PRSA/ Buyout Bond Charges - Q

[IREDAC]

Hi,
I am (slowly) trying to get an understanding of how a pension works and want to understand the various elements involved..

I have a Buy Out Bond with Standard Life -
Annual Management Charge Standard Life Managed Fund 1.00% + Policy fee €65.04
Standard PRSA with Zurich Life (Performance Fund)
with an annual Management charge of 1% & Charge of 2% for Lump sum contributions

Q. Will management charges be same for everyone investing in these funds?

Thanks

 

[Dave Vanian]

No.

The charges you pay are a combination of payments to three stakeholders. (1) The fund manager gets paid for investment management. (2) The pension company gets paid for administration - having your policy on their IT system, probably offering you online access for yourself, issuing statements every 6 months or a year, record-keeping and reporting to the authorities etc. (3) The sales agent or broker who sold you the product got paid for advice and setting it up. They might or might not also be getting an ongoing fee for ongoing advice and service.

Management charges can vary depending on the type of product and also what charging structure the sales agent or broker used at the start, from a very wide choice of options available.

For example, it's possible to get Zurich Life Performance Fund for an management charge of 0.5% ... but not for PRSAs.