Since 6 April 2015 the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has required providers of workplace personal pension schemes to set up and maintain either an Independent Governance Committee (IGC) or a Governance Advisory Arrangement (GAA) to represent the interests of the members of those schemes. In 2015 AJ Bell Management Limited appointed PS Independent Trustees Ltd (who changed their name to Punter Southall Governance Services Ltd (PSGS) in 2018) to provide the GAA in relation to its workplace pensions.
The GAA has a duty to act in the interests of scheme members and operates independently of AJ Bell. The ongoing role of the GAA is to assess various aspects of AJ Bell’s workplace personal pension schemes, including the value for money they offer. The GAA will initially raise any concerns with AJ Bell. If it is not satisfied by our response, the GAA may then escalate its concerns to the FCA.
The FCA’s policy statement 19/30 introduced new rules to extend the remit of GAAs in two areas:
A new duty for GAAs to consider and report on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, member concerns and stewardship, and a second new duty to oversee the value for money of investment pathway solutions for pensions drawdown (‘pathway solutions’). These new rules were effective from 6 April 2020 (albeit the requirements relating to pathway solutions did not come into force until 1 February 2021).
Taking into account the extra duties of the GAA AJ Bell Management Limited replaced the PSGS GAA with a GAA provided by Zedra Governance Ltd from 6 April 2020 onwards.
The full terms of reference relating to both GAAs can be found below, along with the Chair’s annual statement.
To see the administration costs and investment costs (ongoing and transactional) for each workplace scheme, please refer to the document below titled AJ Bell Management Limited costs and charges 2022. You will also find a document below with an illustration of the charges for holding the default funds in an auto-enrolment scheme. The illustration also shows the cost of investing into some of the other most popular funds on the platform to provide an indication of the costs that may apply if you do not invest into the default funds.
You can access full information on the costs and charges associated with all funds available on the platform here. To find the charges for a specific fund, search for that fund and then navigate to the ‘Costs and charges’ section by clicking on the link on the left-hand side of the page. The costs and charges section shows the detailed costs of the fund and an illustration of the costs for investing into the fund.
You can also access the equivalent fund research and costs and charges information by logging in to your account via www.investcentre.co.uk. You can click on each holding within your portfolio and then click ‘Research’ within the popup window to take you to the fund research pages.
When your adviser places a dealing instruction in your SIPP, this may give rise to a dealing charge. Online dealing charges range from £0 to £3.95. If you are not sure which charges apply to the dealing on your account, please speak to your adviser.
AJ Bell Management Limited GAA Chair’s annual workplace pensions report 2024
AJ Bell Management Limited workplace pension scheme illustration 2024
AJ Bell Management Limited costs and charges 2024
AJ Bell Management Limited GAA terms of reference 2022
AJ Bell Management Limited GAA Chair’s annual report 2021
AJ Bell Management Limited workplace pension scheme illustration 2021
AJ Bell Management Limited GAA terms of reference – PTL
AJ Bell Management Limited GAA Chair’s statement 2020
AJ Bell Management Limited GAA Chair’s statement 2019
AJ Bell Management Limited GAA Chair’s statement 2018
AJ Bell Management Limited GAA Chair’s statement 2017
AJ Bell Management Limited GAA Chair’s statement 2016
AJ Bell Management Limited GAA terms of reference – PSGS
As a member of a workplace pension you are able to make representations on any aspect of your pension plan to the GAA who can be contacted in writing at:
AJ Bell Management Ltd GAA
4 Exchange Quay
Salford
Manchester
M5 3EE