Archive for November, 2009
Written by richard on 24 November 2009
I have been busy of late helping many of you with very poor pension providers. Doing the things that they should be doing for you, and with this in mind I have just published a mini article which you may find of interest.
The link to this is here >>
Richard Smith
0845 226 9106
For those of you with Personal Pensions With Natwest or other High Street Names you may want to see this post.
Or any one on this list (Abbey Life Pensions included)
My Free Pension Report is still available
Tags: Abbey Life Pension, Investment Planning, Mortgages Advice in Copthorne Crawley and East Grinstead, NPI Pension, Pearl Assurance, Pension Transfers
Posted in Abbey Life, Equitable Life, NPI News, News - Updates, Pearl Pension, Pensions - News, Royal Sun Alliance, Scottish Provident | Comments Off
Written by richard on 10 November 2009
Equitable Life Personal Pension Plans Some further Guidance Richard Smith – Independent Financial Adviser
Following some further work I have carried out for some policy holders of Equitable Life Pension and Investment Plans I am pleased to provide an overview and a brief guide to your options.
Equitable Life closed to New Business in 2000, prior to this they were not one of the greatest providers of Investment and Pension Products, investment performance was just about acceptable, and the level of charges within the plans was on the high side of higher than average, but certainly not the worst.
If we compare the find information and statsistics (source FT.com/Lipper) you will see that the overall level of Ranking (this source Lipper) puts Equitable Life somewhere between 1 and 2 based on a good score of 4 or 5. This is based on the Managed Fund Performance. There is similar data and supporting evidence for the rest of the Equitable Life Funds.
Other reasons to consider:-
Charges – Most of the Equitable Life Pension Plans reviewed by us in recent months carry a policy fee (a monthly non refundable fee) of £3.00 per month, however we have seen some of these as high as £5.00 per month or more.
When compared with a modern Pension Contract these charges are certainly not the norm.Very few providers now charge a policy fee at all – likely saving £40 per year or so (x 20 years £800 give or take a few pennies).
What about other charges? There are many that may apply and these are dependent on the specific contract,
some of these are outlined below.
Equitable Life Pension Contracts made great play of Capital Units on some of their contracts. These are designed to confuse and obfuscate the real level of charges within a Pension Plan
Capital Units which were commonly used by many Life Assurance and Pension Providers during the 70’s and 80’s are now virtually outlawed by the regulator and certainly would not be allowed to be used in a modern Pension Plan.
Capital Units could account for up to 80% of your first 5 years Pension Contributions which of course means you will have suffered guaranteed losses on these plans during this period, combined with poor investment returns you could expect your retirement to be substantially worse with a plan that levies Capital Units.
There are of course a range of other charges levied on your fund, Bid Offer Spread paid on new investments (every premium you pay will have this charge levied) in the main it is usually around 5% .
As the Business is now operated as Closed Fund we can expect the investment performance to start to worsen as the Funds Under Management Contract. A small fund, and reducing is harder to manage than a large investment fund.
Do you want me to go on more, look the reality is this Equitable Life are one of the poorest performing, highest charging Pension providers in the UK. There some others that also need to be considered but that is not for here.
By taking some action now you could be increasing your Pension at Retirement by several thousands of points (often 10’s of thousands) by moving your plan to another provider, reducing charges and increasing investment performance. Potentially the direct cost you will be nothing, importantly there
You will also benefit from a more flexible contract along with a good level of advice from ourselves – Independent Financial Advisers.
The initial cost to you for a formal review of your Pension Plan will be Nil or Nothing. We need to fully review the plan before we can provide any advice in any case, this is always Free Of Charge.
I promised not to go on and on about Equitable Life Pension, however they are SO bad, and they really don’t care about you, if they did they would do better.
Please contact me today for a formal review of your options, no charge or obligation.
Please use the form below to obtain some details, to send me an email click here.
