forum about SJP.

You should most likely move away, but there are two alternatives:

DIY , picking your own investments in a SIPP and keeping up to speed with pension/tax issues. ( that is what most regular posters on here do).

Appoint  an IFA to manage your pension instead of SJP. 

Alexland

mart40 said:

I have a pension with St James place and I was thinking of taking control of it myself. I was looking at putting it in a SIPP someone like Aj bell.Was wondering if anybody had done the same thing with their pension.

I've never left SJP as I wouldn't use them in the first place however I am long term happy customer of AJ Bell and a few other good platforms.

Consider your objectives, come up with a suitable investment strategy (account types and desired asset allocation) then find good value fund and platform combinations. There is plenty of help and information on this forum and elsewhere online.

If SJP are still charging exit fees than that just shows how rotten they are. It's a shameful practice.

HedgehogRulez

One does not simply move their pension from SJP….

westv

Seems like their exit fees are 6% in the first year dropping to 1% in the sixth for products sold before 26th August this year.

gm0

Exit charges were dropped for new customers but retained for existing pension contracts prior to the date.  

FCA ban on the whole thing is likely incoming.  They were/are one of the last.   

They call it some kind of deferred charge but it is a tax on leaving for "recent contributions".  All that will happen with them and other wealth managers is the deckchairs get rearranged.  Initial charges, Ongoing fees, Deferred/exit fees.  Zero one. Raise the other.  Same total. Same margin (for them).

Can't take a joke.  Should not sign the wealth manager contract.

It is simply avoided by not adding to that pension and opening another elsewhere to do so. And waiting.  But  you will pay the (high) SJP charges on existing funds while this happens (runs off). So they get their slice on the new contributions.  

The most trapped were those who transferred large pots in just before the cutoff date. Paid an initial charge. Now regret their choice. And if they exit - are due to pay most of the deferred management fee. Then pay their lower new management fees when they move as well.  

It has worked well historically to make funds sticky but is on the way out now.

Regular consumer SIPPs sometimes offer cashback to come. No initial charge.  Lower ongoing charge.  And no deferred/exit charges.   Each has its own fee structure on costs, fixed, % and trades.  All will be cheaper than SJP and offer a wide choice of options which will be impossible to distinguish meaningfully from SJP Polaris funds (similar content, some better, some worse - so great will be the overlap.

The product is irrelevant

You are paying - a lot for the product and advice bundle - for the personal financial advice element.  The benchmark to consider is "Do i need the advice at all - vs £0.  Or if you do - vs 0.5% assets (what a regular IFA would likely charge).

LHW99

Sometimes there are offers by platforms to refund exit fees. Not sure if there are any currently.

Albermarle

LHW99 said:

Sometimes there are offers by platforms to refund exit fees. Not sure if there are any currently.

Fidelity have a permanent offer to refund exit fees up to a maximum of £500.
Plus they have a cashback offer at the moment as well. 

mart40

I have been with st James place 7 years now so was thinking exit fees would not apply now.