Do I need an IFA

[Walkingwounded]

I had my SIPP self-managed with Hargreaves Lansdowne. Saw an IFA who convinced me to move it out of HL and into a managed arrangement, invested with a pensions provider and himself managing it.

His fee is several thousand a year (1. Something %) but the service has been a bit crap - no responses to emails, agreed updates not happening etc.

My question is, should I move the lot to another IFA, presumably paying similar fees, or could I just stick it in say Vanguard and leave it there until retirement - therefore avoiding the fees? I am 51 and don’t have a lot of time to manage it directly, which is why I left HL, but resent paying thousands in fees for what seems like no service at all.

How confident are you with financial awareness in general?
Have you managed any of your own investments before?

I'm fairly aware and was interested enough to set up the sIPP with HL, choose funds etc. I really lack the time to manage it actively though.

And I suppose it's a confidence thing - I assume a trained professional will do a better job than me, but I resent paying thousands for him to sit there!

Stick it in something like Vanguard L S 60 or 80 and you don’t have to manage it.
Very low fees of .22%.

I manage mine and DH’s SIPPs - mine with HL, DH’s is with Charles Stanley direct.

Have you considered a robot fund manager like Nutmeg or Moneyfarm, low fees and doesn't take lots of time to administer

Nutmeg are not low fees!

We’re you unhappy with HL? It sounds great in theory to have someone actively manage your funds but to me honest if you are well diversified you shouldn’t have to do too much to keep it going fairly well. Good managers cost a fortune and even then they have good patches and not so good patches.

Wasn’t unhappy with HL but thought an IFA might do a better job than I could.

So is sticking it in Vanguard and leaving it a sensible strategy? Or is this nuts given I am15 years from Retirement?

Friends all seem to have an IFA

Having professional advice a few years before retirement is good, as you need to decide upon how you will access the money during your retirement. Until then, you can do it yourself. There are books, podcasts, you can pay for online training courses and access tools used by financial planners.

meaningfulmoney.tv/UG4 is a good podcast episode from a UK Financial Planner to start learning about investing.

Are your funds performing better than Vanguard Lifestrategy 80%? If not then what value is the IFA providing? Are they giving you annual reviews, answering the phone to queries especially when the market takes a downturn to stop you from selling?

Those are a really good set of questions to ask, thank you. Will look at the podcast.

Maybe it’s just confidence. Just nervous of making a. Totally stupid move 15 years before retirement.

HL are expensive if all you are doing is investing in Vanguard. If that is the long term plan, then open a Sopp direct with Vanguard, the costs are significantly lower than HL, capped at £375 a year, excluding fund fees. The fee also covers any ISAs invested in Vanguard funds.

If you want to look at alternatives to Vanguard funds and are reasonably happy self-investing, then look at the Monevator website. Lots of articles about long term low cost passive investing

Thanks and will do.

It's really whether the DIY or IFA route is best. Responses on here are making me think that DIY is possible... just a bit risk averse as single parent, mortgage til 67 etc.

But loads of suggestions. Thankyou!