# Standard Life Self-Adm Executive Pension



## celticcc1 (24 Apr 2007)

I am proprietary director and want to invest about €10k a year in stocks/shares using a self-directed pension option.  I contemplated taking a SSAP via a pension trust company but as the initial setup costs are about €2k i do not think my pension contributions would justify setting up a self-directed pension in this fashion.

Using Standard Life apparently i can buy shares on line using StockTrade, a scottish on-line stockbroker.  Can somebody advise on how this works e.g. fee structure for both Standard , 
are there restrictions on the shares that you can buy,
S
will be investi Can anyone tell me what are the charges associated with Standard Life Self admin pensions, for example shares execution only ?


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## celticcc1 (24 Apr 2007)

*Apologies with my previous post as i submitted it before it was fully complete.  See full details below.*

I am proprietary director and want to invest about €10k a year in stocks/shares using a self-directed pension option. I contemplated taking a SSAP via a pension trust company but as the initial setup costs are about €2k i do not think my pension contributions would justify setting up a self-directed pension in this fashion.

Using Standard Life apparently i can buy shares on-line using StockTrade (a scottish on-line stockbroker) on an execution only basis. Can somebody advise on how this works e.g. fee structure for both Standard Life (1% i think!) and StockTrade, ,
are there restrictions on the shares that you can buy?, etc.

I appreciate any responses as i am very unhappy with the returns on my existing Canada Life pension and feel i beat their returns so long as the fees are not excessive. I currently have a personal on-line sharetrading a/c with ETRADE (a US broker) and the fees are €9.99 per trade.

Thanks in advance.


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## LDFerguson (24 Apr 2007)

On the Standard Life product, there's a policy fee of €4.95 per month, followed by an allocation rate which should be agreed between you and the broker or sales person, depending on your age, the amount of your contribution and the level of service you require. 

Thereafter, Standard Life take a 1% annual management charge on your fund. 

The execution-only stockbroking fee by Stocktrade is 0.75% of the trade subject to a €30 minimum and €200 maximum. 

Irish Life also have a similar product - for regular contributions it's €4.25 per month policy fee, followed by an allocation rate as above. Irish Life also charge a 1% annual fund fee. 

Their stockbroker is NCB who charge 0.25% of each trade subject to a minimum trade size of €5,000 and a minimum commission of €100.00.

Liam D. Ferguson
www.ferga.com


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## capall (25 Apr 2007)

What kind of a return are you getting from Canada Life ?


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## LDFerguson (25 Apr 2007)

Stupid post deleted by me - should have read earlier ones more closely!


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## celticcc1 (25 Apr 2007)

Thanks LD.
What exactly does the allocation rate mean?  In the brochure i got from Standard Life, it states an allocation rate of 95% for a pension investment of €10k.  Does this mean that Standard Life are taking fees of 5%?

Capall, 
over the last 9 years or so, i have invested roughly €36k and the fund is now worth about €40k.  Not good enough in my opinion.....  I have fared much better in the stock exchange myself in that time, up roughly 35% and made some very silly trades in that time and payed a lot of ridiculous fees to Daveys for execution only trades.  This time round i want to know exactly what fees i pay on an annual basis to Standard Life and what fees i pay to the stockbroker Stocktrade , both annual and per trade fees. 

I am doing a QFA course to educate myself on financial services but i have a lot to learn and genuinely appperciate any advice


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## LDFerguson (26 Apr 2007)

> What exactly does the allocation rate mean? In the brochure i got from Standard Life, it states an allocation rate of 95% for a pension investment of €10k. Does this mean that Standard Life are taking fees of 5%?


 
Yes a 95% allocation rate is indeed a charge of 5%.  If you go directly to Standard Life, they will keep this 5% for themselves.  If you go via a broker, you may be able to negotiate a better allocation rate than 95%, depending on your age, the amount of your contribution and the level of service you require.


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## capall (26 Apr 2007)

That would be a return of about 2% which is bad. Just had a quick look on the web at canada life returns and saw nothing that low.

Did you see what the yearly return from your fund was ,these figures are published. 

I haven't any knowledge of the standard life product but there should be a 100% allocation rate as you are doing the investing your self.
Otherwise they are taking a chunk of your initial investment ,a yearly admin fee and you are paying the broker for the trades you are doing.    

Even a 1% annual admin fee is expensive as what are they doing for you for this ? You are in control 100% of you investment . Easy money for them.

Managing your pension fund investment personally is a bit daunting for most people unless you have a genuine interest in the markets.

Take a look at the returns on Quinn Lifes tracker funds, you can invest in funds linked to various world markets and you should get 
the average return and the fee structure is very straightforward. You could always take this fund and transfer to something like standard lifes product at a later date.


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## celticcc1 (26 Apr 2007)

LD, i will try a broker as i am not prepared to pay 5% to Standard Life and 1-2% plus to Stocktrade.  I mean 6-7% for a self administered pension, for f***s sake!

Capall, my pension fund got hammered post the bursting of the tech bubble in 2000 or so.  Also, took a hammering after the 9/11 Twin towers attack.  Since then it has fared okay.  I am confident enough about trading the markets and certainly feel that i can beat the benchmark indices.

Thanks for your help lads.


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## capall (30 Apr 2007)

What about Davys pension product for directors

2000 start up fees and then 1% annual,you can trade online ,good choice of EFTs. Also their own funds show good returns

Worth checking out


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## voodoobazza (5 Jun 2007)

Might be worth, going self directed in an insured scheme until your pension fund grows enough to be able to take the SSAP charges.

Pay a fee up front on an hourly basis for the advice and try to get at least 100% net allocation from the start.

Best of luck


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## celticcc1 (12 Dec 2007)

Just found out that Quinn Life allow investment in stocks shares through a self-directed pension but that there is a minimum investment of €30k required. I have an existing pension which has a nominal value of €42k but a surrender value of €35k so i am a bit reluctant to get caught with an exit penalty of €7k.
I am told by Quinn Life however that i can invest in an executive pension with them until such time as the €30k is built up and then move the lump sum into the self-directed pension plan without incurring any exit penalties. To build this up would probably take 2-3 years to do.

thanks for your help on this.


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## boaber (12 Dec 2007)

You can also go self directed with Canada Life you know.  They deal with stockbrokers such as Merrion, BCP & NCB.

They also have a lot of geared property funds on the go with various brokers such as Oregans


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## capall (14 Dec 2007)

Thats unbelievable a 20% exit charge on transferring your pension. Is that even legal ?


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## Dave Vanian (14 Dec 2007)

capall said:


> Thats unbelievable a 20% exit charge on transferring your pension. Is that even legal ?


 
I'd imagine that the contract paid hefty commissions to the salesperson at the outset which were not immediately deducted from the fund and effectively if you transfer out before retirement, the pension company is clawing back their commission.  

Sounds like one of these infernal "Initial Units" and "Accumulation Units" contracts, which are the work of Satan in my opinion.

But not illegal.


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## celticcc1 (15 Dec 2007)

boaber said:


> You can also go self directed with Canada Life you know. They deal with stockbrokers such as Merrion, BCP & NCB.
> 
> They also have a lot of geared property funds on the go with various brokers such as Oregans


 
My exeutive pension is with Canada Life and i also happen to have money invested with a CMC German Property fund which was facilitated through a Canad Life self-directed pension.
Never knew though that i could buy shares through a Canada Life self-directed pension.  Must find out if there is a minimum investment amount,such as €30k with Quinn life and what the stockbroker fees are (Merrion/BCP and NCB ahve very high transaction fees and i would prefer to deal with a low cost on-line broker.
Appreciate the information.


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