How to choose the best pension drawdown provider for you
A checklist to help you find the provider that best meets your needs.
Important information - The information on our website isn’t personal advice. You should check that you're making the right decision for your circumstances and that you understand all your options and their risks. Investments and their income can go up as well as down in value, so you could get back less than you invest. Before transferring a drawdown pension, please check that you won't lose valuable guarantees or need to pay high exit fees. If you currently receive financial advice on your drawdown pension and you’d like this to continue, please contact us to discuss the options available. Otherwise, this won’t carry on if you decide to go ahead.
Looking for a better drawdown provider?
If your current drawdown provider is falling short of the mark, you can transfer to another. It’s important that you find the right provider to meet your needs.
They might offer you better value for money and make managing your plan a great deal easier.
Before transferring your drawdown pension, please check that you won't lose valuable guarantees or need to pay high exit fees. You can view our charges here.
Why transfer a pension in drawdown to HL?
Easy management - You can check your account whenever you like, online and with the award-winning HL app.
Great value for money - The latest investment news, tools and insight from our team of experts.
No time restrictions - You can stay in drawdown indefinitely or buy a secure income at any time. Unlike some other providers, we won’t force you out at any age.
Invest where and how you want to - You can pick your own investments, select one of our ready-made portfolios, or pay a financial adviser to choose investments for you.
Support when you need it - Get help from our UK-based helpdesk 6 days a week. They can answer your questions, no matter how big or small.
How to transfer a pension in drawdown to HL
There are two ways to transfer a pension in drawdown:
Transfer your pension as cash
Your investments will be sold before the transfer starts. This is usually the cheaper option and takes less time to complete. It does mean that you won’t benefit from any market rises while your pension is in cash, but you won’t suffer from any falls, either. You’ll be free to reinvest once the pension transfer is done and dusted.
Transfer your drawdown investments
You can transfer your pension without selling your investments, as long as we offer the same investments on our platform. This is known as a stock transfer. This type of transfer often takes much longer to complete, and you might find that exit fees are higher. You also won’t be able to change any investments during the transfer, but you might still prefer this option if you’d rather not be out of the market.
Steps to apply for a drawdown pension transfer
To save you time and hassle, we’ll contact your current pension provider to arrange everything. You just need to let us know your transfer preferences and pension details, by requesting and completing a transfer pack.
1. Request your transfer pack
You'll receive everything you need to know about drawdown with HL. You’ll also get a set of risk questions which you’ll need to read through and answer.
Just make sure that you take your usual income before getting started, because income can’t be paid during a transfer.
2. Complete a risk questionnaire
If you’re confident that you understand the risks that apply to your situation, call us on 0117 980 9926 to confirm that you’d like to go ahead with the transfer. You can also return your risk questions by post.
Once we have your confirmation, we’ll send you your application.
3. Complete and return your application
This includes your pension details, what income you’d like to take (if any) and whether you’d like to transfer cash or investments.
After you've returned your application, we’ll keep you updated along the way.
Once the transfer is complete, we’ll pay any income you’ve asked for and you’ll be free to buy and sell investments.
Financial advice if you need it
Our drawdown service is designed around you. Unlike with some providers, you can choose to manage your plan yourself. You can use the resources on our website and speak with our helpdesk when you need help.
If you receive financial advice from your current drawdown provider, it will usually stop if you transfer. But we offer financial advice if you need it. You can pay for one-off advice, maybe as a check that what you plan to do is right for you, or get ongoing advice on a yearly basis.
Drawdown resources to help
Your drawdown plan is valuable. Not only can it potentially give you a growing income in retirement, but your loved ones could also benefit from it financially in the future. Our range of online tools could help you to manage your savings and make your money go further.
Pension transfer FAQs
If your drawdown pension is transferred as cash, this means that your provider will sell your pension investments and transfer the cash amount. You will not be invested during the transfer, so you will not make losses or gains. You can buy investments once the transfer is complete. Electronic transfers of this type usually take between 4 and 5 weeks once all paperwork is received. Non-electronic transfers may take longer.
If your drawdown pension is transferred as it is (invested in the stock market), your provider will transfer each investment and any cash. If you hold an investment that we don’t offer, we’ll contact you during the transfer to check that you’re happy to sell your investments. This type of transfer can take several weeks, depending on your investments and provider. You stay invested during the transfer so could make gains and losses. Usually, you cannot trade until the transfer completes.
Timeframes also depend on actions from your existing provider. Before we can set up your drawdown arrangement (and pay any income), we need to receive certain information from them.
Retirement isn’t all or nothing. You can use some or all of the money in a drawdown pension to buy an annuity – even if you’ve already drawn an income.
Although annuities offer a secure income for life, they lack flexibility. This is one of the reasons that people choose to combine their retirement options.
What you do with your pension is an important decision. If you're not sure what to do, you should seek guidance from Pension Wise, the government’s free impartial service to help you understand your retirement options. If you need more help, you could consider financial advice.
We don’t charge you to transfer your drawdown pension, but you should check with your current provider if they’ll charge you any exit fees, or if you’ll lose any guarantees by transferring. Make sure that you do this before you start your transfer.
Defined benefit (DB) pensions, such as ‘final salary’ schemes that are already in payment cannot be transferred to a drawdown pension.
DB pensions that aren’t in payment could potentially be transferred to a personal pension (like the HL SIPP), and then moved into drawdown. However, it’s probably not in your best interest. DB pensions not only give you a guaranteed income, but they also normally offer benefits to a spouse or partner once you die. You might be able to transfer, but if the transfer value is more than £30,000, you’ll have to take advice from a regulated financial adviser. If you’d like to transfer to HL, you’ll also need to provide proof that the advice is in favour of transferring.
Yes. If you’re current provider isn’t meeting your needs, then you can choose to transfer to another provider.
Yes, you’re able to transfer a capped drawdown pension to HL. However, you’ll also have the option to convert to flexible drawdown (where income isn’t restricted) when you apply. Remember, though, this is an irreversible decision. Once you take income from flexible drawdown, your contributions into money purchase pensions, like the HL SIPP, will normally be restricted by the Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA) - currently £10,000 each tax year.
If you’d like to transfer a capped drawdown account to HL but you already hold a flexible drawdown arrangement with us, we’ll need to convert your capped arrangement to a flexible one when you transfer.
Pension drawdown essentials
Pension Drawdown: four reasons to transfer
We look at four reasons why people choose to leave their current drawdown provider and how they might benefit from transferring to Hargreaves Lansdown.
Help and support
Take a look at our most frequently asked questions for quick answers.
If you need more assistance or have specific questions, please contact us.