Pension options

patricia1066 · 16 April 2017 at 7:17PM

Found it - the SL charges are fixed fee £189 pa plus any charges for buying/selling funds etc

dunstonh · 16 April 2017 at 8:48PM

That charging structure doesnt match the Std Life platform charges that we have. Maybe your IFA has different terms. Or it is a different version. For us, the SL platform is mono charged (i.e. annual charge only with no other charges except dealing costs when not using funds).

patricia1066 · 17 April 2017 at 5:28AM

There are 3 charging groups. The 3Rd one is fixed charge. This is for people with off platform portfolio funds. The transaction charges are capped at £389 pa. Annual charge £189 and every year that there is a drawdown £152 There is also a small Discretionary Management fee.

This is advertised on SL website. Charges brochure online.

The 0.36% charge will be £1745 pa and this is all in. It isn't the Standard Life however it is Elevate.

SL have a percentage fee of 0.45%

System · 17 April 2017 at 6:12AM

Just buy one Vanguard lifestrategy fund, job done

dunstonh · 17 April 2017 at 11:45AM

Just buy one Vanguard lifestrategy fund, job done

Except, as already mentioned, it may not be the best option.

There are 3 charging groups. The 3Rd one is fixed charge. This is for people with off platform portfolio funds. The transaction charges are capped at £389 pa. Annual charge £189 and every year that there is a drawdown £152 There is also a small Discretionary Management fee.

What is important with charges are the ones that are applicable to you. Not hypothetical ones. For example, there is no point worrying about discretionary management fees if you are not using a discretionary investment manager.

The 0.36% charge will be £1745 pa and this is all in. It isn't the Standard Life however it is Elevate.

Personally, I prefer Elevate over the Std Life platform or any of the other Std Life version products. However, for some people, its like making a choice of what supermarket to shop at as there can be very little difference in the best platforms but a lot of difference in the cheap and cheerful ones.

patricia1066 · 18 April 2017 at 5:54AM

@dunstonh what makes elevate better as a discretionary investment manager? I can see an iPad app which gives the client access to different levels of information. Do both platforms offer full savings accounts and international online banking?

What does off platform investment mean in the SL 3rd option?

I appreciate your expertise. Thanks for the information on access to financial products as these details are oddly hard to find.
This ifa is my husband"s and reducing the costs to 1.3% pa would make average gross returns at 5% acceptable to him.

zagfles · 18 April 2017 at 9:20AM

dunstonh wrote: »

It may save money but it doesnt mean it is the best. For example, our model portfolio outperforms VLS60 after charges.

Interesting tense. That implies ongoing outperformance, do you have a crystal ball? My portfolio has way outperformed VLS60 over the last 6 years but I make no claim that it will in the future.

dunstonh · 18 April 2017 at 9:39AM

@dunstonh what makes elevate better as a discretionary investment manager?

Elevate is not a discretionary investment manager. It is a platform. And like most of the top end platforms, they allow investments from discretionary investment managers. Personally, i do not like Discretionary investment managers as it adds a layer of charges and seems to offer no real benefit other than to an adviser who is able to pass the buck.

What does off platform investment mean in the SL 3rd option?

Don't know the context but it probably means offshore investment bond where the wrapper is provided by an offshore insurance company but the investments handled on the platform.

Malthusian · 18 April 2017 at 10:06AM

zagfles wrote: »

Interesting tense. That implies ongoing outperformance, do you have a crystal ball? My portfolio has way outperformed VLS60 over the last 6 years but I make no claim that it will in the future.

For how many more years would you need to outperform US-heavy market-cap weighted indices which have been arbitarily cludged together in a 60/40 ratio before you started using the present tense?

Vanguard LifeStrategy 60/40 includes no exposure to commercial property or commodities, negligible exposure to emerging markets or smaller companies. 40% in bonds is more than most people need - the only reason most DIYers pick 60/40 is because there are five options and it's the middle one. And you don't need a crystal ball to see that a blind weighting by market cap is not always the best option. In summary, if you can't outperform (present tense) Vanguard LifeStrategy 60/40 you may as well give up.

zagfles · 18 April 2017 at 10:21AM

Malthusian wrote: »

For how many more years would you need to outperform US-heavy market-cap weighted indices which have been arbitarily cludged together in a 60/40 ratio before you started using the present tense?

Vanguard LifeStrategy 60/40 includes no exposure to commercial property or commodities, negligible exposure to emerging markets or smaller companies. 40% in bonds is more than most people need - the only reason most DIYers pick 60/40 is because there are five options and it's the middle one. And you don't need a crystal ball to see that a blind weighting by market cap is not always the best option. In summary, if you can't outperform (present tense) Vanguard LifeStrategy 60/40 you may as well give up.

Not much of a boast to outperform it then really. However, if smaller companies, commercial property, fixed interest or emerging markets nose dived over the next few years then it would likely outperform other portfolios. My crystal ball refuses to tell me if that'll happen, so I'll stick to past tense.

Though I do agree, I don't really like trackers, I've got a couple but my actively managed funds tend to do much better. I believe I'll do better than VLS60. But I won't guarantee it.

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