For adviser use only – not approved for use with clients
Aegon Retirement Choices choose the right platform for
your business
Platform due diligence
When you’re choosing a platform, it’s important to make sure it meets your business needs, and also the
needs of your clients.
In the last decade, the platform market in the UK has evolved and developed, providing more innovative
ways for you to provide services and solutions for your clients. This innovation brings with it greater
choice, but also more to think about when deciding what solutions work best for your clients and your
business.
In this guide you’ll find information about our platform, Aegon Retirement Choices (ARC), which will help
you compare ARC with other platforms, and justify why ARC’s the right platform for your business and
your clients. To find out whether ARC could meet the needs of your workplace clients, please see our
guide Choosing the right workplace solution for your business.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have outlined nine key points firms should think about before they
adopt and use a platform in their factsheet Platforms: using fund supermarkets:
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The platform provider
Terms and conditions of using the platform
Charges
Range of product wrappers, funds and other products
Range of asset classes
Functionality
Accessibility
Additional tools
Support services
The platform provider
Aegon Retirement Choices (ARC) puts you in control of your client’s financial future. The award-winning
ARC platform provides you with the flexibility to manage wealth accumulation, workplace savings and
retirement income through one single online solution (see awards below). Clients, whether they join
through their employer or are individual clients, will benefit from ARC’s flexibility. It’s range of products
and investments can adapt with their changing financial needs, as they progress through their working
life into retirement.
Introducing ARC
Developed to help meet our aim of creating better futures, ARC gives your clients a flexible platform for
saving while they work and then for taking an income later in life. The variety of product wrappers and
wide investment choice available lets you design and tailor portfolios to help meet your clients’ financial
needs now and in the future.
ARC also makes your day-to-day administration simpler, so you can dedicate even more time to your
clients’ needs.
ARC was awarded the ‘Best Platform Innovation’ and ‘Best Workplace Platform’ Awards in 2013 by
platform specialists, the Platforum. ARC was also awarded ‘Best New Platform’ and, in conjunction with
GBST, ‘Best use of Platform Technology’ at the Aberdeen UK Platform Awards 2013. These awards
recognise the superior technology and innovation we’ve brought to the platform market. We’re committed
to continually developing ARC to make sure it meets and goes beyond your expectations.
You can find out more about ARC in Your Guide to Aegon Retirement Choices, which can be found on our
website.
About Aegon
Aegon is an international provider of life insurance, pensions and asset management. With approximately
£542 billion assets under management (as at September 2015), we have businesses in over 25 countries
around the world and around two million customers in the UK alone.
Aegon N.V.
Aegon UK is part of Aegon N.V., an international life insurance, pensions and investment company, based
in The Hague, the Netherlands. Aegon N.V. has three main established markets: the United States, the
Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Recently, it’s expanded its international presence, pushing into new
growth markets in the Americas, Asia and Central and Eastern Europe.
Aegon UK
Aegon UK was established in the 1990s, when Aegon bought Scottish Equitable, but our history dates
back 160 years, starting with the foundation of Scottish Equitable in 1853. We’ve built an impressive
reputation as a market-leading provider of pensions, investments and protection business. Most of
Aegon UK’s business comes from life and pensions, in the individual and corporate markets.
Aegon Pension Trustees Limited
The Aegon SIPP is provided under the Aegon Self-invested Personal Pension Scheme. This is a trust
based personal pension scheme, with Aegon Pension Trustee Limited (APT) as the trustee. The assets of
the scheme are owned by APT, separating them from the assets of Scottish Equitable plc.
Aegon Investment Solutions Limited
Aegon Investment Solutions Limited (AISL) is responsible for the management of the Aegon ISA and
General Investment Account.
Third-party suppliers
We’ve selected a number of third parties with the expertise to provide us with specialist services:
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GBST – provide the underlying platform technology, including the front end, and core operating
system for ARC. GBST provides software to the global financial services industry and have more than
25 years experience of delivering reliable solutions.
Dunstan Thomas – illustrations are powered by Dunstan Thomas.
