Should I stay or Should I go?????

D

Dexysgirl

Registered User
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Like so many others we are a small Ltd. Co with just 2 shareholders(myself and my husband) and we take a combined salary of €3500 pm between us. We have an exectutive pension and the company contributes €1160 pm. into a Managed Growth Fund.(Total contributions over 10 years is€108k and fund now worth €87k). In the last year the total contributions amounted to €13,891 while the total contributions invested was €13,019, therefore €872 was taken in charges (6.7%). I know this is a combination of entry fee and management costs.
I will be trying to negociate a decrease in these charges (going forward) in the next few days and would appreciate any advise you can give me. I may have an employee contribution over the next few days which can be used as a negociating tool.
I can name the fund if needed (and if permitted).
Thanks in advance
 
Not sure I understand what you are asking?

How to negotiate lower charges with the existing provider or where to get a lower charging product?

Was the existing product purchased through a bank?

If you are comfortable with your knowledge of choosing a product and have a good understanding of what funds you should be investing in (ie. you don't need advice on these or you are not getting any advice currently) then you have other options.

GS
 
We didnt purchase this product through a bank but directly with Acorn life.
I dont know if their fees are too high. Is 6.2% of total contributions to high a price to pay in fees.
If i ask them to drop them, what would be a good figure and WHO can i talk to who will advise me where to go if they will not drop these charges.
I do not know much about funds but i have got little or no advice or attention from Acorn life for the last 10 years(time since we started pension) but they seem to have done very well out of us when i add up all their fees.
They got back to me offering no charges on a single contribution but no reduction on the regular monthly payment.
 
I suspect that charges are made of of a contribution charge or bid/offer spread of about 5% of every payment that you make + an Annual Management Charge. Acorn tend to keep their 'charges' cards close to their chests as they only sell their pension products through their direct sales force.

For the level of contribution that you are making, along with the 'little or no advice or attention' for 10 years, it may be prudent to just walk away as I don't think that you are getting value for money.

If you want cut the costs to a minimum, you can buy an Executive Pension online, on an 'execution only' basis (no advice) with an annual management charge of about 1%. There is no 5% charge on each contribution.

This link may be of help.

I doubt that there are 'no charges' on the single contribution that you are going to make but there is very little information on their website to confirm this.

If you do need direction on transferring your existing fund, choosing a product or recommendations on funds, just pay the discount broker a fee for this service. (Do pay attention to exit penalties or initial/capital units if you are going this route)

5% of €13,891 is a hell of alot of money to be paying for, what is effectively, no service/advice, on an annual basis.

GS
 
Dear GS

Thank you so much for your advice. Yesterday I rang Zurich/Eagle Star direct and can get the same product for 98.5% of total contributions invested and a 1% annual mgt charge. this will let me change funds 4 times per year and lots of advise. Allready I'm doing better. Today i will follow up on the discount broker route and see what i can do with them. Thank you for giving me the confidence to stand up for myself. I felt like i was being talked down to as though i was asking silly questions and i shouldn't be questioning them.
I will let you know how I get on.
 
One of the discount brokers on the list is Gerard Sheehy who donates his expertise freely here on Askaboutmoney and is the same GS that replied to your query.
 
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