PRSA allocation and charges

S

stanman

Registered User
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Hi

I recently joined a small company and am looking at pension options.

Their nominated broker will put a Zurich PRSA in place for me with 95% allocation and 1% annual fee. Company will match a small percentage (TBC) of contributions.

At 95% and 1%, this seems like the maximum allowable under legislation for a standard PRSA as per this guide.

Is 95% and 1% considered expensive or pretty standard for this type of product? I notice some discount brokers offering 100% and 1%, for instance.

What would the average or typical allocation and fee combination for PRSAs be, for comparison?

For context, I don't need any additional advice or guidance from the broker, am happy to make investment fund decisions independently.

Thanks
Stan
 
Last edited:
Look up discount brokers on this site.
you can get 100% allocation rate with "no advice".
 
stanman said:
Hi

I recently joined a small company and am looking at pension options.

Their nominated broker will put a Zurich PRSA in place for me with 95% allocation and 1% annual fee. Company will match a small percentage (TBC) of contributions.

At 95% and 1%, this seems like the maximum allowable under legislation for a standard PRSA as per this guide.

Is 95% and 1% considered expensive or pretty standard for this type of product? I notice some discount brokers offering 100% and 1%, for instance.

What would the average or typical allocation and fee combination for PRSAs be, for comparison?

For context, I don't need any additional advice or guidance from the broker, am happy to make investment fund decisions independently.

Thanks
Stan
Click to expand...

You've a couple of choices here.

(1) Negotiate with the broker to reduce the 5% charge down. Broker might or might not be willing to do this. Broker and employer might be wary of offering a better deal to you compared to your colleagues who are on the 5% charge.

(2) It is possible to set up your own Zurich Life PRSA through a different broker (like one of the discount brokers mentioned here) and arrange for Zurich Life to include your PRSA on the same Direct Debit as the rest of the PRSA scheme. This can only be done with the agreement of your employer and your employer may not want to do it because it results in two reconciliations of the Direct Debit from two different brokers.
 
bstop said:
Look up discount brokers on this site.
you can get 100% allocation rate with "no advice".
Click to expand...
The downside would be that you can't pay by payroll deduction, and you have to manage the tax relief claim yourself.

Probably worth it in this case, mind you.
 
Hi Stanman, our small company (less than 20) is currently switching pension providers into a APT Mastertrust.
The fees for the employees are really low (100% allocation and 0.5 to 0.7 AMC depending on choice of funds)
The fees for the employer are also very low ~2700 per year. The Switching process does take some time but it is relatively straightforward (from the companies point of view.

I know when you're just walking in the door, it's difficult to suggest switching the entire pension system, but it's definitely worth a look.
 
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