Financial Express (FE) – provide all fund prices, information and data feeds, as well as powering the
suite of portfolio management tools.
Winterflood Business Services – a subsidiary of Close Brothers Group plc, supplies our stock broking
service.
HSBC – provides the cash facility and banking services.
Regulators
We have a requirement to comply with the following regulatory, legislative and industry bodies:
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Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA)
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)
Department for Work and Pensions
UK/European regulation and legislation
Information Commissioner’s Office
The Pensions Regulator
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Association of British Insurers (ABI)
Joint Money Laundering Steering Group
We’re committed to making sure regulatory changes to ARC are made in line with guidance from the
above regulators.
Financial Services Compensation Scheme
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has been set up to provide protection to consumers
if authorised financial services firms are unable, or likely to be unable, to meet claims against them. Your
client’s contract with us will normally be covered – however, it’s important to note that different limits
apply to different types of investment.
Compensation limits are per person per firm, and per claim category. In some circumstances, your client
may not be eligible for any compensation under the FSCS. The availability depends on:
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the type of wrapper the client’s in;
the type and structure of the investments in the wrapper; and/or
the country the investments are held in.
Full details of the FSCS can be found at www.fscs.org.uk
Terms and conditions of using the
platform
The terms and conditions of using ARC can be found in the Terms of business.
Charges
Your client is able to see exactly what they’re paying for, with clear charges across all products and
investments held on ARC. Different product wrappers are treated differently for tax purposes. ARC also
gives you flexibility over the remuneration structures you agree with your clients.
There are three main types of ARC charges:
ARC charges
These are to cover the
administration costs for investing
through ARC. These also include
the charges we take if your client
chooses to invest in Secure
Retirement Income (SRI).
Fund charges
These charges cover the cost of
managing investments and
checking they’re performing as
expected. They’ll vary depending
on the assets chosen. The fund
charge is sometimes called the
ongoing charges figure (OCF).
Adviser charges
Personal adviser charges – this is
the charge for the advice you
give, and is agreed between you
and your client.
We’ll keep 0.25% of the value of each of your client’s product wrappers in their cash facility to cover any
charges that are paid out of the cash facility. It’s your responsibility to make sure that your client’s cash
facilities contain enough money to cover all relevant charges. If there’s not enough money in the cash
facilities to meet any charges due we’ll automatically sell some investments, starting with the largest
liquid asset. No SRI investment will be included in any automatic sell of investments to pay any charge
due from the cash facility of an Aegon SIPP.
Most charges will be taken from the cash facility of each of your client’s wrappers, however some charges
aren’t:
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Fund charges aren’t deducted from the cash facility as these are usually included within the fund
price. We’ll only deduct fund charges from the cash facility if the investment provider instructs us
to.
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If your client holds Secure Retirement Income (SRI) investments in an Aegon SIPP wrapper we
deduct certain charges from those investments. These charges are deducted directly from the
investment by selling sufficient units to cover the charge amount due.
Annual charge
We’ll deduct an annual charge, based on the total value of your client’s ARC account, to cover the cost of
administering their account. We’ll take this on or around the first business day of the month.
As you can see from the table below, the percentage charge for each band reduces as your client’s ARC
account value grows. So the higher the value of assets held on ARC, the less your client’s annual charge
as a percentage will be. There is no annual charge on assets over £250,000.
We calculate your client’s annual charge based on the charging bands that apply to their account value.
For example, if the total value of your assets is £200,000, your client will use charging bands 1, 2, 3 and
4.
Charging band
1
2
3
4
5
Fund value
First £29,999
Next £20,000 (£30,000 to £49,999)
Next £50,000 (£50,000 to £99,999)
Next £150,000 (£100,000 to £249,999)
Next £250,000 and over
Annual charge percentage
0.60%
0.55%
0.50%
0.45%
0.00%
Calculating the annual charge
To calculate your client’s annual charge, we look at the total account value, including the value of any
SRI investments held in an Aegon SIPP, on the last business day of each month. We include the value of
SRI investments in the total account value as they are held directly within the Aegon SIPP and this helps
reduce the annual charge we deduct from your client’s product wrappers.
