Pensions

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Ocean Finance is a pensions broker with experienced investment advisors and is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

Not all pensions are the same. Up to 90% of pension plans we analyse are lagging behind the consistent market leaders – and with many company schemes being overcharged annual management fees and allocation rates.

BEST IRISH PENSIONS MANAGER? COMPARE THE MARKET

Pension returns tend to be consistent over the economic cycle as Irish fund managers tend to invest in the same funds => therefore you should be demanding lower management fees in order to get a better yield on your pension.

Here are our 3 key value propositions – why you might wish to choose to engage with us on your behalf to help you with your investing needs.

1. We compare pension fund performances from multiple providers and we are authorised (and obligated by law) to broker the best provider and the best funds solutions which suit your own situation and investment risk needs.

2. You can choose to engage our services without paying additional consultancy fees to us (we can be remunerated via a commission basis from whichever pension fund provider you choose) OR you can request to pay for fee-based advice (it’s your choice).

3. We combine data-driven performance analysis to compare your best options allied with direct contact with our senior QFA pension experts (Philip Doyle and Ian Heffernan) – each of whom have decades of experience in optimizing for offsetting tax and management fees for group schemes and individuals alike.

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If you are still just researching your options, these guides below might help.

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START A PENSION

Personal Pensions, PRSA’s, Executive Pensions, Company Pensions etc etc. It can all be a bit intimidating – this simple guide breaks down some of the jargon.

How to Set Up a Pension in Ireland – A Simple Guide

SWITCH OR MOVE AN EXISTING PENSION

Whether it’s to move to a better provider, reduce unfair annual management fees or simply to consolidate your existing pensions, this guide gives you a basic overview on how it’s done.

Pension Transfers

NEARING RETIREMENT?

Your retirement age is not necessarily a cliff edge or stress point – for example you can choose to keep your your funds invested, draw some or all of it down (we will explain the tax implications).

Guide to Personal Retirement Bonds (PRB’s) in Ireland

Buying an Annuity used to be a commonly used option – but low interest rates over the last couple of decades has meant this was a lousy option for most folks. But has the world changed?

Buying an Annuity – a simple guide to this retirement planning option

> For the most detailed performance analysis check out our 2023 updated graphs and also check out our Zurich v Irish Life deep dive analysis.

Key Takeouts

Well what is compelling of course is the headline 8,3% return over the last 20 years which is rather healthy indeed (especially when one considers the typical savings deposit rates currently which are near to zero and are heading to negative to interest rates).

Of course when it come to pensions, most everyone knows that it is the performance return of the fund over many years that is a better indicator notwithstanding for example Zurich Investments  may have had a good run over the long term but others such as Aviva Investors, might be worth a look going forward lest their now entrenched ESG ethical investment outlook may continue to bear organic fruit.

if you look at this graph below, you will see that the Irish funds performance statistics have tended to converge into a similar pattern over time but not so much in 2020. The latter was a weird year for sure but the question now to consider is whether similarly rated ESMA funds will recoverge in terms of performance.

Philip Doyle who is our partner in charge of pension/investments can help you navigate through these options according to your risk appetite and other criteria including minmization of annual management fees.

What lies beneath the data

These graphs do not provide the full picture as stated above and they are based on an aggregate of many funds under management with each institution.

More significantly, however, it is very important to note that there are wildly differing allocation rates and management fees being charged across different companies – depending on the fund-type, pensioner/trustee scheme and indeed the difference can simply be down to how skillful your financial broker is in negotiating on your behalf.

If the financial turmoil since 2008 has served up anything useful to the Irish public, it has been the resultant remarkable increase in financial literacy amongst the general population.

The average taxi driver now knows the Irish sovereign 10-year bond rate and its significance, and is nowadays cautious if not downright sceptical when it comes to financial investment products.

What is remarkable however, is that if you ask the same Joe Punter how his own private pension is performing, you will invariably be met with a blank stare – for few people seem to have knowledge of well their pension pot is doing, how much they are paying in management fees/allocation rates and whether they are ‘backing the right horse’ with their hard-earned savings.

For many people it seems that once they cross the rubicon and start a pension, it’s ‘job done’ and they pay no heed to examining same subsequently until it’s too late.

What is more remarkable is that there are many custodians/trustees of company pension schemes (be they defined contribution or defined benefit) who have not sought an independent performance review of their funds – notwithstanding it may affect sometimes hundreds of people in their schemes.

So how is your pension doing?

Well to answer that definitively we would need to analyse your own particular policy circumstance (which we can do if you you complete the free review form below) but for now we can take a helicopter view of how Irish managed pensions have been performing very recently and in the last ten years.

Reduce fees

At Ocean.ie, we have examined many policies (including company group schemes during corporate change or redundancy) and we have seen annual management fees ranging right up to an eye-watering 4%! Some of the time the fees are justifiable, but in 90% of the cases in our experience, we have managed to either reduce fees or at least move the pension scheme into a fund which is more suitable in terms of risk/return and other factors.

In conclusion however, investing with one or other these established fund managers is probably the prudent choice especially where there are other people who are dependent on the outcome. However, for all the reasons above, getting an independent broker to bat for you should pay bigger dividends in the long run.

If you are are concerned about your own personal pension or if you are involved in overseeing a group pension scheme, Ocean.ie has a team of accountants and qualified financial advisers who provide an independent review service. You do not have to rely on occasional reports from your fund manager – we use our combined experience and analytical tools to determine if you are getting a fair deal.

If you would like a quick check of your own personal pension, just submit this 2 minute questionnaire below and we can do a no-obligation quick review of same. Of course if you would like to start a pension, you have come to a good place too.