But the funds offered by RLI are nothing like the old EL WP funds. ValueShare is simply a discretionary "profit share" bonus. Comparing RLI to EL is apples and oranges in my opinion.
Probably the best (cheapest) PRSA in the world?
- Thread starter Poseidon
- Start date
With profits funds also delivered a discretionary profit share from mutual companies.
If
When you know that you are maturing the plans (moving from pre-retirement products to a post-retirement product) you could get a price from more than one provider. Once you have all the informatio you can make an informed decision.
The comparison with Equitable is misleading. They were a direct to consumer company (so brokers dodged that bullet
) and their real issue was guaranteed annuity rates, if I remember correctly. There's no promise/guarantee with the RL products. I think actuaries finally learned their lesson. There are still a lot of customers of Standard Life & Aviva who are restricted in the transferability of their unitised with-profit funds, and forced high allocations to non- equity assest, because those products had/have guaranteed growth rates of 4% on them. Market Value Adjustments still apply 20 years later.
When you know that you are maturing the plans (moving from pre-retirement products to a post-retirement product) you could get a price from more than one provider. Once you have all the informatio you can make an informed decision.
The comparison with Equitable is misleading. They were a direct to consumer company (so brokers dodged that bullet
) and their real issue was guaranteed annuity rates, if I remember correctly. There's no promise/guarantee with the RL products. I think actuaries finally learned their lesson. There are still a lot of customers of Standard Life & Aviva who are restricted in the transferability of their unitised with-profit funds, and forced high allocations to non- equity assest, because those products had/have guaranteed growth rates of 4% on them. Market Value Adjustments still apply 20 years later.
Last edited:
Yes, but EL's WP funds are not comparable to the managed and passive funds offered by RLI. The EL WP investment approach was instrumental in their demise. The bonus is simply a tangential matter in the greater scheme of things.
LDFerguson
Registered User
- Messages
- 4,819
While there are some similarities, Royal London's Value Share bonus is a long way off the With-Profit funds or products of old.
- With-Profit contracts offered some level of guaranteed minimum growth and some offered guaranteed annuity rates in advance. Such guarantees proved to be hugely costly for the companies when asset values and open-market annuity rates fell and as has been said, contributed to the fall of Equitable Life. Value Share offers no such guarantees and indeed might not be paid in the future.
- With a With-Profit fund, the policyholder didn't choose their own asset allocations. They chose the With-Profit fund and the fund manager decided what the fund invested in. Royal London offer a range of funds that people can choose from and mix between if they want. Maybe they'll pay a Value Share bonus each year; maybe they won't. It's not central to the investment decision and should be viewed as a nice bonus if it arrives.
Thank you again everyone for your thoughts. I shall consider all options and as suggested and get quotes when maturing from both and more too. It may be a year or two before that happens so whether or not it would be significantly better to change to RL from Zurich with existing policies now, is hard to know. It would have better charges certainly, but over such a short timespan it might not be overly beneficial.
It may not be significantly advantageous to switch now but it will definitely be advantageous to be subject to lower charges and potentially benefiting from the ValueShare bonus - all things being equal (e.g. investing in the same sort of asset mix with RLI as with Zurich).
It's a very fair point. I'll call and see what they say, it makes sense and maybe where I would be going anyway post drawdown. I know it's probably stupid but I'd worry the current losses on my fund might crystallise to an extent as the funds are similar but not the same. A lot to think about.
You wouldn't be crystallising any losses by transferring from one pension provider to another.
0.6% here before any discretionary ValueShare bonus:
Products | Execution-Only.ie
www.execution-only.ie
Contact Us - Royal London IE
We’re only a phone call or email away in Dublin, to help you in any way we can.
www.royallondon.ie
Last edited:
LDFerguson
Registered User
- Messages
- 4,819
Royal London have a wide range of PRSA options and AMC options. Brokers have scope to choose whatever one suits their own business model. So the answer to your question will vary from one broker to the next. Typically, lower charges are available to those who require no advice, i.e. execution-only. As far as I know, Royal London don't sell PRSAs directly to the public and the Contact Us area linked by @ClubMan above is for dealing with customer queries; not sales.
If it's any help, I called them last week regarding a prsa transfer and found them very helpful if a little unprepared for some questions. They had to go to a supervisor a couple of times for answers.
