Getting transaction history on my pension account.

Hi,

I have been a member of my employer pension scheme for over 20 years. It is only in the past 10 years that I have managed to make decent sized AVC's. Currently I put in €13k per annum and my employer another €4.5k.
Anyway, as you might expect the annual statement which I have got for the past few years dosen't make good reading in terms of fund performance.
HOWEVER one of my colleagues who puts in roughly the same amount as me over approx the same time frame shows a current fund value significantly higher than total contributions.
Mine on the other hand is 1.5% LOWER than total contributions. I am really concerned at this apparent anomaly.
The fund is one of these APPARENTLY opaque with profits schemes (Friends First) where I understand it can be difficult to get good historical information.

I have repeatadly asked for a detailed transaction history (in terms of my own and company contributions). The broker just tells me that this is unavailable other than through the annual one line statement.
Can this be true. I reckon the total contributions todate are in the order of €150k. Surely I am entitled to a detailed historical log. Surely I am entitled to a detailed fund perfornance analysis YEAR by YEAR.
Surely a with profits scheme should not be in negative territory OR AT LEAST should have had protection from the equity markets storm of the past few years.

I would really appreciate any help I can get.

Rujib

HOWEVER one of my colleagues who puts in roughly the same amount as me over approx the same time frame shows a current fund value significantly higher than total contributions.
Mine on the other hand is 1.5% LOWER than total contributions.

A direct comparison would only make sense if you were both contributing the same amounts, to the same funds, for the same period of time. I can't imagine that this would be the case?

I have repeatadly asked for a detailed transaction history (in terms of my own and company contributions). The broker just tells me that this is unavailable other than through the annual one line statement.
Can this be true.

I would have expected that you would be entitled to this information. Who is this "broker"? If you fail to get the information that you need then you should probably pursue the issue with other parties - e.g. your HR department, the pension consultants (if any) who deal with the scheme (assuming that this is not the "broker" that you mention above), the scheme trustees, the scheme underwriter (Friends First) and, if all else fails, the Pensions Board.

The fund is one of these APPARENTLY opaque with profits schemes (Friends First) where I understand it can be difficult to get good historical information.

Yes - With Profits funds are often not very transparent in terms of realistic current valuations, charges etc. If you have more than a few years to go to retirement then you might want to consider investing some or all of your pension savings in a fund that is more "aggressive" (e.g. higher equity content) than many With Profits funds are.

If in doubt get .

You could also raise the matter with your pension trustees. Note that some of the pensions consultants (e.g. Mercer) are now providing online access to pension statements showing each & every transaction for some of their clients.

Is there an echo in here... here... here...

Rainyday,
I was in one of those online pension 'things' and they are a load of Stupid half informed tripe...
Ah yeah, they acknowledged that they received my contributions, but they failed to tell me what they purchased with them.....The only benefit I could see was the current value of your fund, but gods knows if this was up to date, which I doubt.

Tall Chapy - I have responded to some other queries/comments of yours in case you haven't already seen them.

For what it's worth in this context I've found [broken link removed] online pension account management (available via the Secure Login link on their page - obviously you have to be registered with them to access this) very useful and their general customer service and administration to be very good.

Thanks for the reply.

Do Eagle Star give you a breakdown of how many units they purchased each month for you. This to me should be a minimum.
As I have said on another discussion. The pension board and their female leader, Ann Whateverhernameis was on Pat Kenny radio and she brushed off all serious questions about detailed pension statements. Pension board seems to be more concerned with the pension companies, than the people that invest in pensions. There is no body here that fights for the rights of pension investors. The government are a joke also about this. Like all other bodies that they create, they give them too little powers and by the time that they get powers, the horse has gone...not only left the stables, but left the field, left the country..

Sorry about the diatribe...

What was the response of your pension trustees?

Do Eagle Star give you a breakdown of how many units they purchased each month for you.

Actually, no.

There is no body here that fights for the rights of pension investors.

There's always [broken link removed] if you have specific complaints that cannot be addressed by the institution in question.

Rainyday,

Response from the trustees was that they (the trustees) are not in a position to get this level of detail from Friends First.

They belive that FF and consequently the trustees are meeting their responsibilities in terms of the legal requirements on them.

Friends First will not go the extra mile in terms of communicating more detail unless and untill it becomes a legal responsibility.

For my own part I have made my new years resolution already.

I am looking at the possibility of setting up a PRSA with clear and understandable charges AND investment reporting AND investment strategies.
My employer has said that if I can do the groundwork in terms of setting up the AVC, that they will be happy to divert future company contribution into the new PRSA provided their auditors/advisers see no legal or technical loophole in so doing.

So, now I need to carefully study previous post on AAM to educate myself on this subject.

My understanding as of now is that it should be possible to do this. Assuming I am proved correct in this understanding, I guess I will have to decide what can be done or SHOULD be done with my current fund.
Should I transfer it to the AVC? Should I leave it in situ?

I need to get clarification IF POSSIBLE from Friends First as to whether or not a TERMINAL BONUS is applicable in my fund (it being of the with profits type).

I have a lot to consider over the coming weeks and any tip or advice would be appreciated.

Rujib

Tall Chappy,

Just because one online service is bad doesn't mean that they all are.

The Mercer one shows the exact units bought each month going back for years.

Sqoh

Response from the trustees was that they (the trustees) are not in a position to get this level of detail from Friends First.

Click to expand...

If are not happy with this, consider replacing your trustees! If 25% of members request it, they are obliged to hold an election for member trustees.

Sqoh
Just because one online service is bad doesn't mean that they all are.
The Mercer one shows the exact units bought each month going back for years.

This true Sqoh just as much as one online service that is good doesn't mean that they all are.

I am begining to sound like rainyday.... :rollin :tallchapy

The mercer one sound like it is well ahead of the rest. Any news of when Hibernian shall move to online pension info..

We may even be able to draw up a table of good and bad so that the bad can be shamed and the good highly praised.