We add together the applicable charges from each charging band you use, and then convert this into a
monthly charge.
For example, if the total value of your client’s ARC account was £200,000, invested across all their
product wrappers, we’d calculate the annual charge as follows:
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the
the
the
the
first £29,999.99 at 0.60%;
next £20,000 at 0.55%;
next £50,000 at 0.50%; and
remaining £100,001 at 0.45%.
This would equate to an annual charge of 0.495% a year.
To calculate your client’s monthly charge, we simply divide the annual percentage charge by 12 and
apply that proportionately across the value of all your client’s product wrappers excluding any SRI
investmentsr. For example if your client holds £100,000 in an Aegon SIPP, of which £60,000 is invested
in SRI, then we’ll take the charge on the £40,000 that isn’t invested in SRI. You can find out more about
SRI charges.
Reducing the annual charge further
We’ll automatically take account of the value of any other eligible Aegon pension products your client has
– so their annual charge could reduce even more.
For example, if your client has an existing Aegon personal pension valued at £100,000, as well as the
£200,000 of assets held on ARC from the previous example, we’d calculate their annual charge as
follows:
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the
the
the
the
the
first £29,999 at 0.60%;
next £20,000 at 0.55%;
next £50,000 at 0.50%;
next £150,000 at 0.45%; and
remaining £50,001 at 0.00%.
This would equate to an annual charge of 0.405% a year.
The ARC annual charge will only apply to your client’s ARC account. It won’t apply to any other money
held with us, for example off-platform assets, like their Aegon personal pension.
Customer fee
If a customer fee applies it will be charged in addition to the annual charge. It’s paid monthly and applied
proportionately across all active product wrappers. The fee will increase every year in line with average
weekly earnings.
Income drawdown fee
We’ll charge £75 a year if your client takes income from the drawdown part of their Aegon SIPP. This
charge will be set up when their first drawdown pension payment is made, and will apply yearly after that
to cover ongoing administration.
If they don’t take any drawdown income in the 12 months since their last income drawdown payment, we
won’t apply this charge. It will become payable again when they restart taking drawdown income.
If they have more than one drawdown wrapper in their Aegon SIPP, for example, as a result of more than
one drawdown to drawdown transfer, they’ll only pay a single £75 yearly charge. We’ll deduct this
proportionately across all of the drawdown wrappers they’re taking income from.
No drawdown fee will apply to a drawdown wrapper that contains only SRI investments. However the fee
may apply if that wrapper contains any cash not ringfenced for payment as drawdown income.
SRI charges
If your client purchases an SRI investment we deduct charges from it to cover the costs of administering
the investment, the product charge, the gurantee charge, and to provide the benefits selected.
If they hold more than one SRI investment in their Aegon SIPP each investment will be held in its own
SRI account. The charges applying to a particular account are based on the terms in force at the date
they applied for the investment. The following charges reflect the current terms for new SRI investments.
Product charge
The yearly charge is 0.30%. We deduct this charge monthly. To calculate the monthly charge, we simply
divide the yearly charge by 12 and apply that to the value of the SRI investment. We’ll sell sufficient
funds from the investment to cover the calculated charge amount each month.
Guarantee charge
The yearly charge is dependent on the fund you invest in and the SRI benefits selected. The charges
below are the yearly rates.
We deduct this charge monthly. To calculate the monthly charge, we simply divide the yearly charge
percentage by 12 and apply that to the income base value of the SRI investment. We’ll sell sufficient
funds from the investment to cover the calculated charge amount each month.
If your client invests in SRI and they don’t start the income straight away your client’s account will be on
a deferred income basis. The initial yearly charge will therefore be dependent on whether your client
selected the guaranteed minimum death benefit (GMDB) when the application for the SRI investment was
made. On starting income from the SRI investment, if your client selects the joint life income option the
charge will then move to the joint life guarantee charge appropriate to the fund they’re invested in.
