PAL Sipp & Brooks Macdonald Asset Management

dunstonh

Personally, I am not a fan of discretionary fund management unless you have very large portfolios and a client with an active interest and understanding. Whilst unit linked funds carry the annual management charge, they are better suited for the typical UK consumer with a period review to make sure ongoing suitability and investment strategy is still being followed.

I dont particularly like Standard Life and their product can be bettered (with equal or better fund choice) but there is nothing wrong with them fundamentally.

Retired_I.F.A.

balooney2000 wrote: »

Cheers for that. In another thread you comment that a trail fee of 1-2% pa is the norm nowadays so is your negativity simply aimed at the 3% set up fee ? Thanks.

Think you'll find in whatever thread you refer to I said 1/2% not 1-2%
Could have been a typo on my part though I' don't honestly know without seeing the post again.


My negativity can be summed up with this simple sentence.

"Look at the reduction in yield in your illustration."


It says something like.. "at a 7% growth rate the effect of all charges equates to you receiving 2.5% or some other ludicrous figure, thus a R.I.Y. of 4.5% So sign up if you want to see your fund go down as this is one of the best examples of a rip off I've seen in donkeys years.

balooney2000

Retired_I.F.A. wrote: »

Think you'll find in whatever thread you refer to I said 1/2% not 1-2%

Apologies, you did type 1/2% but I read that as 1-2%.

balooney2000

Thanks to all for the comments. It has been good to get the views of so many and as nobody has anything really positive to say about this method I'll be giving it a miss.

DavidLaGuardia

EdInvestor wrote: »

It's expensive and the names you mention are not well known.

What is the investment plan?

No well known to the average consumer but very well knwon among sophisticated investors. Think: the Queens banker's Coutts are not a high Street name

I have had experience in the past of Brooks MacDonald (and even met co-founder Chris MacDonald) and remember as investment managers they are one of the most professional and competent discretionary managers around today and manage a broad specturm of direct assets in their portfolios tailored to each individual They manage the funds of some very savvy people indeed (many leaders in industry and at the top of the professions) who wouldn't suffer fools gladly. [NB I have no personal or financial interest in Brok Mac now]

PAL are a low cost full SIPP admiinstato who BM are probably using as a useful conduit to allow them to concentrate on investment managment

The only concern I have is the annual fee (I cannot make a comment about the 3% + 1% intial fee as I don't know what size the fund is but antything over say 100k shoiuld be reduced)
1%+VAT for the BM management is fine (they drive down many other costs in their managment of the assets held)
However 1% on top for the IFA is not far since the investment responsibilities are largely that of BM 0.5% is more apporpriate asnd this may include part of the charge made by BM that is given to them.

Retired_I.F.A.

Most leaders in industry??? They must have loads of chinese clients then as we make naff all here nowadays.

DavidLaGuardia

Did I say most? No
Dis I say: Manufaturing industry? No - but if it suits you better to drop the wider meaning of industry I'll say "Business" leaders

EdInvestor

From the investment list posted above it is hard to see much value added - there is no share portfolio,no gilts or investment trusts, just a few ETFs. You could replicate it quite easily in the OP's existing PP.

balooney2000

DavidLaGuardia wrote: »

The only concern I have is the annual fee (I cannot make a comment about the 3% + 1% intial fee as I don't know what size the fund is but antything over say 100k shoiuld be reduced)

The fund size is only 50k. The BM fee is 1.5% of which 0.5% goes to the IFA. The IFA charges an extra 0.5% on top for their 'full client' service (which is optional). for this extra 0.5% they offer an ongoing partnership(which I have found to be a rare thing amongst IFA's), provide a dedicated adviser who retains responsibility for any and all of the services that the firm may provide and keeps my arrangements under review ensuring that my financial affairs are managed, plus a number of admin services. It's not a sales pitch - honest .

whiteflag_3

balooney2000 wrote: »

The fund size is only 50k. The BM fee is 1.5% of which 0.5% goes to the IFA. The IFA charges an extra 0.5% on top for their 'full client' service (which is optional). for this extra 0.5% they offer an ongoing partnership(which I have found to be a rare thing amongst IFA's), provide a dedicated adviser who retains responsibility for any and all of the services that the firm may provide and keeps my arrangements under review ensuring that my financial affairs are managed, plus a number of admin services. It's not a sales pitch - honest .

So what is the first 0.5% for then?

How do they "keep your arrangements under review"? once a day , once a month, once a year? What have they given you in writing to back this up.

Dress it up any how your like , its just a churning exercise to double your "IFA"'s income, for doing no more than they are duty bound to do anyway?