Is a SIPP pension with HL safe?

[Sambola]

What do you mean by safe?
Are you worried that HL might steal it?
Or that it might be stolen?
Or that it might not return what you want?

Given your apparent knowledge of pensions I strongly recommend you speak to an IFA.

As for HL vs employer pensions. It depends.

Just find professional advice.

Not worried about it being stolen, I'm worried about the money being lost by the company i'm handing it over to. Is it as safe as an employer pension in that regard?

If it depends, what does it depend on?

[Sambola]

The main reason not to use HL:
Their fees are eye-watering over the long term. There are far cheaper providers with whom you can open a SIPP and pour in cash in just the same.

Management fees are prohibitively expensive with HL.

Thank you ContractorInatractor, who would you recommend instead?

[Lance]

Not worried about it being stolen, I'm worried about the money being lost by the company i'm handing it over to. Is it as safe as an employer pension in that regard?

If it depends, what does it depend on?

It’s a SIPP. You don’t just hand it over. You place it. On their platform and you then manage the investment.
If anyone ‘loses it’ it will be you that’s done it by choosing poor investments.

It depends on a huge number of factors that will take far too long to explain. GET AN IFA.

[northernladuk]

I think you are being a overly paranoid here and if you are why aren't you doing a bit more of your own research? I don't think asking a bunch of strangers is really the best way to gaurantee its safe really.

Go look at how HL works for a start. I think you are completely misunderstanding the very basics of how it works. Go look at the size of the company and its history, finances and so on.

The platform is safe. It's a huge company but it's only a tool at the end of the day. I don't want to be rude but however safe it is the weak link here is you. If you don't have a clue it doesn't matter how safe the platform is, your investments are at risk if you don't know what you are doing.

I'd agree with a comment made a few times here and go find an IFA. You'll pay a bit for it but it really sounds like it's the only way forward for you.

[sludgesurfer]

Thank you ContractorInatractor, who would you recommend instead?

There's plenty of chat on other threads on this subject.

Whilst HL is very uncompetitive for funds where a % fee is charged, for larger portfolios consisting of ETFs, individual shares, bonds and investment trusts, they are actually quite competitive due to the fee being capped at £45 in an ISA and £200 in a SIPP. I use them for my ISA, LISA and SIPP and use Iweb for another passive SIPP. When they changed their charging structure post-RDR they initially planned to apply the 0.45% charge to all investments. They backed down following a lot of bad press and a large number of transfer requests.

Compare the UK’s cheapest online brokers

[Hobosapien]

So is there a pension option for contractors that is as safe as full time employees?

Traditional private pensions where you pay a pension company to manage your pension and invest your contributions for you is the equivalent.

No need for a SIPP if you don't want to manage it yourself. Yes you could pay an IFA but then you are still paying for someone else's expertise so kind of defeats the point of a SIPP.

Worth spending some time reading up on the basics of a SIPP via monevator (or other excellent online information sources) to decide if you want to be so hands on (investment choices are down to your own research) or pay someone else (managed service).

[Manic]

The main reason not to use HL:
Their fees are eye-watering over the long term. There are far cheaper providers with whom you can open a SIPP and pour in cash in just the same.

Management fees are prohibitively expensive with HL.

This. I'm with Fidelity and looked at HL initially when comparing platforms.