SIPP - DIY?

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Naive questions from a newbie - just coming up to the point where I want to drawdown a c£100K pension pot via a SIPP. Because of obvious vested interests, I can't get staright answers from the pros advertising their advice and services online.

(1) can I really manage my own SIPP? Does the trustee have to be a Financial Services / Legal entity, or can I appoint my own trustees, e.g.a relative?

(2) how formal does the "wrapper" have ot be, as established by the trustee? What reporting is done on the trust's investment activity?

(3) how much flexibility have I got to invest, e.g. in Commercial Property abroad? Could I go into (and possibly quickly out of) one of these French / Spanish hotel investment / leaseback deals, which make interesting reading?

I'm hoping to draw about 7.5% pa from the fund, while growing the overall pot with an aggressive investment programme until the dreaded age 75 rule kicks in or is abolished!

Anyone have any ideas / experience of this approach?

Thanks

Gavin
 
Hi Gavin,

You have zero chance of being able to withdrawl 7.5% per annum from any UK pension.

The minimum and maximum are set by the Government based on annuity rates at present.

I reckon you may be able to get 5% at a push.

You can invest in commercial property and you can borrow monies through a mortgage so theoretically you could invest in a Hotel etc.

I doubt you could appoint your own trustees as they would have to meet the regulatory requirements which would probably require substantial assets and substantial liquid resources along with the passing of exams etc.

There is no problem managing your own SIPP I do, but purely for Shares at the moment.

I also doubt that £100K is enough to set up with commercial property given the costs for such a SIPP.

JonnyT
 
The good thing about investing in commercial property in your SIPP is that you can gear yourself up . i.e. take an 80% commercial mortgage so with your 100k you could get a 400k mort but of course you would need cover for repayments etc.

I believe the laws are being relaxed so in a couple of years, residential property will be a valid SIPP investment. (Mr Browns attempt to prevent a housing market crash).
 
word of advice..don't use high leaverage to generate low % revenue returns..unless you are very lucky you will come unstuck
 
I am in drawdown with my Sipp.

The Trustee I use is IPM and the brokers are ODL and Berkeley Futures.

Through my Sipp I trade Shares, Futures, Options.

What you can/cannot do is determined by the Trustees wrapper and is governed overall by the Inland Revenue rules. The drawdown limits maximum and minimum are fixed by the Inland Revenue relative to your capital sum and the maximum is somewhat similar to the return you could get from an annuity. With an annuity of course you give up you capital.

The drawdown is fixed for 3 years. If you elect to take the minimum you can increase in the SIPP year to the maximum. But once you are on the maximum that is fixed for the 3 or balance of the 3 years. (so if you increase your capital - you cannot increase your drawings until the 3 years is up - but you could switch trustees which might start the clock again)


I do not know the rules on Property. With derivatives etc you are able to trade exchange products as above but are verboten from trading over the counter products e.g. Spread betting, CFDs Forex. Presumably in our 'nanny state' you need to be protected as though options shares and futures cannot loose you money !!!!!!

I think you will find once you are managing your own pension pot you will be very cautious and even now after 1 year most of my fund is cash and I operate a tight loss programme with the share portfolio and use options only to enhance the return from shares, and trade intra day with futures following Dow Intra Day Charts 'on this site'

One of the big difficulties is find a wide choice of brokers. Certainly it took me months to find a online broker for mini Dow futures and I think that only Berkeley Futures are the only one (and they are expensive) With ODL you can trade FTSE futures online (but have to place stops by telephone and their platform will not take online US futures) I understand IB are developing the capacity to operate a SIPP account.

The brokers send a copy of reports to the Trustees and obviously they will not pay funds away to you. My drawdown comes monthly via paye via the Trustees.

Pleased with the system and if only the Government abolish the 75 year rule switch will be very good. However by then the brain might well have given up and I will be thankful to take an annuity.!!
 
You say that through your SIPP you trade Shares, Futures and Options.
I am interested in trading Futures in my SIPP account but I was under the impression that it is not possible due to leverage. I am a UK resident and would like to use IB ( interactive brokers). Anyone able to assist me in relation to this. Thanks in advance
 
Forex SIPP

You say that through your SIPP you trade Shares, Futures and Options.
I am interested in trading Futures in my SIPP account but I was under the impression that it is not possible due to leverage. I am a UK resident and would like to use IB ( interactive brokers). Anyone able to assist me in relation to this. Thanks in advance

I am in the process of setting up a SIPP. I would like to trade the SPOT Forex markets through it.

Does anyone have any experience of this or know if it is possible to do?
 
Has anyone heard of or used the GOLD SIPP at Berkley Burke? Even if not heard of the GOLD SIPP specifically, can you pls let me know if you have feedback on Berkley Burke as a SIPP Administrator? Are they a reputable company? Do they provide good level of service? Are they regulated by FSA?

Similarly, I am looking for feedback about another SIPP provide: Stadia Trustees
many thanks
mac!
 
