UK Expats - Best SIPP provider?

[roger buttmore]

I'm currently researching which SIPP provider might be best suited in order to consolidate a number of my personal pensions into a more transparent online system with which I can perform financial 'moves', such as drawdown, over the coming years.

 

I am 56 years old and have lived in Thailand for 7 years. As a UK expat I spend two weeks per year in the UK during April, so my trip 'home' is coming soon and I hope to get something done.

 

I'm seriously considering AJ Bell YouInvest - https://www.youinvest.co.uk/

 

Does anyone here use AJ Bell?

 

 

[BritManToo]

Hargreaves Lansdown ..... nobody else comes close, the only pension managers that didn't steal from me.

Don't tell them you live in Thailand when you open the account, you need a mailing address in the UK for the application forms.

 

After that, they don't care where you are.

Edited March 27, 2019 by BritManToo

[sonos99]

Unless you live in the UK Hargreaves Lansdowne will not allow this. I tried to do exactly this - transfer my other UK pensions into my already existing HL SIPP but they refused

 

I had already given them my Thai address at this stage. 

Edited March 27, 2019 by sonos99

[UKresonant]

The bit about being UK (Tax) resident will be common to all providers probably, (I think it will be an FCA/HMRC rule). 

 

Agree with the comment above for HL, there is also Standard Life (Pheonix), they both have a good online facility for pensions, but agree the HL site is great for fund/share selection,  switching and online control. Both did(still do) Consolidation of pension funds easily.

For the Drawdown actions, HL will still post you a withdrawal pack.

[topt]

3 hours ago, roger buttmore said:

Does anyone here use AJ Bell?

No but only because I already had 2 other providers. They generally get good ratings from memory and a reasonable cost structure.

 

3 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Hargreaves Lansdown

Their online system is excellent and customer service I generally found pretty good. However they are relatively expensive compared to other online providers.

 

OP make sure you dig down into future costs of drawdown and not just the headline fees. I looked at Interactive Investors but from memory their drawdown costs were a lot higher than HL's so left the money there.

Fees however are starting to move lower so that could change by the time you need it.........

[roger buttmore]

Even though I reside in Thailand for 50 weeks of the year I continue to earn income in the UK, as a landlord, and submit self-assessment tax returns online each year. I wonder if they base expat status on local earnings or geographical location.

 

3 SIPP providers often found ranking high in various lists are; AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown, and Interactive Investor. I read somewhere that Interactive Investor are expat friendly.

 

I currently hold 5 pensions, ranging from almost worthless to pretty significant. I have little or no idea what their current charges and fees are.

 

2 hours ago, johnwf1963 said:

.. there is also Standard Life (Phoenix), they both have a good online facility for pensions

90% of my personal pensions (the two most significant) are held with Phoenix Life. One is called a Personal Pension Plan with profits, the other a Retirement Security Plan with profits. 

 

My main priority is the ability to see my current pension value/status easily online. I'm not really into trading and would rather adopt a relatively safe passive mode with funds, leaving the work to the 'experts'.

 

I guess a lot comes down to total pension value and the relative fees which will be incurred. HL appear to be almost twice the cost of AJ Bell for remaining passive. I'll be honest, I have little or no idea of what current fees I pay on my pensions, but transparency, which I don't currently have, will be a major bonus.

 

[baansgr]

Prudential

[topt]

12 minutes ago, roger buttmore said:

Even though I reside in Thailand for 50 weeks of the year I continue to earn income in the UK, as a landlord, and submit self-assessment tax returns online each year. I wonder if they base expat status on local earnings or geographical location.

Essentially on geographical location. However if you have a UK address and you do not say you reside in Thailand it should not be an issue to open. Depends how spirit/letter you want to be.......

Interestingly in HLs Ts and Cs they have this which is not as hard and fast as eg. most UK banks -

Quote

We offer a full range of services to UK residents and may be able to offer limited services where you are resident outside the UK. You must let us know if you are not, or cease to be, resident in the UK or the EEA and/or become resident in the USA. For these purposes you are deemed to be resident in a country if you have lived, or move with the intention of living, in that country for 12 months or more. We may not be able to offer some or all of our services to you if you cease to be resident in the UK.  

Fortunately I had an account opened long before I left the UK.   

[Oxx]

There's an overview of all SIPP providers at https://www.boringmoney.co.uk/best-buys/all-providers/

 

HL is relatively expensive - particularly for larger portfolios.  

