Are there benefits to combining a number of pension (AVC) accounts ?

[MrEarl]

Hello,

Sorry I am very much a novice when it comes to pensions, so please forgive me if this is a stupid question...

I have a number of private pension funds, including some funds which are now closed to new contributions & new members (i.e. provided from former employment). Within these, are a small number of accounts, holding AVCs I had made in years past.

What I am wondering now is this, is there any merrit or benifit in merging all AVC funds, into one account with one Pension Trustee (for example, will I save money on annual costs, or perhaps benifit in terms of potential investment options within those permitted by the Pension Trustee etc) ?

All help very much appreciated.

 

[pierboy]

Firstly there are a few restrictions to bringing your AVCs together:
1. AVCs which are legally attached to a trust must be transferred with the main benefits in the the trust (though with the permission of the trust they can be transferred to a new policy)
2. You can't mix up occupational benefits (generally you earned whilst an employee) and personal pension benefits (generally earned while self-employed)
3. The only way to bring benefits from different employers together is into an occupational scheme of which you are an active or deferred member - Personal Retirement Bonds will cater for benefits from one employment only (though multiple schemes within the one employment are possible)

Charges tend to me fixed monthly/annual amounts and fund management charges. It would certainly be a good idea to reduce the number of contracts you are holding if you are paying fixed charges. If the amounts are reasonably substantial (above 50k) it should also be possible to negotiate more favourable fund management charges.

 

[MrEarl]

Hello,

Thank you Pierboy. I very much appreciate your assistance.

Regards

MrEarl.