My Expat SIPP

[jkthai]

Have been trying to find a legit company for moving pensions into , and have come accross this one.

 

All seems very straight foreward , but  can't find any reviews  on truspilot ,

 

Just wondering if anyone has used them here ,

[topt]

Just had a quick look and the costs seems a little high especially considering you are limited (from what I read) to only 2 fund houses.

 

The average annual returns quoted (supposedly over last 5 years) do not seem representative of the market last year and potentially going forward.

 

They do not say who will hold the client money though I guess it will be the 2 fund houses. The FCA register shows only set up last year and the address looks like a private house..........(no idea really if it is )

 

I take it you cannot use an established UK based company like AJ Bell, II, Hargreaves etc?

[jkthai]

topt , hi, had a look at Hargreaves and they only take  customers based in UK

 

Tried A J Bell and they were a bit of a pain , asking for various documents /forms which I duly sent , then at the last moment they said everything had to be notarised , I felt they were a bit amateurish so did not pursue it

 

as for the expatsipp the charges are about .9% as far as I can see , do you think that  is excessive ?

 

again as far as I can tell the funds  will be held by the two fund house , which then offer a range of risk profiles , this limitatation puts me off a bit ,

 

but the ease of everything else seems attractive.

 

any advice welcome

[topt]

6 minutes ago, jkthai said:

then at the last moment they said everything had to be notarised

Unfortunately this is becoming the norm with all the financial houses in the UK. Whoever you try to use will probably ask for a notorised copy of your passport at the very least.

 

AJ Bell are one of the biggest/well known providers but I do not have a personal view on their systems/efficiencies/costs etc. but their is plenty of online information about them. 

 

When you spoke to HL did you explain it is an existing SIPP that you want to transfer to them?

The other one I mentioned is II - https://www.ii.co.uk/ii-accounts/sipp who also say you need to be a UK resident but again it may be possible to transfer in.

 

The original provider you mentioned may be ok but for many reasons I would not want to be one of the guinea pigs.......

[BritManToo]

22 minutes ago, jkthai said:

topt , hi, had a look at Hargreaves and they only take  customers based in UK

Tell them you live in the UK.

You only need a Uk mailing address for them to send you the initial forms.

Then you can 'move' abroad.

[bouph12]

On 2/21/2019 at 4:21 PM, jkthai said:

topt , hi, had a look at Hargreaves and they only take  customers based in UK

 

Tried A J Bell and they were a bit of a pain , asking for various documents /forms which I duly sent , then at the last moment they said everything had to be notarised , I felt they were a bit amateurish so did not pursue it

 

as for the expatsipp the charges are about .9% as far as I can see , do you think that  is excessive ?

 

any advice welcome

I also had some initial reservations about AJ Bell, but I'm glad I persevered with them and transferred my SIPP. They've made improvements to account opening for expats which suggest they're becoming more expat-friendly. As for their customer service, I had to make an unusual enquiry recently. I got an email in the morning saying they didn't have the answer at hand but were working on it. I received the answer later that day. I'm happy enough so far.

 

On the matter of the fees, it's possible to make a direct comparison using the funds in the "Growth Portfolio" as an example.

 

For a SIPP of £100k, annual fees with Myexpatsipp will be 0.5% + £150 + 0.22% = £870

 

For a SIPP of £100k, annual fees with AJ Bell will be 0.25% + 0.22% = £470

 

If you manage to get a SIPP of £300k, the annual fees are £2160 for Myexpatsipp and £1040 for AJ Bell.

 

I suppose it comes down to the level of extra service; how often do you think you'll need that personal account manager? 

Edited February 24, 2019 by bouph12
clarity

[bouph12]

^^^ Sorry, the last figure for AJ Bell should be £1260, not £1040, so it's only a saving of £900 a year. I miscalculated the extra discount they have for amounts over £200k.