[bouph12]

I'm with AJ Bell. Within a month of them finally getting my SIPP from Hl, they had identified a cheaper version of one of my funds and moved my units to it. I appreciate that sort of attention.

They've been quick to respond to my queries.

I'm saving hundreds of pounds a year on fees.

I'm happy with them so far.

 

5 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Hargreaves Lansdown ..... nobody else comes close..

 

Nobody else comes close to them for incompetence and indifference.

If they learn you are outside the UK/EEA, they: 

Won't give you the 25% tax free amount.

Won't allow you to go into drawdown.

 

I closed my Share and Fund account with them several years ago because they wouldn't accept money into it from someone in Thailand. The fact that the money would be coming from a UK bank account funded by a UK pension made no difference. I regret not transferring my SIPP back then, but better late than never.  

 

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, bouph12 said:

If they learn you are outside the UK/EEA, they: 

Won't give you the 25% tax free amount.

Won't allow you to go into drawdown.

Don't tell them!

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, bouph12 said:

I'm with AJ Bell. Within a month of them finally getting my SIPP from Hl, they had identified a cheaper version of one of my funds and moved my units to it. I appreciate that sort of attention.

It's called churning, every time they switch, they make money and you lose money.

[fletchsmile]

6 hours ago, sonos99 said:

Unless you live in the UK Hargreaves Lansdowne will not allow this. I tried to do exactly this - transfer my other UK pensions into my already existing HL SIPP but they refused

 

I had already given them my Thai address at this stage. 

You might find it difficult but it is possible. You probably also need to be a bit more specific when you say "other pension schemes". Some can be transferred, some not. Defined benefit can be a compex area, defined contribution is simpler

 

I recently transferred a defined benefit scheme into my HL SIPP.

 

The service from HL was as usual excellent. Transferring a defined benefit schemes as opposed to a defined contribution scheme can be complex. I called HL as to exactly what I could and couldn't do, and what exactly is required. I was put on hold for a couple of minutes at one point while they checked a couple of points. In under 10 minutes I had the answers I needed:

1) Yes they could accept my transfer in, as an existing SIPP client with a UK registered address for my exisiting account 2) No they could not advise on the transfer, as I lived in Thailand. I already knew UK pension law requires you get advice to transfer a DB scheme. They couldn't do the Thailand bit though 3) In order to proceed I needed such advice from a qualified advisor and that advisor had to give a positive recommendation as to suitability, otherwise they wouldn't accept

 

From several other providers and advisors I was given run arounds and took days try to get clear answers as to what they could and could not do. I know it is achieveable, the question is just whether they could do it.  HL got me the key answers in under 10 mins. This is typical of their excellent service.

 

Took much longer to find a decent advisor in the middle though. Didn't want one. But law requires it for DB transfers

 

[wgdanson]

I was advised by an I F A based in Pattaya to put my pensions in a QROPS with Concept in Jersey with funds with Skandia/Old Mutual. Their charges were horrendous, and the units/bonds lost loads, 40%. The I F A made good commission.

There is a company I found here on T Visa called Legal Force who are now doing a claim for pension mis-selling. No win, no fee.

So DO OT bother with them.

[Oxx]

10 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

It's called churning, every time they switch, they make money and you lose money.

It's not churning and they make no money from it.

 

HL simply ensures that investors are invested in the lowest cost version of a fund available.  Sometimes new classes of a fund are issued, or HL negotiates a special discount and does the decent thing to ensure the existing funds are transferred to the new class.

[fletchsmile]

7 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Hargreaves Lansdown ..... nobody else comes close,

 

Would second that. I've been a client for well over 20 years and always found their service second to none. My client number is in the 4X,XXX range, whereas today they are 7 digits and 1 million+ LOL

 

I recently spent quite a bit of time looking at alternative providers, and none came close. I had to look though in case I couldn't get an advise to give me the recommendations needed to transfer a DB scheme into my HL SIPP.

 

They are not necessarily the cheapest for some people. But there's a lot more to charging than meets the eye, and the headline rates you see.

 

AJ Bell would have been a reasonable choice if I couldn't use HL as first choice. They've just listed on LSE and strive to emulate HL, which seems pretty much everyone's benchmark for a UK plaform provider

Edited March 27, 2019 by fletchsmile

[fletchsmile]

10 minutes ago, Oxx said:

It's not churning and they make no money from it.