Aegon Ireland bond charges
If your client invests in an Aegon Ireland bond, Aegon Ireland will set the product charges to support the
servicing and administration of the product. We’ll deduct these charges quarterly from their gross General
Investment Account (GIA) cash facility.
Gross GIA charges
While investing through the gross GIA means no tax is deducted from your client’s funds, some external
product providers will apply a charge for investing in their product wrappers.
Fund charges
These charges are for the assets your client is invested in and are set by the investment managers.
They’ll vary depending on which assets they choose to invest in. You can find out which assets are
available, and what their associated charges are, at https://www.aegon.co.uk/support/fund-prices-andperformance.html.
Discretionary investment management charge
A percentage charge will be applied to the value of any funds held with a discretionary fund manager
(DFM). We’ll pay this charge to the DFM on the client’s behalf. This charge will depend on the agreement
in place between the client, their adviser and the DFM, and will be taken monthly from the relevant
product wrapper’s cash facility.
Stockbroker fee
A £15 fee will apply to every trade of company shares, gilts and investment trusts placed through ARC.
This fee will apply to any buy or sell, and will be taken from the appropriate product wrapper’s cash
facility at the time of the trade.
Aggregated stockbroker fee
A £10 fee will apply to every trade of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) placed through ARC. This fee will
apply to any buy or sell, and will be taken from the appropriate product wrapper’s cash facility at the
time of trade.
Adviser charges
You and your client will agree how much they will pay for the advice you give them. Adviser charges will
be taken as either a percentage or monetary amount from their product wrapper’s cash facility,
depending on what you’ve agreed with your client. Any adviser charges agreed between you and your
client will be shown on your client’s personal illustration.
Where your client holds SRI investments within an Aegon SIPP, the value of those investments may be
included in calculating the amount of the charge due. However, we will never automatically sell those
investments to pay any adviser charges. Adviser charges can be set up in three ways:
Initial
This is a payment based on a percentage of the value of their contribution/transfer or specified monetary
amount, made to yourself. You and your client can agree the level of initial adviser charge.
For single contributions and transfers we’ll take this from your clients product wrapper’s cash facility
before their contribution is invested in their selected assets.
If requested for regular contributions, the duration of payment can be specified up to a maximum period
of 36 months.
We’ll deduct the payment monthly from your client’s product wrapper’s cash facility. However, if there
isn’t enough money in their cash facility to meet the payment, we’ll automatically sell some investments,
starting with the largest liquid asset. If they’re invested in the Aegon SIPP, we’ll take the initial charge
after basic-rate tax relief has been included, where relevant. If they’re moving straight into drawdown
and taking tax-free cash, we’ll take this from their cash facility after we’ve paid their tax-free cash and
taken any relevant excess lifetime allowance charges. You will be able to tell your client if an excess
lifetime allowance charge will apply to them.
Ongoing
This is a payment based on the value of your clients individual product wrappers (if paid as a
percentage), that’s made to you. It can also be set as a monetary amount. It can be taken monthly on a
fixed amount or percentage basis on all product wrappers. Quarterly payments are restricted to fixed
amounts only and this option is not available under the GIA of the Aegon Ireland International Bond. You
and your client can agree the level, and the frequency, as required.
Ad hoc
This is a lump sum payment made to you, as and when it’s requested, based on the agreement between
you and your client.
Range of product wrappers,
investments and other products
Aegon Self-invested Personal Pension (SIPP)
The Aegon SIPP gives your clients the opportunity to save or consolidate efficiently and flexibly for the
future, taking advantage of the tax benefits of a pension.
