Pension advisers

I have a uk based private pension aka SIPP, and have had a very good relationship with the manager for about 8 years. However due to Brexit and the loss of financial passporting he can no longer give advice. So I’m looking for an adviser or organisation who can give advice to a French resident (me) on a Uk pension which i want to remain in the UK.
Most people try to persuade me to move it here, which I don’t want to do, B Franks and Kenningtons weren’t able to do this.
Has anybody else had this problem and got suggestions, maybe of a UK organisation who can still give advice into the EU?

I would suggest you need a UK pensions advisor who has taken out a passport. Why not ask the Uk Government pensions’ advice service?

(This is a gov.site tho’ doesn’t look it. Used to be the Pensions Advice Service so I guess has now been privatised!)

If by which you mean they weren’t able to offer financial advice, then you may find difficulty in finding a suitable trustworthy outfit. Lots of sharks out there only too pleased to rob you of your pension at the blink of an eye :wink:
As a matter of interest, why the resistance to moving it to France? ISTR you mentioned it once before (at least) but I don’t recall your reasoning since there may well be tax benefits as I think has been outlined before in another topic.

Fiona Tait at Intelligent Pensions also writes articles in the specialist financial press and I suspect her firm might well be used to advising people in this sort of situation (though DYOR).

I concur that there is still a lot of corruption in the financial adviser world, contingent charging has now been banned in the UK but the trail commissions haven’t. And commissions and other product costs still seem very high in France. So still incentive for too many advisers to miraculously suggest you move product or provider.

If you have made the move out of the UK tax net (not always a good idea, for some) as well as residing in France then google 6.75% on here for threads @larkswood12 has contributed to. I think a recent post seemed to indicate Yes you could take this money from the UK and only pay 7.5% minus 10% ie 6.75%, on it to France but it did not sound as though moving it to France was actually necessary, just declaring it.

If you would have any misgivings about the French finance market then I suspect I would share them.

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I don’t understand the French pension system and my language is not up to having it explained to me in French I would need to have a very good english speaker as an adviser . There may be marginal tax benefits but i don’t think they would outweigh the transfer and on going costs.

I have a UK personal pension which had a UK-based advisor. However the advisor wasn’t very active in changing the portfolio. In the end I just told the pension provider I no longer wished to use the advisor. They accepted that and I now manage the portfolio myself (no more actively than the advisor) and each year I get a refund on the equivalent advisor fees I would have paid.

I did look at using Spectrum (for advice only) on a different investment. They may be of help but I suspect they will point you in the direction of moving to a QROPS?

There are no HMRC approved pension providers in France (aka QROPS). Because of this, tax will have to paid from the pension upon transfer. Not sure what rate would be used, but the UK will take a sizeable chunk. The pension could be transferred into another EU country that does have HMRC approved pension providers, and no tax will be payed.

Hi @strudball, can I suggest talking to a colleague of mine? Full transparency, I work for French Connections HCB and we help people move to and settle in France, one of our team is Simon, he’s an exceptional financial advisor, UK born, but France-based and will be able to help, I’m sure. If you would like to get in touch please don’t hesitate to DM me and I’ll send you his details and calendar link if you’d like an initial chat.

This Q&A from Stack Exchange Personal Finance and Money seems to address that very question.

I think there are specific rules associated with transferring the money overseas. That’s what the QROPS regulations are. The post you linked to is more about general lump sum and drawing down payments. I looked into this myself some years ago as I have a UK based SIPP as well.

Edit: Here is the list of authorized overseas pension providers