 

HL simply ensures that investors are invested in the lowest cost version of a fund available.  Sometimes new classes of a fund are issued, or HL negotiates a special discount and does the decent thing to ensure the existing funds are transferred to the new class.

Yes this is exactly as Oxx says.

 

To expand a little: when the RDR review came in a few years back, this resulting in different classes of the same fund having different charges, depending on whether inclusive or unbundled.

 

HL had a great conversion process which was free of charge and regularly flagged whether there were cheaper units available, and helped clients adjust. As the process is no longer new to everyone and the RDR no longer new it doesn't get piblicised as much. The functionality is still there though.

 

Also whenever you research any fund on their website it clearly shows initial charges, discounts, loyalty bonuses, as well other classes of the fund so you can see which is cheapest.

 

Can save quite a bit in the long run

[scubascuba3]

Hargreaves Lansdown ..... nobody else comes close, the only pension managers that didn't steal from me.
Don't tell them you live in Thailand when you open the account, you need a mailing address in the UK for the application forms.
 
After that, they don't care where you are.

I moved from Hargreaves as their charge for unit trusts/OEICS is way too high. I hope you don't hold any. Interactive Investor has fairer charges, in fact 0% for those types of investments

[fletchsmile]

Be careful of the money comparison sites, which are often just cursory and superficial in nature. It's a shame, but in many cases they can do more harm than good. You really need one that discusses rebates and discounts.

 

HL is often touted as among the most expensive. On the face of it, they can be. I would also say if you invest only in index/ tracker funds and you are looking for the cheapest option then that will not be HL.

 

For me though, with a large range of active funds, the discounts and rebates I get from HL effectively cacel out all their platform charges. A very different story from the headline 0.45% most expensive you see.

 

Here's a cut and paste I made on another Thai forum. Links to other forums aren't allowed, but I'll waive my own copyright LOL:

 

 

Quote

 

These type of compare sites are an OK starting point. But you have to be careful as they really do over simplify and generalise. Good list to start with but for a lot of people they'd benefit by doing their own research on top.

 

On understanding costs in particular they can be very misleading and I wonder how many people are paying more than they need to as a result of these simplified generalisations.

 

Some examples:

 

AJ Bell: They describe as low cost (one pound sign) with a platform fee of 0.25% which tiers down on larger portfolios

 

BestInvest: They describe as (medium cost 2 pounds signs) but say describe  them as being a better option for smaller portfolios at 0.4% for an ISA

 

Hargreaves Lansdown they describe as high cost (3 pound signs) with a platform fee of 0.45%

 

So looks simple. AJ Bell Low, Best Invest Medium, HL high. But:

 

* My biggest gripe is these sites often don't mention anything about loyalty rebates and if they do, I haven't seen one that actually quantifies them in any meaningful way.

> With HL's Wealth 50 funds you save an average of about 30% on the normal fund fees. So on 0.82% normal fee you save 0.25%. This can wipe out much of their platform fee

 

* No mention that a decent provider can discount initial fees. Again although a few websites mention that, I haven't seen one that quantifies it. Almodt all of my unit trusts with Hargreaves Lansdown I pay no initial charge, as they have discounted it with the fund manager.

 

* Doesn't mention that HL is also tiered on unit trusts. Platform fee of 0.45% on first 250k, 0.25% on next 250k-1mn, 0.1 % on next 1mn - 2mn and zero after that. So on a 1 million portfolio it would be 0.3%; on 2 million 0.2%;  on 4 million 0.1%

 

* Doesn't mention that HL have a different fee structure for Investment Trusts and ETFs

> In an ISA: 0.45% capped at 45 pounds a year. I make that 0.45% on investments up to 10k and free thereafter

> In a SIPP: 0.45% capped at 200 pounds a year.

 

* Doesn't mention that HL have no platform fee for ITs and ETFs held in their Vantage Fund and Share Account

 

So for ETFs and ITs HL can be very good value, particularly if outside a tax free wrapper vehicle, i.e held in their Vantage Fund and Share Account

 

* These are the standard rates only. It's often possible to negotiate better deals

 

When all these things are taken into account, for me personally, my loyalty rebates broadly cover the ongoing platform fees. So the effective platform cost after rebates and non-standard fees is pretty much zero. Very different from the headline 0.45% which the site uses to form conlusions.

There's also no additional cost to enter and exit funds, and cheaper than going direct to the fund manager. So all in all the conclusions these sites make on fees are completely wrong and misleading in my case. I suspect the loyalty bonus and initial charges elements are significant for many others as well.

