Adviser > News > June 2009 > Personal Pensions vs stakeholder pensions - comparison

Personal Pensions vs stakeholder pensions - comparison

The following is a comparison of our Pension Portfolio and a typical stakeholder pension:

Feature	Typical Stakeholder Pension Plan	Pension Portfolio¹
Charges	1.5% in the first 10 years and 1% thereafter	1.0% base charge Discount of between 0.1% and 0.65% depending on fund size
Investment funds	Limited range, usually few or no external funds	36 internal funds 96 external funds 9 Governed Portfolios 11 Fixed Lifestyle Strategies
Self investment options	None	Fund supermarket Execution-only stockbroker Panel of discretionary fund managers Commercial property
Income drawdown facility	None	Income Release facility allow clients to access their benefits in a way that suits their individual circumstances. Additional charge applies.
Commission options	Restricted levels, which are term dependent, have long clawback periods and increase the ongoing management charges	Financial Adviser's Fee of up to 75% of first year's regular payments and up to 7.5% of single payments and transfers. Not term dependent and no clawback on single payments/transfers. Keeps ongoing charges low and can lead to higher projected fund values over the longer term.²

Sources:

The Pension Portfolio comprises of two elements – Core Investments (insured investment funds) and Self Investments (fund supermarket, discretionary fund managers etc). Additional charges apply for the Self Investments.
The cost of the Financial Adviser's Fee is deducted directly from the client's plan, at outset for single payments/transfers and over the first 12 months for regular payments.

Find out more

To learn more about Pension Portfolio and how it can benefit both you and your clients, please contact your usual Scottish Life contact.