Legal & General Stakeholder Pension
Established in 1836, Legal & General has been in business for 175 years, with over 7 million customers holding life assurance, pensions, investments and general insurance plans. The fund management arm of Legal & General Investment Management, is responsible for £320 billion of assets under management, with holdings accounting for over 4% of all London-listed equities (as at 30 June 2010) on behalf of their customers, and is also the UK's largest pension fund manager.
Start saving toward your retirement now
Legal & General’s stakeholder pension is a low cost, flexible option for those wishing to save toward their retirement.
For arranging your Legal & General stakeholder pension CommShare will charge you 0.2% p.a. fund based trail commission. Although we take a small percentage each year, this could actually decrease your annual management charge. We say “could” because the commission structure on the Legal & General stakeholder pension is more complicated than on the other stakeholder pensions that we are currently offering. It will ultimately depend upon how much you save as to how much the annual management charge will be decreased.
Although Legal & General can establish stakeholder pensions with as little as £20 gross, CommShare is unable to arrange pensions which do not pay commission. Legal & General will only pay commission on stakeholder pensions where the payments are £200 gross p.m., £2,000 gross p.a. or the transfer / single gross premium is more than £25,000.
If you plan to save more than these minimum amounts from outset or if you wish to transfer an existing pension which is worth more than £25,000 applying through CommShare will save you 0.2% p.a. every year until retirement.
There are other charges and discounts on this plan, these are as follows:
- If funds held in the pension are less than £15,000 an additional charge of 0.5% applies until funds reach £15,000 or the pension has been in force for 10 years.
- Legal & General offer discounts for larger funds: a discount of 0.1% for funds between £25,000 - £50,000 and 0.2% for funds in excess of £50,000.
- An additional fund charge of 0.15% is levied for funds managed by well known fund companies (referred to as ‘external’ funds – see Legal & General’s fund guide for more information)
- In accordance with stakeholder pension rules, charges are capped at 1.5% for the first 10 years and 1% for the remainder of the contract.
We understand that this may seem complex, so why not have a look at the following examples.
CommShare is unable to arrange Paul’s pension with Legal & General. This is because Legal & General will not pay commission to CommShare on the amounts that Paul is planning to save.
However, Paul is able to consider the other stakeholder pensions currently offered by CommShare from Aviva, Scottish Widows and Standard Life.
Commission will be available on Lucy’s new Legal & General stakeholder pension as both the regular premiums and the transfer value exceed Legal & General’s minimum requirements.
CommShare will deduct 0.2%p.a. fund based trail commission but this in turn will reduce the annual management charge from 1% to 0.8%.
The additional small fund charge will not apply as the total value is more than £15,000.
A charge of 0.15% will apply for investing the money in external funds.
The total annual management charge on Lucy’s new Legal & General stakeholder pension will be 0.95% p.a.
Commission will be available as the transfer value exceeds Legal & General’s minimum requirements.
CommShare will deduct 0.2%p.a. fund based trail commission but this in turn will reduce the annual management charge from 1% to 0.8%.
The additional small fund charge will not apply as the total value is more than £15,000.
A large fund discount of 0.2% will apply as the fund is more than £50,000.
The total annual management charge on Sanjay’s new Legal & General stakeholder pension will be 0.60% p.a.
Sanjay should be aware that if he switches into external funds an additional 0.15% charge will be levied and the overall charge will increase to 0.75%.
If you are still unsure, we are here to help you with any further questions. Please do not hesitate to call us.
* CommShare can only arrange commission paying pensions. Legal and General will only pay commission on pensions where the initial contribution is at least £200 per month, £2,000 per year or a single / transfer contribution of £25,000 is made.
| |
Annual Management Charge Per Annum |
| You invest |
Direct -
Paper Application |
Direct -
Online Application |
Direct -
Via CommShare |
| £0 - £15,000 |
1.20% |
1% |
N/A* |
| £15,000 - £25,000 |
1% |
1% |
0.80%* |
| £25,000 - £50,000 |
0.90% |
0.90% |
0.70% |
| £50,000+ |
0.80% |
0.80% |
0.60% |
Main features of the Legal & General stakeholder pension:
| Minimum Age |
None |
| Maximum Age |
74 minus 1 day |
| Maximum retirement age |
99 |
| Minimum Payment |
£20 gross / £16 net |
| Payments - minimum automatic annual increase |
1% |
| Payments - maximum automatic annual increase |
10% |
| Number of funds |
40 |
| Protected Rights allowed |
Yes |
| Online access |
Yes |
Download Legal & General Stakeholder Pension Application Forms and Key Features
You can establish a new Legal and General stakeholder pension by paper application with regular premiums from £200 gross p.m./ £2,000 gross p.a. and /or a single gross premium or transfer value(s) of £25,000 +.
First, please make sure you read CommShare’s Key Facts document and Terms of Business.
Alternatively, request a Legal & General Stakeholder Pension application pack by post – click here
Please send your completed application forms to CommShare, using our FREEPOST address. If you send them directly to Legal & General they will establish your pension on a direct basis and the annual management charge on your plan will not be discounted.
Transfer existing pensions into your Legal & General stakeholder pension
You can transfer the following types of pensions into the Legal & General stakeholder pension via CommShare.
| Other Stakeholder Pension Plans |
Free Standing Additional Voluntary Contribution Plans (FSAVCs) |
| Personal Pension Plans |
Paid up Group Personal Pensions |
| Retirement Annuity Contracts (RACs) |
Self Invested Personal Pensions |
You cannot transfer occupational pensions into the Legal & General stakeholder pension via CommShare and will need to seek appropriate advice from a qualified financial adviser if you wish to consider transferring benefits accrued in occupational schemes. These include:
| Additional Voluntary Contribution Plans |
Occupational Money Purchase Pensions (CIMP / COMP) |
| Executive Pension Plans (EPPs) |
Defined Benefit Schemes (Final Salary Scheme) |
If you are unsure as to whether your existing plan is a personal or an occupational plan, please contact us and we will be happy to help you.
You will also need to find out whether there are any transfer penalties on your existing pension. Transfer penalties can be a significant proportion of your fund and you will need to consider carefully if you are happy to pay the fee in order to change pensions. Second, make sure that you will not lose any valuable benefits, such as guaranteed annuity rates or guaranteed investment growth rates, by transferring away from your existing arrangement.
Once you have decided that you are happy to transfer your pensions, we can arrange for all of the correct paperwork to be sent to you. All you will need to do is sign and return the transfer forms to us along with your application forms in a FREEPOST envelope.
A word of warning: Please note that once you have transferred your pension, especially if it is more than a few years old, you will probably not be able to transfer your fund back into the same pension with the same company.
How to switch between your Legal & General Stakeholder Pension funds
If you want to switch between your Legal & General stakeholder pension funds online:
If you want to download a Legal & General pension fund switch instruction form click here.
Remember: that you cannot withdraw funds from your pension until you retire, the earliest you can retire and take benefits from a pension plan is currently 55. A pension is a long term investment and the funds held in your pension may go down as well as up. Remember tax reliefs may change depending on legislation and /or your personal circumstances. We are unable to offer you advice and if you are at all unsure, you should seek personal advice from a suitably qualified financial adviser.