Case Study 

Pension Consolidation

The client had 5 pension funds within personal pensions and an occupational money purchase scheme with his former employer. The combined funds were valued at £400,000 and invested with a range of funds available within the product range.

There was no defined investment strategy and the client requested a review of his options with a view to improving his position and implementing a more structured retirement plan. In the first instance a risk profile questionnaire was completed to assess his attitude to investment risk and capacity for loss. This led to a further conversation on risk and return and an agreed asset allocation that was suitable to his investment objectives and risk profile.

A full review of each individual pension arrangement was carried out including confirmation of any transfer penalties or any valuable guarantees that were included within the existing arrangements that would be lost if the funds were transferred out.

The recommended course of action was to transfer all existing pension arrangements into a low cost Self Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) to create a bespoke investment portfolio with a fund management group that is managed on a discretionary basis within the agreed risk parameters. The client is kept up to date with activity within his portfolio and regular meetings are held with the investment team to provide a personal and bespoke service.

The creation of the SIPP also provided the client with a vehicle that can be used to take flexible retirement benefits by way of withdrawals from the SIPP to provide tax free cash and income in retirement.