Product feature
Minimum age
Maximum age
Minimum investment
Maximum investment
Payment frequency
Payment method
Multiple pension accounts
Transfers in
Transfers out
Minimum transfer value
Rebalancing
Contracting out
Partial, phased, capped and
flexible drawdown
Income payment frequency
Tax-free cash
Online trading
Details
16
No maximum age
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£1 single investment
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£1 regular investment
No maximum - annual and lifetime allowance limits will
apply. For more information on these limits visit
www.hmrc.gov.uk/pensionsschemes
 Monthly
 Single
 Cheque
 Direct Debit
 BACS/TT
 CHAPS
 Payroll
 Sharesave rollover
Yes
Yes
Yes – a minimum balance of £1,000 must be kept unless a
full withdrawal is being made
£250
Yes
No
Yes
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Yes
Yes
No income
Monthly
Quarterly
Yearly
Ad-hoc
Discretionary Fund Managers
(DFM)
Death benefits
Re-registration
In specie transfers
Yes
Yes
Yes
No (except sharesave schemes)
Retirement income options
The Aegon SIPP offers a full range of income drawdown options, so your clients can take an income in a
way that suits their specific circumstances.
Your clients can start to take their pension benefits from age 55. They may be able to take benefits
earlier than this if they’re in ill health or if they have a protected low pension age that continues to apply
under their ARC account. If we don’t receive instructions from your clients as to how they’d like to take
their retirement income by age 75, their fund will remain invested and they can continue to contribute to
their Aegon SIPP until they decide to take their benefits.
The Aegon SIPP offers a choice of:
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cash lump sum;
flexi-access drawdown;
secure drawdown; and
annuity using the open market option.
With each of these options, your clients will normally receive up to 25% of the value they decide to use
to provide benefits in cash.
You can make requests to move your clients’ funds into the drawdown element of their account online,
including additional funds, using our secure online services.
Please note that where your client accesses a cash lump sum or starts to take any income under the
drawdown element of their account the Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA) will apply.
Cash lump sum
Your clients can access their savings at any time from age 55 by taking some or all of their savings as a
cash lump. Normally 25% of the cash lump sum taken is tax-free with the balance taxed as income.
Flexi-access drawdown
This provides the ultimate flexibility over your clients’ retirement income. Your clients can normally take
up to 25% of the value they want to use to provide retirement benefits as tax-free cash, with the
remainder moving into the drawdown element, and there are no limits on the amount of income your
clients can withdraw.
You can make all requests to move your clients’ funds into the drawdown element of their account online,
using our secure online services – speeding up the process, giving your clients even quicker access to
their tax-free cash and income.
Secure drawdown – Secure Retirement Income (SRI)
SRI is an investment option that provides your client with a secure level of income for life, even if the
fund were to fall to zero, with the option of also adding a guaranteed minimum death benefit. The income
won’t fall if the value of the investment falls but might rise if the value of the investment rises.
Income from any SRI investment can only be made when the investment has been moved into the
drawdown element of your client’s account.
How flexible is it?
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Your clients can invest in SRI between the ages of 45 and 74 in both the savings and drawdown
elements of their account.
Your client can make multiple investments in SRI with each investment being held in its own SRI
account.
The initial investment must be for at least £20,000 and each subsequent investment must be at
least £5,000. Your client’s can’t select SRI as an investment option for regular contributions.
Your client can select the SRI option on its own or along with the guaranteed minimum death
benefit option.
Your client can hold SRI investments alongside other investments within the same account.
Your client will pay a guarantee charge on the SRI investment and this depend on the benefits
your client selects and the fund chosen.
Your clients have access to the funds we offer under the SRI option but only one fund can be
selected for each application. Switches from one SRI fund to another aren’t permitted.
To start the income from an SRI investment, your clients must move some or all of the value of
the investment to the drawdown element of the account.
Your client can start income payments from the SRI investment at any time from age 55.
The income payable from your clients SRI investment is based on the income base value of the
SRI investment and the income rate for their age when income starts. See our ‘Income base
value’ and ‘Income rate’ sections for further information.
Your client doesn’t have to decide on the basis the income will be paid until they want to start
income from the SRI investment. Once they decide to start the income they can choose from the
Single life income option or the Joint life income option, see our ‘Income basis’ section for
further information.
The income paid out of an SRI investment is paid into the cash facility of the drawdown element of
their account. Your client decides how much drawdown income they want to take from the
drawdown element.