Has anyone heard of or used the GOLD SIPP at Berkley Burke? Even if not heard of the GOLD SIPP specifically, can you pls let me know if you have feedback on Berkley Burke as a SIPP Administrator? Are they a reputable company? Do they provide good level of service? Are they regulated by FSA?

Similarly, I am looking for feedback about another SIPP provide: Stadia Trustees
many thanks
mac!

I was also (still am)interested opening a gold money account so I tried to open an IB account inside their Gold SIPP with them some time ago. My experience was dismal to say the least. This was before IB had their SIPP structure in place so they were to negotiate an arrangement. I had to repeatedly chase up Lauren Cairns of BB over a period of about 6 months. At one point in the communications I was told that my request was complex despite their marketing claims of being a bespoke provider able to tailor a SIPP to customers needs. (One thing you will find is bespoke though, that's their charges). I have little doubt as to the integrity of the company but my impression is that if your requirements go beyond filling out one of their standard forms then you'll have problems. The communications received from Cairns were cold, very brief and devoid of any additional information or welcoming language that one would expect from a company on the verge of securing new business. Furthermore, on charges, there are far more competitive SIPP administrators out there.

I have a feeling that this is one example of the malinvestment which took place during the bubble and much as the coming depression is going to be painful for many it will at least clean the dead wood from the system.

Incidently, I was also messed about by IB which I detect was a case of an internal communication failure, still a reflection on the company though. This can be evidenced by going to post number 1261 here http://www.trade2win.com/boards/brokerages/18316-interactive-brokers-158.html I keep reminding myself that when you pay for something that is cheap, that's invariably what you get and have therefore stayed clear of them too.

On a more optimistic note, SIPP administrator European Pensions Management Ltd have an arrangement with Bullion Vault for gold storage. https://www.epml.co.uk/trading-links/investment-links/ I can recommend EPML, they are very efficient, helpful, knowledgeable and their annual charge is competitive, I would suggest you compare with Stadia. I approached EPML some time ago about partnering with Goldmoney, they said they were not familiar with them and would have to consider their business proposition. I have not as yet followed through on my enquiry. BTW, I do not have any affiliations or anything to gain by recommending them, I'm simply a SIPP client.

Good luck with your research.
 
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I was also (still am)interested opening a gold money account so I tried to open an IB account inside their Gold SIPP with them some time ago. My experience was dismal to say the least. This was before IB had their SIPP structure in place so they were to negotiate an arrangement. I had to repeatedly chase up Lauren Cairns of BB over a period of about 6 months. At one point in the communications I was told that my request was complex despite their marketing claims of being a bespoke provider able to tailor a SIPP to customers needs. (One thing you will find is bespoke though, that's their charges). I have little doubt as to the integrity of the company but my impression is that if your requirements go beyond filling out one of their standard forms then you'll have problems. The communications received from Cairns were cold, very brief and devoid of any additional information or welcoming language that one would expect from a company on the verge of securing new business. Furthermore, on charges, there are far more competitive SIPP administrators out there.

I have a feeling that this is one example of the malinvestment which took place during the bubble and much as the coming depression is going to be painful for many it will at least clean the dead wood from the system.

Incidently, I was also messed about by IB which I detect was a case of an internal communication failure, still a reflection on the company though. This can be evidenced by going to post number 1261 here http://www.trade2win.com/boards/brokerages/18316-interactive-brokers-158.html I keep reminding myself that when you pay for something that is cheap, that's invariably what you get and have therefore stayed clear of them too.

On a more optimistic note, SIPP administrator European Pensions Management Ltd have an arrangement with Bullion Vault for gold storage. https://www.epml.co.uk/trading-links/investment-links/ I can recommend EPML, they are very efficient, helpful, knowledgeable and their annual charge is competitive, I would suggest you compare with Stadia. I approached EPML some time ago about partnering with Goldmoney, they said they were not familiar with them and would have to consider their business proposition. I have not as yet followed through on my enquiry. BTW, I do not have any affiliations or anything to gain by recommending them, I'm simply a SIPP client.

Good luck with your research.

Dear goodtyneguy,
thank you for your prompt feedback. I shall check out epml.

Best,
mac!
 
Has anyone heard of or used the GOLD SIPP at Berkley Burke? Even if not heard of the GOLD SIPP specifically, can you pls let me know if you have feedback on Berkley Burke as a SIPP Administrator? Are they a reputable company? Do they provide good level of service? Are they regulated by FSA?

Similarly, I am looking for feedback about another SIPP provide: Stadia Trustees
many thanks
mac!

Never heard of Berkley Burke, but used a company called DA Philips through TBO Investments who offer a gold SIPP investment, the difference with this one is that you can increase the amount you invest with leverage and the great news is that you are never liable for it.
Always use FSA regulated companies for this type of investment.

Good luck
 
Never heard of Berkley Burke, but used a company called DA Philips through TBO Investments who offer a gold SIPP investment, the difference with this one is that you can increase the amount you invest with leverage and the great news is that you are never liable for it.
Always use FSA regulated companies for this type of investment.

Good luck

Banking institutions do not qualify for SIPPS?
 
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