 

FWIW recently when trying to transfer my pension scheme to a SIPP:

 

- AJ Bell was a name that often came up and seemed a decent service on smaller portfolios. I would have considered if I couldn't get the transfer to HL

- I also personally contacted Fidelity and Best Invest but wasn't impressed with their service in general or response times on telephone enquiries. Stuff that gets dealt with in minutes over the phone at HL seemed a hassle, and was I'll call you back etc

- Pension Bee and a few other similar low cost options were cheap, but just too narrow and limited in scope

 

My own oversimplified view is that Hargreaves Lansdown is without doubt the best of the UK providers for someone like me. For many people it won't be the cheapest though. Those looking for lowest cost and simple services could likely be better elsewhere. They've also a wealth of useful information on their website. For my Uk investments the 2 biggest sources I use for analysis and research are Hargreaves Landsdown and Trustnet . These info services link nicely into managing my portfolio. So much in one place

 

 

[fletchsmile]

3 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

7 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Hargreaves Lansdown ..... nobody else comes close, the only pension managers that didn't steal from me.
Don't tell them you live in Thailand when you open the account, you need a mailing address in the UK for the application forms.
 
After that, they don't care where you are.

I moved from Hargreaves as their charge for unit trusts/OEICS is way too high. I hope you don't hold any. Interactive Investor has fairer charges, in fact 0% for those types of investments

I suggest you look very carefully at I.I. when it comes to SIPP charges. The devil is in the detail. Particularly when you put into drawdown:

 

Quote

 

On a 50k portfolio

Interactive Investors would be 22.50 a quarter or 90 quid on an ISA.
If you're using it for a SIPP however it's 120 quid a year. On top of that there is also a 120 quid annual fee for a pension in drawdown. So that would actually make it 240 quid and more expensive than HL on a 50k SIPP. HL has no extra charge for a SIPP in drawdown, and you can stop and start as you feel like it.
So on 50k their fixed fee doesn't necessarily save a lot for you, and is actually more expenive on a small SIPP in drawdown.
The comments about it on the compare website about the platform not being intuitive and lacking the info I'd expect and have seen elsewhere seemed valid from my own browsings. Didn't like it.
Where they might be useful in having a fixed charge is for someone with say a 200k+ ISA, particularly if they used tracker funds

A couple of other words of warning on other costs on interactive investors:
1) They charge 1 pound for regular investments. They say you can invest as little as 25 pounds a month. So that's a rip-off 4% if you were sticking 25 pounds a month in a fund. I do this for free for my brother and sister-in-law's accounts with HL. The minimum is 50 pounds per fund, but free and very easy to change. [edit: just read HL's lowest is also 25 pounds min now - still free]

 

www.ii.co.uk/investing-with-ii/regular-investing

 

2) their 10 pound dealing costs applied to funds. This would be a complete no for me.

This could significantly affect your total annual costs if you get charged to 6-10 pounds to buy and sell funds every time. It's something I would have queried specifically if I liked them and wanted to use them. I didn't like them though on researching, so never went any further.

 

www.ii.co.uk/investing-with-ii/frequent-trader

 

 

[scubascuba3]

Be careful of the money comparison sites, which are often just cursory and superficial in nature. It's a shame, but in many cases they can do more harm than good. You really need one that discusses rebates and discounts.

 

HL is often touted as among the most expensive. On the face of it, they can be. I would also say if you invest only in index/ tracker funds and you are looking for the cheapest option then that will not be HL.

 

For me though, with a large range of active funds, the discounts and rebates I get from HL effectively cacel out all their platform charges. A very different story from the headline 0.45% most expensive you see.

 

Here's a cut and paste I made on another Thai forum. Links to other forums aren't allowed, but I'll waive my own copyright LOL:

 

 

 

