General

The tax benefits and governing law for SIPPs, ISAs and GIAs may change in the future.

Your benefits are dependent upon a number of factors. Although not a complete list, these factors include future contribution, subscription and payment-in levels, the age at which you commence benefits (for a SIPP), and external influences such as investment returns, inflation, interest rates, annuity rates (for a SIPP) and charges.

The investment returns on your fund may be less than those shown in any illustrations you may receive from us, or that you obtain yourself using our calculations tools.

MES Pensions products are offered on an execution-only basis without advice.

The investment services described may not be suitable for you. If you have any doubts about the suitability of MES Pensions investments or you need advice, you must consult a suitably qualified financial adviser.

This information is provided to you, as a retail client, in compliance with the rules of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). It is designed to help you understand the nature and extent of the risks associated with investing in a SIPP, ISA or General Investment Account (GIA) and in holding certain types of investments within your SIPP, ISA or GIA.

SIPP transfers-in

By transferring other pension benefits into your SIPP, you may be giving up the right to guarantees in the form of benefits, the amount you will receive and also the level of increases that will be applied to your pension in future.

You may be giving up the right to receive a terminal bonus on with-profit pension plans. A penalty may be applied to your existing pension plan if it is transferred.

We offer an execution-only service and recommend that you seek professional advice from a suitably qualified financial adviser if you are considering transferring existing pension benefits into your SIPP.

Income withdrawal from your SIPP

If you start to take benefits earlier than you originally intended, the level of the benefits you can take may be lower than expected and may not meet your needs in retirement.

Your SIPP may be subject to additional tax charges at the point you withdraw funds if your pension is valued at more than the lifetime allowance (£1,073,100).

If you take income withdrawals, this may erode the capital value of your fund. If investment returns are poor and a high level of income is taken, this will result in your SIPP falling in value and could result in a lower income than anticipated in the future.

If you choose an annuity to provide your benefits, the level of income you receive is based upon the average life expectancy of someone of your age. When fixing annuity rates, providers take into account the fact that some people will die earlier than expected, effectively subsidising those who live longer. Income withdrawals paid from the SIPP do not have the benefit of such a subsidy.

There is no guarantee that annuity rates will improve in the future. If you choose to purchase an annuity, the level of pension you receive when you purchase the annuity may be less or more than the pension previously being paid under income withdrawal and/or the annuity you could have purchased previously.

Investment

The value of investments held in your SIPP, ISA and GIA and any income from them can fall as well as rise. You may get back less than the amount invested.

Past performance is not an indication of future performance and some investments may need to be held for the long term to achieve a return.

You will be able to deal in a range of investments. Some investments carry a higher degree of risk than others. The following are some specific examples of this:

• Smaller companies, the prices of which can be more volatile. There may be a large difference between the buying and selling prices.
• Overseas investments, which may carry an exchange rate risk, and may be based in less well regulated jurisdictions.

We do not provide investment advice as this is an execution-only service. We do provide information about investments, but this is provided solely to enable you to make your own investment decisions, and must not be treated as a recommendation. If you need advice to determine whether an investment is suitable for you, you must consult a suitably qualified financial adviser.

If the value of your investment is small and/or you deal frequently in small amounts, dealing costs may be disproportionately high and the value of your investment may be eroded.

You should note that rules relating to the taxation of capital gains and income from investments are subject to change. The investment returns may be less than those shown on any SIPP illustrations of benefits you receive and the charges may be higher.