Managing your own pension

I have about 4 years worth of a pension that's being looked after for me by AIB bank.

I was wondering if I have the option to withdraw this money and invest it in what I see fit (keeping it as a pension investment)

Do Ireland have a similar scheme to the SIPPS in the UK? - A Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP)

Can I pick out stocks / bonds / shares and amalgamate them into my own sort of pension portfolio so to speak?

Yes, you can do what you're referring to. There are two types - self-directed and self-administered. Sometimes these terms get interchanged, but in general self-directed means that a life assurance company sets up a pension policy for you but you choose the investments within the policy while a self-administered arrangement bypasses the need for a life assurance company altogether - you set up a bespoke trust arrangement for your fund. There are quite a few factors that differentiate between the two types. Cost is one of them - self-directed tends to be more cost effective for smaller funds, while self-administered (if paid for by a flat fee) tends to be more cost effective for larger funds (e.g. >€250,000 or so).

Rules regarding permitted investments are different here to the UK. As a rule of thumb, in Ireland there must be no connection whatsoever between you and any investment that you choose for your pension. So no buying shares in your own company or that of a relative, no buying a property that you, your company or your family will use etc.

Liam D. Ferguson

I am thinking about the going the SIPP route so just wondering if anyone has gone through this and can comment on the experience?
Any info on the charges involved?
thanks

Generally the charges are an AMC of around 1.5% in a self invest PRSA/PRB. Broadly depends on the value of the fund being transferred and assets you wish to invest in.

dillage said:

Generally the charges are an AMC of around 1.5% in a self invest PRSA/PRB.

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Think you can get a lot better than that in todays market...I would say perhaps 1% would have be a lot closer to the average and I have seen AMC's as low as 0.65% on SIF funds over 125K

Baracuda said:

Think you can get a lot better than that in todays market...I would say perhaps 1% would have be a lot closer to the average and I have seen AMC's as low as 0.65% on SIF funds over 125K

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Well it depends on the value of the transfer/fund. The entry level would be 1.5%. I work for a QFM and we offer 1.5% on funds under €100k, 1% for funds between €100k & €500k, 0.5% between €500k & €2m & 0.4% over €2m.
If you have a large fund the market can provide a great rate.

is this 1.5% (or similar) charge for the initial transfer or is this taken every year?
since the pension isn't being managed i thought there would be no management charge and the only charges would be transaction costs(commissions) when buying and selling assets. is that not right?

The charge is applicable every year as an annual management charge. Although you might be make the decision of where you wish to invest, there still is a lot of work to be done to facilitate your investment, provide you with statements, ensure the correct pension levy amount is paid, ensure the correct taxes, USC and PRSI on drawdown.
Also, in a self invested PRSA, PRB, SSAP etc you may invest invest in deposits, equities, commodities, property etc so each of these assets have significant amounts of work around them. Basically, with a self invested fund you need to have a QFM or PRSA administrator to do all the work around the investment.
The Self Invested nature means you have control over the decisions of where to invest but all the paperwork and the processes of making the investment still have to be undertaken by the QFM or administrator.

Are there any good resources anywhere to read more about this topic?

diallage, thanks for previous info.