These type of compare sites are an OK starting point. But you have to be careful as they really do over simplify and generalise. Good list to start with but for a lot of people they'd benefit by doing their own research on top.   On understanding costs in particular they can be very misleading and I wonder how many people are paying more than they need to as a result of these simplified generalisations.   Some examples:   AJ Bell: They describe as low cost (one pound sign) with a platform fee of 0.25% which tiers down on larger portfolios   BestInvest: They describe as (medium cost 2 pounds signs) but say describe  them as being a better option for smaller portfolios at 0.4% for an ISA   Hargreaves Lansdown they describe as high cost (3 pound signs) with a platform fee of 0.45%   So looks simple. AJ Bell Low, Best Invest Medium, HL high. But:   * My biggest gripe is these sites often don't mention anything about loyalty rebates and if they do, I haven't seen one that actually quantifies them in any meaningful way. > With HL's Wealth 50 funds you save an average of about 30% on the normal fund fees. So on 0.82% normal fee you save 0.25%. This can wipe out much of their platform fee   * No mention that a decent provider can discount initial fees. Again although a few websites mention that, I haven't seen one that quantifies it. Almodt all of my unit trusts with Hargreaves Lansdown I pay no initial charge, as they have discounted it with the fund manager.   * Doesn't mention that HL is also tiered on unit trusts. Platform fee of 0.45% on first 250k, 0.25% on next 250k-1mn, 0.1 % on next 1mn - 2mn and zero after that. So on a 1 million portfolio it would be 0.3%; on 2 million 0.2%;  on 4 million 0.1%   * Doesn't mention that HL have a different fee structure for Investment Trusts and ETFs > In an ISA: 0.45% capped at 45 pounds a year. I make that 0.45% on investments up to 10k and free thereafter > In a SIPP: 0.45% capped at 200 pounds a year.   * Doesn't mention that HL have no platform fee for ITs and ETFs held in their Vantage Fund and Share Account   So for ETFs and ITs HL can be very good value, particularly if outside a tax free wrapper vehicle, i.e held in their Vantage Fund and Share Account   * These are the standard rates only. It's often possible to negotiate better deals   When all these things are taken into account, for me personally, my loyalty rebates broadly cover the ongoing platform fees. So the effective platform cost after rebates and non-standard fees is pretty much zero. Very different from the headline 0.45% which the site uses to form conlusions. There's also no additional cost to enter and exit funds, and cheaper than going direct to the fund manager. So all in all the conclusions these sites make on fees are completely wrong and misleading in my case. I suspect the loyalty bonus and initial charges elements are significant for many others as well.   FWIW recently when trying to transfer my pension scheme to a SIPP:   - AJ Bell was a name that often came up and seemed a decent service on smaller portfolios. I would have considered if I couldn't get the transfer to HL - I also personally contacted Fidelity and Best Invest but wasn't impressed with their service in general or response times on telephone enquiries. Stuff that gets dealt with in minutes over the phone at HL seemed a hassle, and was I'll call you back etc - Pension Bee and a few other similar low cost options were cheap, but just too narrow and limited in scope   My own oversimplified view is that Hargreaves Lansdown is without doubt the best of the UK providers for someone like me. For many people it won't be the cheapest though. Those looking for lowest cost and simple services could likely be better elsewhere. They've also a wealth of useful information on their website. For my Uk investments the 2 biggest sources I use for analysis and research are Hargreaves Landsdown and Trustnet . These info services link nicely into managing my portfolio. So much in one place

 

 

 It maybe depends on the Funds you have with Hargreaves. I compared with Interactive Investor and the share class had the same low fee (rebate already taken account of) but HL would charge 0.45% or 0.25% or whatever for doing nothing. There is a reason a lot of people switched to Investment trusts if they wanted to stick with HL

 

[scubascuba3]

 

I think II reduced their DD fees recently, although i haven't looked into it recently as I'm not close enough

[petermik]

15 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Hargreaves Lansdown ..... nobody else comes close, the only pension managers that didn't steal from me.

Don't tell them you live in Thailand when you open the account, you need a mailing address in the UK for the application forms.

 

After that, they don't care where you are.

Been with them for over 10 years....could not agree more

[fletchsmile]

21 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

 It maybe depends on the Funds you have with Hargreaves. I compared with Interactive Investor and the share class had the same low fee (rebate already taken account of) but HL would charge 0.45% or 0.25% or whatever for doing nothing. There is a reason a lot of people switched to Investment trusts if they wanted to stick with HL

 

Yes it will depend on the funds, which is the key point ????

 

II's range is also more limited not to mention less research.

 

But as an example:

 

Royal London Sterling Extra Yield:

 

II doesn't appear to offer the Class Y's - even on their switch fund class function:

 

OCF = 0.83%

 

https://www.ii.co.uk/funds/royal-london-sterl-extra-yld-bd-a/3257148

 

On the other hand, HL offers the Class Y

 

OCF = 0.83% less 0.43% = 0.4%

 

https://www.hl.co.uk/funds/fund-discounts,-prices--and--factsheets/search-results/r/royal-london-sterling-extra-yield-bond-class-y-income

 

That's a massive difference when people make statements like HL is more expensive. Someone really needs to look at all their holdings and all fees, from initial charges, OCF, loyalty rebates etc etc. Not to mention share classes which are not available by certain providers on certain platforms.

