It's no brainer to consolidate my pensions into Fidelity or other cheaper SIPP?

dunstonh

I have Aviva for my main pot, but making changes is glacially slow and their customer service is awful: even second level phone support appear to be idiots who know very little about what is going on for my “new generation” pension (which is old).

What you really have is an ex Friends Provident legacy pension (think old fashioned) that is sitting under the Aviva brand but still run by ex FP staff out of the ex FP office on ex FP software.

You generally find that Aviva on the ex CGNU side and its modern platform are more efficient than the ex AXA and ex Friends Provident side.

Plus my funds are performing pretty well, & I don’t easily see directly equivalent ETFs that are a direct match.  Funds being Aviva Global Equity, Aviva North American and the BNY Mellon Multi-Asset Balanced, which doesn’t appear to have a direct ETF equivalent 👀

Managed funds won't have an ETF equivalent. They may have an OEIC/UT equivalent. However, its pretty easy to find similar or better on the ETF side if you are wedded to ETFs and don't want to use OEIC/UTs.

poseidon1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81903594#Comment_81903594

The ii 'bells and whistles' I have in mind are largely by way of access to various investment options and functionality which admittedly will only be of interest to DIY sipp investors operating as their own investment managers. In no particular order of importance therefore:

• Access to LSE gilts and corporate bonds ( neither option available with Fidelity's Sipp)
• Ability to acquire foreign quoted international shares and hold them in their domestic currencies rather than automatic conversion to sterling.
• Ability to hold various foreign currencies as an asset class in its own right.
• Where US stocks are concerned, ii are resourced to ensure no US withholding tax ( at 15%) is deducted at source on divs/ interest on Sipp investments.

All of the above for just £180 p.a, I consider a very good deal.

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81903916#Comment_81903916

Thanks for the info. I think those advantages would be of benefit probably only to a small minority of SIPP holders, but they are there nevertheless.

Yes £180 pa is good value, as is the £90 platform cap with Fidelity, if you stick to exchange traded investments.

Makes you wonder how they run a business with such low fees, and some others have no fees at all !

poseidon1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81903958#Comment_81903958

Actually, I was somewhat baffled how ii provided such opportunities and benefits for the original £21.99 p.m I was paying, prior to the fee reduction down to 14.99 pm this month ( I was one of the winners when ii rationalised their fees).

I agree that these benefits will only be of interest to an extremely tiny cohort of UK wide DIY sipp investors, but for those of us in that category it is without doubt a stone cold bargin.

LHW99

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81903967#Comment_81903967

It also means that if you end up holding eg US shares as a result of a company action, you are not forced to sell immediately, and can receive $ dividends / payments and hold them until you either want to use them to re-invest, or are happy with the exchange rate offered (II isn't necessarily the best in that line, but you can watch the exchange rate, and decide when it suits you to change to sterling).

maxmarioxx

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81903958#Comment_81903958

interactive investor are quite profitable, they made the bulk on Aberdeen's profits this year - about £150 million https://www.aberdeeninvestments.com/docs?documentid=AA-110226-204148-23&_gl=1dh7e2c_gcl_auMTY0NzEwMDU5NS4xNzcyNjIxNjE5_gaMTk1NDA5OTMyMy4xNzcyNjIxNjE5_ga_TML7E2DDE5*czE3NzI2MjE2MTkkbzEkZzAkdDE3NzI2MjE2MTkkajYwJGwwJGgw

poseidon1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81908836#Comment_81908836

An interesting article below, reiterating the importance of ii in delivering profits to Aberdeen's bottom line

https://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/content/0ec61037-cd7b-4100-a1ae-8b866a38b8e0#:~:text=Aberdeen's%20(ABDN)%20net%20outflows%20more,year%20later%20than%20hoped%20for.

Hopefully, Aberdeen will not feel tempted to sell off their ' Crown Jewel' to private equity anytime soon.