Clients can switch out of an SRI investment to the cash facility at any time. However, this would
proportionately reduce the benefits available from the SRI investment.
Income base value
The income base is a notional value that is recorded on a yearly basis at the review date of the SRI
investment. It is initially set equal to the amount invested into SRI. This value may increase at a review
date if:
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the fund value of the investment at any monthiversary date is higher than the current income
base value of the SRI investment; or
the guaranteed pre-income increase feature, if applicable, produces a higher income base value.
See our ‘Monthiversary feature’ and ‘What is the guaranteed pre-income increases feature’
sections for more information.
Income basis
When your clients decide to switch on the income from an SRI investment they’ll have two options on
how this will be paid;
Single life – This pays the income from the SRI investment on a monthly basis for the life of your client.
The income will continue to be paid even if the value of the SRI investment falls to zero. On death of your
client the income will stop and any remaining fund value of the SRI investment will be used along with
the value of other assets held to provide death benefits for the client’s beneficiaries.
Joint life – This allows your client to nominate a dependant to receive an income on your client’s death
but the dependant can’t be more than 10 years younger than your client. Once selected;
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any guaranteed minimum death benefit that had been selected, if applicable, wil no longer apply;
the guarantee charge we take from the SRI investment will change to the joint life guarantee
charge rate based on the SRI fund held; and
the nominated dependant can’t be changed to someone else at a later date. If your client’s
circumstances change they can request for the nominated dependant to be removed but the joint
life guarantee charge will continue to apply.
the nominated dependant will have the option of continuing a guaranteed income on your client’s
death. The dependants income would be equal to 50% of the guaranteed income that would be
payable to your client. The dependant must however continue to qualify as a dependant on death
of your client to be able to be given this option
Income rate
The income rates that apply to your clients SRI investment are set when your client applies for the
investment.
These rates set out the income rate percentages applicable for each age from age 55. The rate that
applies when income starts is determined based on your client’s age when income is first paid from the
investment.
This rate is then locked in for that investment for life. We use this rate in conjunction with the income
base value to calculate the amount of monthly income that is paid out of the SRI investment. If the
income base value at a review date increases the income amount in payment also increases. However if
your client were to switch out of the SRI investment this would reduce the amount of income payable
from the SRI investment.
Monthiversary feature
In the first year, we’ll set the clients income base equal to their original investment amount. With our
monthiversary feature, at the SRI review date, we’ll look back to see what the fund value of the
investment was on this date and each of the corresponding monthly anniversaries – the monthiversary.
This means there are 12 values for us to review every year. If the highest of these 12 values is more
than the current income base, we’ll lock in this amount as their new income base.
From the start of the next year we’ll use the new income base to re-calculate the income payable from
the SRI investment.
When we lock in a new income base for an SRI investment, it won’t go down in the future if their fund
value falls but it would reduce if your client switched out of the SRI investment. It may go up if their fund
value goes up and we don’t limit the amount their income could increase by.
Any increase will depend on the performance of the underlying funds, changes and payments made.
What is the guaranteed pre-income increase feature
Where your client decides not to, or is unable to, take income from the SRI investment when it is
purchased, they’ll also benefit from a guaranteed minimum increase to the income base value at each
review date where income hasn’t yet started from that SRI investment.
The minimum increase will be equal to 3.25%, this is the current rate, of the original investment paid into
the SRI account. This will be added to the income base value of the SRI investment at the review date if
it produces a higher income base value than the highest fund value calculated using the monthiversary
feature and income hasn’t yet started at the review date.
If your client was to switch out of the SRI investment at any point, the value of the original investment
amount we use will be proportionately reduced to account for the switch out, and that new original
investment amount will be used in the calculation of any minimum increase at the review date. For more
information see our What is SRI customer guide.
Annuities
If, when your clients are ready to retire, they decide they’d rather take an annuity to provide their
retirement income, they’ll have the option to take up to 25% of their ARC account value as tax-free cash,
and use their remaining fund to buy an annuity using the open market option.
Death benefits
The Aegon SIPP lets your clients leave valuable death benefits for their family when they die.
