A word of caution. You haven't mentioned Cornmarket but you did say you are PS. Also Gemini did not actually confirm those fees but did its own speculation. Do you get updates on your AVCs from Cornmarket or any such source? They would consider that part of the service.
www.universityofgalway.ie
The plot thickens!
No, I get an annual statement directly from the provider - it only arrives three months after the actual 12-month period covered by the statement. The charges are just listed: the actual detailed calculation of the charges is not shown and I've tried but have never been able to get a proper explanation of how they are calculated, i.e. on what figures the charges are applied. Eventually they just wear you down and you give up, which is probably just what they hope for.
Can't you get this information via your HR? If not then I would write to them requesting this information. If they don't provide it I'd make a formal complaint. If they still don't provide the information I'd request a final response letter and tell them that I'm going to the FSPO. This might focus their mind. In practice the FSPO could take ages to deal with such a complaint but it mightn't need to go that far.
It would be great if you could provide a (suitably redacted) image of your statement showing the charges.
So in that case, all of the charges would go to New Ireland, and if they were the charges as previously described, they are substantial, and one would have to wonder how they can be justified, especially if the employer was interested in getting a good deal for its employees.
The example I quoted that starts with "bid offer spread" is taken directly from my employer's document on AVC Charging Structures, to be found on the employer's website, and that document is headed "Group AVC Scheme - Charging Structure for Regular contributions".
I jotted down notes last night and have outlined them in post 55, but I will retrieve the statement later if that's more helpful, which I think it will be. I just don't have it here with me right now.
Someone is going to review the statement/charges for me as a first step. If necessary, I will certainly go back to the provider and look for more information ... unfortunately the authority you mentioned is already involved in relation to a separate issue.
But, unless I've missed something, you still don't seem to have a clear schedule of charges that definitely apply to your account and not some vague comments about charging structures that may or may not apply?
I don't understand. Do you mean that you have a complaint in with the FSPO about your pension provider? If so then that doesn't prevent you from opening a separate complaint about something else.
That can’t be right. It is not possible to have different charges on the same fund as all units in that fund would suffer the same charge.
They could do it by cancelling 2% of the regular premium units actually, like the old initial/ordinary units shenanigans.
I've figured out that the premium charge is 4%, which is as expected.
This figure, calculated as you suggest, has been going up each year, from 1.8% in Year 3 to 2.1% most recently. I'm hoping to get some clarification on this soon.
Thank you. This is good to hear.
Well, they are not vague exactly, they are directly from the horse's mouth, but they don't stack up with what I see on my statements. If the person reviewing it can't make sense of it either, then I will have to ask the provider for full details (I think I will be doing that anyway).
Yes but my point is that the quote is not accurate and so we don’t really know what are the charges.