 

A question might be why doesn't II seem to offer the class Y's ?

 

As mentioned II have a fixed fee also on SIPPs, regardless of size. They also charge you to put your SIPP in drawdown. So you get charged twice. They also charge you for making sales/purchases, although a certain amount are effectively free, someone purchasing regularly ends up paying. Same for making monthly contributions. II charge a min GBP 1 on a GBP 25 investment. 4% is scandalous.

 

Personally I tend to buy my investment trusts thru my Singapore broker where I pay no platform fee. I leave HL for my unit trusts/OEICs etc knowing that I get the lowest OCFs net of rebates and these savings wipe out my platform fees

 

Edited March 27, 2019 by fletchsmile

[Traubert]

SG Pensions in Singapore.

 

I'm just going through the same process amalgamating three old UK funds into one SIPP.

[fletchsmile]

1 minute ago, Traubert said:

SG Pensions in Singapore.

 

I'm just going through the same process amalgamating three old UK funds into one SIPP.

Singapore?

 

Be sure you understand what you're being offered. An "international SIPP" and transferring your UK SIPP overseas/ outside UK is different than a UK SIPP.

 

With an international SIPP be prepared for lots of fees and commission to set up etc. "Wrapper fees", "advisor fees", set up fees. For many people they will be worse off than with a UK SIPP.

If the same provider is offering QROPs it's very likely you should be looking for a bargepole. While QROPs did have a place for some people in some situations, because of changes to UK pension rules and the many problems with QROPS, QNUPs etc, most people these days would do well to stay clear. International SIPPs seemed to spring up once the QROP market started to dry up, so tread carefully.

 

Might be right for you in your case and as a minority. But tread carefully with anyone tring to get you to move a UK SIPP outside the UK into a product "more suited for expats". As a sweeping generalisation if you're talking tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds then likely a UK SIPP would be better. Of course for millonaires it may be different ????

 

Warning bells LOL

 

 

 

 

[BritManToo]

24 minutes ago, Traubert said:

SG Pensions in Singapore.

 

I'm just going through the same process amalgamating three old UK funds into one SIPP.

Sounds like crooks scamming you IMHO, leave it in the UK.

You might have to pay tax, but it won't be stolen from you.

[fletchsmile]

50 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

1 hour ago, fletchsmile said:

 

I think II reduced their DD fees recently, although i haven't looked into it recently as I'm not close enough

Nope. It's still there. There was another fee I wouldn't expect to pay which they removed recently, but the monthly investment still sticks.

 

When you wrote these type of investments are 0% with II, I think you've got lost in their headline marketing and that of the simple comparison sights ????

 

eg

Fund trading acc

 

Simple and fair fixed fees

• £22.50 per quarter which we return to you as trading credit.
• £10 flat rate to buy and sell investments online.
• £6 online rate for new accounts* and frequent traders.
• £1 for each investment made using our dividend reinvestment and regular investing services.

 

SIPP account has all the above

 

plus highly relevant to OP on a SIPP

 

Quote

Our annual administration fee is just £120 whilst you're building your pension pot. Once you start to take retirement benefits, there is an additional £120 annual drawdown fee.

 

https://www.ii.co.uk/ii-accounts/sipp

 

 

 

 

 

[scubascuba3]

 
When you wrote these type of investments are 0% with II, I think you've got lost in their headline marketing and that of the simple comparison sights
 
 

ii charge 0% management fee, HL charges start at 0.45% on funds as i said before which was costing me thousands annually. Of course there are other ii charges which I'm ok with, they give you some credit for the charges to be used against trading. No idea about HL current charges haven't looked recently. Glad i left them, when i did they were ripping everyone off with that 0.45% fee for nothing. Good if they are able to get additional rebate, no idea if that's true or not. I checked the y share class on a fidelity fund and it was available at both HL and ii.

Worth you checking citywire forum, lots of people were discussing moving away from HL and to ii amongst others

[topt]

This may be an interesting article for those looking at drawdown in the near/mid future (Trustnet in News and Research if the link does not work) -

 

https://www.trustnet.com/news/7454166/

 

Quote

The funds pension investors are using for drawdown – have they made the right choice?