How your clients’ pension funds may be treated on death will usually depend on what age they are when
they die and whether and what nominations have been made by them in respect of their funds.
Any nomination made by your client under our Death benefit nomination form will apply to the whole
value of your client’s Aegon SIPP account irrespective of whether the funds are in the savings or
drawdown elements of your client’s account.
The tax treatment of death benefits payable from your client’s fund generally depends on whether they
die before age 75 or on or after age 75 - see our What tax is payable on death benefits section for
further information.
Binding nominations
Where your client has any dependants they can, if they so choose, complete a binding nomination in
favour of any dependants, using our death benefit nomination form. This must be received by us before
your client’s death. If the nominated dependant then survives your client and qualifies as a dependant on
your client’s death, the nomination will fall outside of Aegon’s discretionary disposal rules. We can act on
that nomination, as long as we have received suitable confirmation of the nominated beneficiary’s status
as a dependant.
However, if your client has any drawdown funds under their Aegon SIPP account that represent funds
that were inherited by your client on death of another individual who had uncrystallised or drawdown
funds, your client can’t make a binding nomination in respect of these funds. If your client’s fund consists
entirely of this type of drawdown fund they will not be able to complete a binding nomination at all, but
can instead provide details of their wishes under a non-binding nomination.
Where a valid binding nomination applies in respect of a dependant at the time of death of your client, we
can offer the dependant the following options from the share of your client’s Aegon SIPP account
allocated to them:





take
take
take
take
take
as a lump sum;
as flexi-access drawdown;
as a secure drawdown;
as an annuity; or
one or more of the above options.
Each nominated dependant will have to consider the implications of the option or options they select, e.g.
if a dependant child is nominated who is still a dependant at date of death and they elected to take flexiaccess drawdown pension and/or annuity, then under current rules income payments could no longer be
made after reaching age 23, and no further benefit would be payable after that date.
Where a dependant nominated by your client no longer qualifies as a dependant at date of death, any
share your client allocated to them, no longer covered by their binding instruction, will instead fall under
Aegon’s discretionary disposal rules.
Your client can, in addition to, or instead of, a binding nomination, make a non-binding nomination, using
our Death benefit nomination form. This must be received by us before your client’s death. This nonbinding nomination will apply only to any part of your client’s Aegon SIPP account not covered by any
binding nomination, including any drawdown fund held that represents funds inherited by your client on
death of another individual.
Non-binding nominations
Your client can make a non-binding nomination in favour of one or more of:



any individual(s) your client chooses, including a dependant;
a trust; or
a charity.
Where a valid non-binding nomination applies in respect of a beneficiary at the time of death of your
client, we, as scheme administrator, will, in exercise of our discretion, choose the beneficiary or
beneficiaries who will benefit from any part of your client’s Aegon SIPP account not covered by a binding
nomination, but we’ll take any nominations made by your client into account when exercising our
discretion.
Where we select an individual that had been nominated by your client we can offer them the following
options from the share of your client’s Aegon SIPP account that we allocate to them;





take
take
take
take
take
as a lump sum;
as flexi-access drawdown pension;
as a secure drawdown;
as an annuity; or
one or more of the above options.
If your client does not make any nominations in favour of an individual or charity, or none apply at the
time of death, we, as scheme administrator, can choose to nominate an individual to have the options set
out above, but if there were surviving dependants of your client on their death then we can only provide
a lump sum to that individual. However, where we nominate one or more dependants in this situation
then we can offer them the above options if we choose to.
What tax is payable on death benefits
The tax payable on any benefits paid from your client’s Aegon SIPP account on their death is generally
dependent on whether they die before reaching age 75 or at or after reaching age 75.
Death before age 75
As a general rule, whether benefits are paid from the savings or drawdown elements on your client’s
death, payments to the beneficiary will be tax free.
Death at or after age 75
As a general rule, whether benefits are paid from the savings or drawdown elements on your client’s
death, payments to the beneficiary will be subject to a tax charge.
