Trustees
- Administration of your Plan is provided through Dentons. It is a requirement of the Plan that there are two trustees. The trustees will be you and Our associated trustee company, Denton & Co. Trustees Limited. The Sub-Trust ensures assets are kept separate from the assets of Dentons and other members' Plans.
As Scheme Administrator, Dentons reserves the right to unwind any transaction which might, in their opinion, result in a tax charge being imposed on your Plan.
Dentons allow a wide range of investments to be held in your Plan and We would advise that you seek financial advice before making any decisions. Although Dentons will not provide any advice on the suitability of investments We reserve the right to refuse to hold any proposed investment.
Establishment
- Dentons will provide all of the necessary documentation to establish your Plan and will set up the Plan's default sterling bank account, check application details, carry out anti-money laundering verification (We will retain copies on Our file), process initial contributions and reclamation of tax on those contributions. When establishment of your Plan is finalised, you will be sent a folder containing copies of all of the completed documentation.
Standard administration
- Dentons will provide the following ongoing administration services as standard:
- Setting up and maintaining the database records
- Receiving and recording of contributions into the Plan
- Reclaiming tax relief on contributions to the Plan
- Ongoing liaison with investment managers
- Monitoring the Plan's default sterling bank account together with any additional bank accounts and checking bank statements.
Please note: For administrative convenience, although you will be required to countersign all cheques, We will hold the cheque book. It is essential that all receipts and payments of cash, and all investment transactions, are channelled through the Plan's default bank account, so that the Plan's investments can be monitored and reconciled and a financial statement produced each year.
It is your responsibility to also monitor the transactions within your Plan, particularly those carried out by third party investment providers and Dentons should be notified immediately of any error.
- Obtaining and checking periodic portfolio valuations from investment managers
- Production of an annual financial statement
- Production of an annual statutory money purchase illustration
- Ongoing monitoring of the requirements of HMRC and those of any other relevant body, including updating of documentation to ensure continued compliance with all appropriate regulations.
Please note: The Plan is subject to HMRC rules and Dentons reserves the right to veto any investments or actions which it believes may contravene those rules.
- Responding to the routine information reporting requirements (including periodic audits) regarding the Plan as required by HMRC and other appropriate bodies
- Updating of scheme documentation to ensure that the Plan continues to adhere to HMRC requirements.
Additional administration
- Dentons will provide the following additional administration services on a fixed fee or time cost basis, depending on the service:
- Liaising with administrators of any other pension arrangements transferred to the Plan to ensure compliance with statutory and HMRC requirements
- Receiving and recording of any transfer payments into the Plan from other pension arrangements, and any transfer payments out of the Plan
- Opening any additional bank accounts outside of the default bank account
- Setting up investment portfolios or platforms (other than for a single portfolio at establishment only)
- Recording and passing on to investment managers your investment instructions
- Liaising with you or your adviser, by telephone, post or email correspondence when discussing aspects of your Plan including, HMRC rules on contributions to the Plan, taking benefits and death benefits
- Liasing with advisers and other providers to ensure correct title in the purchase or sale of investments, by the Plan
- Recording and passing on to you contract notes and other investment documentation received from investment managers
- Arranging for cheques, including electronic payments, in settlement of investments and other purposes to be forwarded to, and signed by, the relevant authorised signatories
- Calculating retirement benefits together with reports and critical yield illustrations
- Setting up pension payroll arrangements, including payment net of tax under PAYE and the accounting for tax to HMRC and its settlement
- Calculating and producing documentation for benefit reviews
- Reclaiming from HMRC any tax recoverable on investment income received by the Plan
- Arranging the provision of life assurance cover under the Plan, if required
- Amending the Plan documentation to reflect changes in your circumstances
- VAT registration and quarterly returns, if required
- Providing such other services as may, in Our opinion, be required from time to time to ensure the smooth running and continued adherence to the requirements of HMRC or any other relevant statutory body including the submission of an annual scheme return
- Work in connection with any investigation of your Plan by HMRC, the FCA or any other regulatory body
- Registering for and supplying Legal Entity Identifier(s) to enable trading in certain financial instruments, where required
- Arranging for the transfer of the assets of your Plan to another pension scheme, if required.
Charges
- The charges for establishing and administering the SIPP are detailed in the Dentons SIPP Fee Schedule.
- For clients introduced by an intermediary, the establishment fee will be deducted from the Plan's default bank account as soon as the account receives funds, unless you agree another payment method with Dentons. If there are no funds within the Plan to meet the establishment fee, you will be liable to pay for these personally.
- For non-advised or direct clients, the establishment fee is required in advance; this can be made either by bank transfer or by enclosing a cheque made payable to 'Dentons Pension Management Limited'.
- Additional administration services are charged on a fixed or time cost basis. The charging rate for each Member of Dentons' staff reflects their skill and ability. We will always endeavour to ensure the staff Member best suited for the cost-effective operation of the Plan carries out any required work.
- Annual fees for administration services will depend entirely upon the work Dentons is required to undertake to ensure the smooth running of the Plan. Where required, advice relating to life assurance or annuities will be by way of a pre-agreed fee or by commission which will be agreed in advance.
- Fees for administrative services will be invoiced to the Plan and deducted from the Plan bank account half yearly in arrears, but We reserve the right to invoice more frequently if appropriate.
- If there are no funds in your Plan to meet the fees for administrative services, you will be liable to pay for these personally.
- Alternatively, in the event that there is insufficient cash held within your Plan to meet Our fees, We reserve the right to disinvest assets held within your Plan to settle Our invoices and other payments that have become due. In this event, We would usually disinvest from your most recent investment(s) made, but will take other factors such as ease of disposal into account.
- In the event of a tax charge arising which is not settled in full from the fund, you will be personally liable to meet any such charges together with any additional costs incurred by the Scheme Administrator. These charges will be in addition to any administration charges incurred.
- In the event that you wish to only hold a single investment portfolio with an investment manager, platform provider or stockbroker that is on Dentons approved list and does not include any non-standard funds and/or assets, you are able to transfer this Plan to a Sippchoice Bespoke SIPP single portfolio Plan to take advantage of a lower annual administration charge. We will waive the fee for the winding up of your existing Plan and will apply a discounted fee for the establishment of the new SIPP. Transfer of assets in-specie will be charge at a time cost.
- If you move to a Sippchoice Bespoke SIPP but subsequently wish to add further investments at a later date, you will need to transfer back to a Dentons SIPP providing a range of full assets and charges will apply as outlined in the relevant fee schedule.
- Dentons reserves the right to review fees when necessary and to increase them annually on 1st January.
- Fees will be invoiced on the due date for settlement within 28 days. We reserve the right to charge interest at 8% per annum above the Bank of England Base Rate to any balances which are not settled within that timescale.
Please note: All fees are subject to VAT.
A copy of the Dentons SIPP Fee Schedule, outlining a full breakdown of the fees, can be downloaded from Our website or is available on request.