I asked them to also clarify if a prsa is also allowed to be part of the value-share bonus scheme, they confirmed that they are now part of that as I understand they were not previously.
I asked them to also clarify if a prsa is also allowed to be part of the value-share bonus scheme, they confirmed that they are now part of that as I understand they were not previously.
ValueShare - Royal London IE
Here you'll find out about our unique ValueShare feature. As well as providing you with excellent products, a range of investment options and good service, we also will aim to give your savings a potential boost. This is called ValueShare.
www.royallondon.ie
LDFerguson
Registered User
- Messages
- 4,819
Royal London launched their PRSA product in 2024 and it was always eligible for ValueShare. Rules of ValueShare are that the fund must be in force at 31st December for it to be included when the next ValueShare announcement is made the following April. So perhaps the confusion is that anyone who invested in a Royal London PRSA in 2024 wasn't eligible for ValueShare until April 2025's announcement.
Thanks very much for the clarification. I have an execution only arrangement so was checking myself directly with them. Only blame myself after for any errors
doranalex1
New Member
- Messages
- 6
Hi All, fairly basic question:
RL’s 0.55% AMC is the base charge.
When I enlist a broker, does their fee come out of that 0.55%?
Or will a broker be adding their own fee of around 0.25-0.5% on top of the AMC?
Anyone used a good broker to set up with RL? Thanks in advance.
RL’s 0.55% AMC is the base charge.
When I enlist a broker, does their fee come out of that 0.55%?
Or will a broker be adding their own fee of around 0.25-0.5% on top of the AMC?
Anyone used a good broker to set up with RL? Thanks in advance.
At least one broker will do it execution only for 0.6%.
Probably the best (cheapest) PRSA in the world?
Because Value Share is a similar idea to a mutual life company's with profits fund. But the funds offered by RLI are nothing like the old EL WP funds. ValueShare is simply a discretionary "profit share" bonus. Comparing RLI to EL is apples and oranges in my opinion.
www.askaboutmoney.com
Fibbernacci
Registered User
- Messages
- 90
Hi Folks. During my morning chinwag with ChatGPT it appears that I can open a PRSA to get tax free growth even after having maxed out contributions to occupational pension scheme. Is this true? It would effectively be an ISA only it s pension related.
Can You Open an Extra PRSA and Still Get Tax-Free Growth?
Yes, absolutely.
Even if you’ve already maxed out your tax relief limits (e.g., 25% of earnings under age 40), you can still make additional contributions to a PRSA (or even a second one), and the growth within it remains tax-free.
---
The Two Key Things to Know:
1. Tax Relief Limit
Revenue allows tax relief on contributions up to a certain % of your earnings, based on your age.
This limit includes both your contributions and your employer’s (BBH’s 8%).
Anything above that limit doesn’t get tax relief on the way in, but...
2. Tax-Free Investment Growth Still Applies
All funds inside a PRSA—whether made with tax-relieved money or not—grow free of income tax, DIRT, or CGT.
This is a huge advantage versus investing through a regular brokerage account where you’d be taxed on gains or income annually
Can You Open an Extra PRSA and Still Get Tax-Free Growth?
Yes, absolutely.
Even if you’ve already maxed out your tax relief limits (e.g., 25% of earnings under age 40), you can still make additional contributions to a PRSA (or even a second one), and the growth within it remains tax-free.
---
The Two Key Things to Know:
1. Tax Relief Limit
Revenue allows tax relief on contributions up to a certain % of your earnings, based on your age.
This limit includes both your contributions and your employer’s (BBH’s 8%).
Anything above that limit doesn’t get tax relief on the way in, but...
2. Tax-Free Investment Growth Still Applies
All funds inside a PRSA—whether made with tax-relieved money or not—grow free of income tax, DIRT, or CGT.
This is a huge advantage versus investing through a regular brokerage account where you’d be taxed on gains or income annually
There should be a separate forum on here for the inaccurrate/misleading information that folk want to feast on, and discuss, from ChatGPT.
Plus, it's not like this notion hasn't been flogged to death here already. Why not just search AAM for the accurate stuff.
Plus, it's not like this notion hasn't been flogged to death here already. Why not just search AAM for the accurate stuff.