Free Pension Review
A list of Poor Pension Providers (Including Equitable Life)
High Charge Pensions
For further information without obligation please use this box below and we will email you some important information and our Free Pension Report. We hate spam more than, therefore do not share or loan your details with any third party provider.
Tags: Abbey Life Pension, Barclays Life, Colonial Mutual Pension, Equitable Life Pension, Pearl Assurance
Posted in Abbey Life, Equitable Life, News - Updates | Comments Off
Written by richard on 10 November 2009
Pearl Personal Pension Plans Some further Guidance Richard Smith – Independent Financial Adviser
Following some further work I have carried out for some policy holders of Pearl Pension and Investment Plans I am pleased to provide an overview and a brief guide to your options.
Pearl closed to New Business in 2000, prior to this they were not one of the greatest providers of Investment and Pension Products, investment performance was just about acceptable, and the level of charges within the plans was on the high side of higher than average, but certainly not the worst.
If we compare the find information and statsistics (source FT.com/Lipper) you will see that the overall level of Ranking (this source Lipper) puts Pearl somewhere between 1 and 2 based on a good score of 4 or 5. This is based on the Managed Fund Performance. There is similar data and supporting evidence for the rest of the Pearl Funds.
Other reasons to consider:-
Charges – Most of the Pearl Pension Plans reviewed by us in recent months carry a policy fee (a monthly non refundable fee) of £3.00 per month, however we have seen some of these as high as £5.00 per month or more.
When compared with a modern Pension Contract these charges are certainly not the norm.Very few providers now charge a policy fee at all – likely saving £40 per year or so (x 20 years £800 give or take a few pennies).
What about other charges?
Pearl Pension Contracts made great play of Capital Units on some of their contracts. These are designed to confuse and obfuscate the real level of charges within a Pension Plan
Capital Units which were commonly used by many Life Assurance and Pension Providers during the 70’s and 80’s are now virtually outlawed by the regulator and certainly would not be allowed to be used in a modern Pension Plan.
Capital Units could account for up to 80% of your first 5 years Pension Contributions which of course means you will have suffered guaranteed losses on these plans during this period, combined with poor investment returns you could expect your retirement to be substantially worse with a plan that levies Capital Units.
There are of course a range of other charges levied on your fund, Bid Offer Spread paid on new investments (every premium you pay will have this charge levied) in the main it is usually around 5% .
As the Business is now operated as Closed Fund we can expect the investment performance to start to worsen as the Funds Under Management Contract. A small fund, and reducing is harder to manage than a large investment fund.
Do you want me to go on more, look the reality is this Pearl are one of the poorest performing, highest charging Pension providers in the UK. There some others that also need to be considered but that is not for here.
By taking some action now you could be increasing your Pension at Retirement by several thousands of points (often 10’s of thousands) by moving your plan to another provider, reducing charges and increasing investment performance. Potentially the direct cost you will be nothing, importantly there
You will also benefit from a more flexible contract along with a good level of advice from ourselves – Independent Financial Advisers.
The initial cost to you for a formal review of your Pension Plan will be Nil or Nothing. We need to fully review the plan before we can provide any advice in any case, this is always Free Of Charge.
I promised not to go on and on about Pearl Pension, however they are SO bad, and they really don’t care about you, if they did they would do better.
Please contact me today for a formal review of your options, no charge or obligation.
Please use the form below to obtain some details, to send me an email click here.
Free Pension Review
A list of Poor Pension Providers (Including Pearl)
High Charge Pensions
For further information without obligation please use this box below and we will email you some important information and our Free Pension Report. We hate spam more than, therefore do not share or loan your details with any third party provider.
Pearl as a Pension Provider causes concerns on several levels, in terms of charges they are just not competitive, in terms of short and medium term investment returns they are a long way off what would be considered good. In simple terms if you have an Pearl Pension or Investment Contract you should review it immediately. You can call today on 0845 226 9106 for a no obligation review.
