PRSA - how to choose broker and provider, and best set-up

Hi,

I have recently move to Ireland from the UK, and I work as the sole Ireland employee for a company based in the UK. I am in my early forties, and in the higher tax bracket and paying the higher PRSI charge. Given my skills set, if at some point in the future I was to change job, I think it would be to the public sector in Ireland.

I feel really stuck and unsure who to ask questions to, and yet I need to get things set up and my pension in place. If you can spare a moment to share any wisdom I would really really appreciate it.

I list the questions below, If you can help with any I would really appreciate it.

1) The company is happy to either pay me without salary sacrifice; to do salary sacrifice; or to do pension contributions as an additional benefit outside of salary - just so long as it is all through the right channels and transparent. From what I can reason, I think it is better to do pension via salary sacrifice, because I think then the PRSI will be on the remaining income (after pension deduction), is this correct? Is there anything else that comes to mind, that I should be aware of?

2) How to choose a good financial advisor, or broker - what service is provided, and what are indications of quality in provision?

• Coming in cold to this (having only previously had a semi-public pension in the UK), I had thought that the broker/financial advisor, would have been someone advising on what funds are doing well and what are likely to do well in the coming years - taking a well informed view on the fund level decisions. Say someone with a strong background in perhaps economics or the like, or a good feel for the stock market. However I don't think this was the case with two brokers I have spoken with. So I am left wondering what the service is? - Is it servicing customer understanding on the risk-growth principles and the financial planning side to ensure that the right amount is tucked away given current finances, and striking the balance of having (taxed) money now, and having (lesser-taxed) money later? Is there another element of service beyond the financial planning side, i am not aware of?
• With this, how do you know if the broker/financial advisor is good value for the cut they need to make to keep their business going? What questions should I ask of a broker/financial advisor in terms of their service, or their performance?
• One of the brokers, shared that he was of a similar age and shared his personal investment performance on screen. His pension was about 90% invested in one single sector focused fund. I was quite surprised to see that, I had thought that conventional wisdom would be to have investment over a few funds, or at least fund that spanned several sectors. Would this be common practice for pension fund choices for a person in their early 40s? This, which I thought was an unconventional investment strategy, together with the impression that he was trying to recruit clients of a similar age, to replicate his approach, rather than service the customer - has left me somewhat suspicious. Please please left me know if my impressions of this are inappropriate or ill-founded???

3) How to choose a pension provider?

• I am trying to compare providers, say New Ireland, Zurich etc, and to get a general feel for their fund performance - but it is hard to know how much is eaten up by annual management charges. How do you compare net performance of different funds by different providers, over a 5+year span? [are there any websites, books etc you can recommend?]

3) standard and non-standard PRSAs?

I don't know if I am an out and out skeptic. The brokers I have spoken to are all in favour of non-standard PRSAs. I am wondering if there is more commission from non-standard, and whether the choice is actually worth it. I am thinking here of the Tesco superstore vs smaller supermarket Perhaps the same 10 'standard ' PRSA funds are frequently invested in, and that after allocation and annual management charges, they do comparably well to many many 'non-standard' PRSA funds that look good on paper but are infrequently used...? - any advance/experience would be really appreciated.

4) what if I go public sector in say 5 years?

From a bit of simulation modelling in spreadsheets, it seems that say a 98% allocation and 1%AMC, in general is comparable (& slightly more favourable) to a 100% allocation and 1.25%AMC if I have the same PRSA until retirement (say early/mid-60s). However if I enter the public sector, and stop the PRSA, it appears that 98% allocation and 1%AMC is much more favourable. So with this in mind, and settling into a new job in a new location with the family move, it seems that opting for lower AMC, at the cost of some allocation, might hedge my bets in terms of career options and managing retirement? But perhaps this is not important because I can transfer to the lower AMC PRSA if the event occurs? Though perhaps in practice there are ways in which the transfer is eaten up with fees/costs in one form or another? Any wisdom on this would be really appreciated?

5)Execute only vs broker/financial advisor

I am wondering what benefits of buying a PRSA through a broker/financial advisor is, compared to say signing up to an execute only service, and taking an automated allocation approach to fund management?

I am familiar with debates of active vs passive fund management in terms of stockmarkets, and that active works better for a few well managed funds, and the most funds do comparable to passive - or at least that was the case a few years ago; and so I wonder how this relates to pension funds and brokers vs execute only.

And just to be clear, I don't for one minute think I will become the equivalent of a 'day trader' in pension terms, I have young kids, and not much free time...so if I go execute only, it would be for a v. low maintenance approach and also in part to avoid the skewed perceptions of risk etc that the likes of Taleb discusses in his black swan book, and others else where.

Just to say that I really hope that I have not caused offence in by virtue of my own ignorance, and. my sincerest apologies if I have.

Many thanks.