What’s the deal?
The opportunity to invest your pension alongside the Guinness family and benefit from the investment expertise of their fund managers.
The Guinness family opened its doors to private investors last September with the launch of the Iveagh Wealth fund, an open-ended investment company (Oeic) that mirrors the portfolio of the Guinness family money.
Now, investors can put the Iveagh Wealth fund into their pension with the launch of a self-invested personal pension tied to the fund.
The Iveagh Private Pension is offered through Berkeley Burke and a minimum investment of £25,000 is required.
The pension is also structured as a ‘full’ Sipp so offers investors other funds beside the Iveagh fund, as well as commercial property, commodities, cash and equities.
Is this good?
The Iveagh Wealth fund is an impressive outfit. It managed to survive the credit crunch relatively unscathed, losing just 2 per cent in 2008 compared with a fall of 24 per cent on its benchmark.
There is also an attraction in investing alongside a well-known family that has managed to keep its wealth for decades – and through previous recessions.
Plus, the fees are innovative - if you invest at least £25,000 in the Iveagh Wealth fund there is no set up fee and if you keep the level that high the annual charge of £750 is also waived. The charge is only incurred if you withdraw money from the fund, not if market forces push it lower, and investors are given three months’ notice before the charge kicks in to give them time to top up.
Other Sipps usually just reduce charges for higher levels of investment but don’t waive them altogether.
What’s the catch?
You are tied to one fund, which reduces investment freedom, so you have to be pretty sure you like the Iveagh Wealth fund as an investment proposition.
If you’re a younger investor, there’s some argument that the best place to invest your pension is high risk equities, and while the risk profile of the Iveagh fund fluctuates, it aims at preserving family wealth rather than massive stock market outperformance.
What are the alternatives?
There are plenty of other ‘full’ Sipps that allow other forms of investment. As with the Iveagh Sipp, there are extra charges if you want to invest in property.
There are also low-cost Sipps that have lower charges but only offer access to funds, though the investment choice is very wide.
The Iveagh Sipp also shares characteristics of insurance company pension funds, which can also require you to have a certain amount of money in their own funds.
How do I find out more?
www.iveaghpp.com
www.iveaghwealth.com