Posted in Pearl Pension, Pensions - News | Comments Off
Written by richard on 10 November 2009
Abbey Life Personal Pension Plans Some further Guidance Richard Smith – Independent Financial Adviser
Following some further work I have carried out for some policy holders of Abbey Life Pension and Investment Plans I am pleased to provide an overview and a brief guide to your options.
Abbey Life closed to New Business in 2000, prior to this they were not one of the greatest providers of Investment and Pension Products, investment performance was just about acceptable, and the level of charges within the plans was on the high side of higher than average, but certainly not the worst.
If we compare the find information and statsistics (source FT.com/Lipper) you will see that the overall level of Ranking (this source Lipper) puts Abbey Life somewhere between 1 and 2 based on a good score of 4 or 5. This is based on the Managed Fund Performance. There is similar data and supporting evidence for the rest of the Abbey Life Funds.
Other reasons to consider:-
Charges – Most of the Abbey Life Pension Plans reviewed by us in recent months carry a policy fee (a monthly non refundable fee) of £3.00 per month, however we have seen some of these as high as £5.00 per month or more.
When compared with a modern Pension Contract these charges are certainly not the norm.Very few providers now charge a policy fee at all – likely saving £40 per year or so (x 20 years £800 give or take a few pennies).
What about other charges?
Abbey Life Pension Contracts made great play of Capital Units. These are designed to confuse and obfuscate the real level of charges within a Pension Plan
Capital Units which were commonly used by many Life Assurance and Pension Providers during the 70’s and 80’s are now virtually outlawed by the regulator and certainly would not be allowed to be used in a modern Pension Plan.
Capital Units could account for up to 80% of your first 5 years Pension Contributions which of course means you will have suffered guaranteed losses on these plans during this period, combined with poor investment returns you could expect your retirement to be substantially worse with a plan that levies Capital Units.
There are of course a range of other charges levied on your fund, Bid Offer Spread paid on new investments (every premium you pay will have this charge levied) in the main it is usually around 5% .
Abbey Life have been owned by Deutsche Bank since 2007 and the actual management of the funds within Abbey Life have been outsourced to Scottish Widows, who are well placed to do a better job than Abbey Life could. I have an interesting question for you. Why would a major European Bank want to purchase a Closed Life Assurance Business ( closed means that it no longer accepts new business) for a sum of £977 million? If you want the answer here it is:-
The business does not need to be serviced properly
It takes no management time to run.
It has very light touch in terms of regulation.
It is fantastically profitable given the level of charges levied within these plans.
The last sentence tells you all you need to know, by they way Lloyds TSB also badly needs the money (well it did then and more so now).
As the Business is now operated as Closed Fund we can expect the investment performance to start to worsen as the Funds Under Management Contract. A small fund, and reducing is harder to manage than a large investment fund.
Do you want me to go on more, look the reality is this Abbey Life are one of the poorest performing, highest charging Pension providers in the UK. There some others that also need to be considered but that is not for here.
By taking some action now you could be increasing your Pension at Retirement by several thousands of points (often 10’s of thousands) by moving your plan to another provider, reducing charges and increasing investment performance. Potentially the direct cost you will be nothing, importantly there
You will also benefit from a more flexible contract along with a good level of advice from ourselves – Independent Financial Advisers.
The initial cost to you for a formal review of your Pension Plan will be Nil or Nothing. We need to fully review the plan before we can provide any advice in any case, this is always Free Of Charge.
I promised not to go on and on about Abbey Life Pension, however they are SO bad, and they really don’t care about you, if they did they would do better.
Please contact me today for a formal review of your options, no charge or obligation.
Please use the form below to obtain some details, to send me an email click here.
Some more links are here
Free Pension Review
A list of Poor Pension Providers (Including Abbey Life)
High Charge Pensions
For further information without obligation please use this box below and we will email you some important information and our Free Pension Report. We hate spam more than, therefore do not share or loan your details with any third party provider.
Posted in Abbey Life, Pensions - News | Comments Off
