Transferring final salary scheme to a SIPP
Discussion
Both my wife and I are deferred members of a final salary scheme and want to transfer into existing SIPPs.
Legally I have to take advice from an IFA, and the costs I've been quoted so far are astronomical - CETVS are £600k and £39k....most advisors won't touch the small one and want £10,000+ just for advice on the larger pot.
Has anyone managed to find an IFA who doesn't charge the earth for this "advice"?
Legally I have to take advice from an IFA, and the costs I've been quoted so far are astronomical - CETVS are £600k and £39k....most advisors won't touch the small one and want £10,000+ just for advice on the larger pot.
Has anyone managed to find an IFA who doesn't charge the earth for this "advice"?
I just did mine three month back, found an independent guy who was recommended by a family friend.
He wanted 2% and said I would be better off using Tideway.
I had previously tried with Tideway but they wanted a full disclosure of all mine and partners finances and I didn't want to go through that. They were cheap mind. 1% as mentioned already.
I would suggest you use them.
Failing that the guy I could recommend was 2% but i negotiated a flat fee of slightly less. He travelled 100 miles to my workplace for appointment. And i reckon could have turned it around within a couple of week or less. I took my time to agree and it was all done in three week.
We actually transferred to another SIPP scheme whom he recommended and then I bounced the money out of there (free of charge) into my desired SIPP provider. That took about 24-48 hrs.
Quick and painless.
PM if want details.
Channel One Financial Planning LLP (near Leeds)
He wanted 2% and said I would be better off using Tideway.
I had previously tried with Tideway but they wanted a full disclosure of all mine and partners finances and I didn't want to go through that. They were cheap mind. 1% as mentioned already.
I would suggest you use them.
Failing that the guy I could recommend was 2% but i negotiated a flat fee of slightly less. He travelled 100 miles to my workplace for appointment. And i reckon could have turned it around within a couple of week or less. I took my time to agree and it was all done in three week.
We actually transferred to another SIPP scheme whom he recommended and then I bounced the money out of there (free of charge) into my desired SIPP provider. That took about 24-48 hrs.
Quick and painless.
PM if want details.
Channel One Financial Planning LLP (near Leeds)
The problem you’re facing is that everyone seems to think that the advice to move, or not is a one off thing. Sadly, that’s not the way the regulator looks at things. As a result of rules, or views, change in the future the advice given can be looked at through that prism of different rules later on. Hence, you’re not just paying for the advice, but also the risk of that advice to the business that provided it.
Given the scope of the work the price you’ve quoted is possibly a little on the high side, but not excessively so.
Given the scope of the work the price you’ve quoted is possibly a little on the high side, but not excessively so.
From the other side of the fence, the regulatory risk of transferring from a DB scheme into a DC arrangement such as a SIPP are such that the fees involved have to cover this aspect as well. There is no long-stop with financial advice so the risk of the transfer later being deemed unsuitable by the regulator sits with the adviser (and their PI cover) for ever and a day.
Personally, even at 2% I would be reluctant to take on the business as it just doesn't make commercial sense, even more so if the monies are going into a SIPP that I have no influence over. If you go and make some ill judged investments your adviser may well still find themselves on the hook.
At 3% the business is profitable (but not by as much as you would think) and if I have some influence over the investment strategy or better still you are going into insured funds via a PP I am more comfortable with the risk.
It may seem odd given the quantum of fees involved, but this is an area of the advice market place that many advisers are shying away from.
Personally, even at 2% I would be reluctant to take on the business as it just doesn't make commercial sense, even more so if the monies are going into a SIPP that I have no influence over. If you go and make some ill judged investments your adviser may well still find themselves on the hook.
At 3% the business is profitable (but not by as much as you would think) and if I have some influence over the investment strategy or better still you are going into insured funds via a PP I am more comfortable with the risk.
It may seem odd given the quantum of fees involved, but this is an area of the advice market place that many advisers are shying away from.
The silly thing about this is that if you can find an advisor who recommends that you dont transfer the money then you ignore them.
In a perverse way I would like to find an ultra conversative FA who recommends not to transfer and then (when I eventually move) I can ingore them. The FC wouldn't need to worry as I have effectively ignored their advice and ticked the box that the FCA want ticked.
Or have I missed something?
In a perverse way I would like to find an ultra conversative FA who recommends not to transfer and then (when I eventually move) I can ingore them. The FC wouldn't need to worry as I have effectively ignored their advice and ticked the box that the FCA want ticked.
Or have I missed something?
A good friend of mine was happy with Dawn Slater in Newbury during the summer months. I recall he had 3 smallish historic DB pensions he wanted to transfer to his SIPP; as an accountant he knew what he was doing and had already done his own TV analysis. I believe he negotiated a flat fee (probably low single digit £k, but I wasn't listening too closely at the time). He did say he contacted several IFAs and she was the only one who seemed confident of providing the required compliant advice for a realistic fee.
sugerbear said:
The silly thing about this is that if you can find an advisor who recommends that you dont transfer the money then you ignore them.
In a perverse way I would like to find an ultra conversative FA who recommends not to transfer and then (when I eventually move) I can ingore them. The FC wouldn't need to worry as I have effectively ignored their advice and ticked the box that the FCA want ticked.
Or have I missed something?
Having just organised a two day event to prevent poor transfer advice practice, it’s far more nuanced than that. Advisers who I hold in the upmost professional awe are stymied, stumped and stupefied by current ‘guidance’ from the Regulator and from FSCS. In a perverse way I would like to find an ultra conversative FA who recommends not to transfer and then (when I eventually move) I can ingore them. The FC wouldn't need to worry as I have effectively ignored their advice and ticked the box that the FCA want ticked.
Or have I missed something?
Ginge R said:
Having just organised a two day event to prevent poor transfer advice practice, it’s far more nuanced than that. Advisers who I hold in the upmost professional awe are stymied, stumped and stupefied by current ‘guidance’ from the Regulator and from FSCS.
Added to this is the sense that the regulatiors position is fluid with all historic advice judged by the latest standards. It’s a risky market to be involved in and needs priced accordingly IMO.I think it has gone beyond the point of cost now. Insurance may become simply too expensive - a lot of chickens are coming home to roost. Scheme trustees are becoming increasingly nervous.. just last night, we heard that many are putting transfers on hold in light of the recent GMP ruling. The insurers won’t touch it, the Regulator wants to stop it, the scammers want to crack on full steam ahead. The irony is, there are probably more people out there than we previously thought who *should* transfer out for various reasons, but who now may not be able to.
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