Exceptions to the above may apply in certain circumstances.
The statements made in this document are based on our understanding of current law and regulation
which may change. Any payments made from the Aegon SIPP Scheme must be permitted by and made in
accordance with the provisions of the Scheme.
Aegon ISA
The Aegon ISA is a stocks and shares ISA and comes with a wide range of permissible investments, and
is free of capital gains tax.
The full ISA regulations can be viewed at www.hmrc.gov.uk/isa/faqs.htm
Product feature
Minimum age
Maximum age
Minimum investment
Maximum investment
Payment methods
Investment frequency
Minimum withdrawal
Maximum withdrawal
Joint account
Multiple accounts
Details
Stocks and shares ISA - 18
No maximum age
No minimum investment
Find out the current ISA limits at www.hmrc.gov.uk/isa/faqs.htm
 Cheque
 Direct Debit
 BACS/TT
 CHAPS
 Payroll
 Sharesave rollover
 Single
 Regular
 Single - £100. A minimum balance of £1,000 must be kept
unless a full withdrawal is being made.
 Regular - £25 per month.
 Single – a full withdrawal can be made to close the
product wrapper.
 Regular – 10% of the total value of the ISA.
No
No
Withdrawals
Transfers in
Transfers out
Rebalancing
Death benefits
Online trading
DFMs
In specie transfers/reregistration


Single
Regular
Yes – free of charge *
Yes – free of charge *
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
*We won’t charge for transfers in and out, however the existing provider might charge an exit fee or
penalty
General Investment account (GIA)
GIA – net
The net GIA is our non-tax wrapped account – with few restrictions on the choice of investments, so your
clients can hold a wide variety of investments with access to a broad range of underlying assets. There’s
no upper limit on how much they can invest and they can take withdrawals at any time. If your client
has made the most of their tax efficient savings using ISAs and pensions but have more they’d like to
save the GIA could be the solution.
GIA – gross
The gross GIA doesn’t automatically deduct any tax and therefore is of benefit to non-tax payers as they
do not have to re-claim any taxes paid, as would be the case if they held a net GIA. This will be
particularly beneficial to corporate investors and charities.
Product features
Minimum age
Maximum age
Investment frequency
Minimum investment
Joint account
Multiple accounts
Withdrawals
Minimum withdrawal
18
No maximum age
 Regular
 Single
 Regular - £100 per month
 Single/transfer - £1,200
 Additional – no minimum
Yes – up to four joint account holders
Yes
 Single
 Regular
 Full
 Regular - £25
 £100


Maximum withdrawal *
Transfers in
Transfers out
Rebalancing
Death benefits
In specie transfers/re-registration
Regular – 10% of the value of the GIA each year
Single – a minimum balance of £1,000 must be kept
unless a full withdrawal is being made.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
*Funds must be available in the GIA cash facility before a withdrawal can be made. If there aren’t enough
funds in the cash facility we’ll sell investments to meet the withdrawal request.
GIA for Aegon Ireland International Bond
Aegon Ireland’s Wealth Management Portfolio (WMP) is available through ARC. Your clients can also
benefit from the European Portability Option. Assets in the WMP will be held in the General Investment
Account (Gross) product wrapper – this won’t automatically deduct tax. In addition, your client will be
able to delegate assets to the platform from other bond providers.
Cash facility
All of ARC’s product wrappers have their own cash facility that all contributions will be paid into before
they’re invested. We’ll keep 0.25% of all contributions in the cash facility. This is used to pay income and
all charges that are relevant to your clients’ account, including adviser charges if we’re asked to facilitate
these.
Cash held here will accrue interest at a daily rate, on a daily basis, which will be credited monthly.
Your clients need to maintain a minimum balance of 0.25% in their cash facility. It’s you and your clients’
responsibility to make sure that their cash facility contains sufficient funds to cover all their charges and
income withdrawals, as these may amount to more than the 0.25%. If there’s insufficient money in their
cash facility to meet any charges, we’ll automatically sell some investments, starting with the largest
liquid asset.
Off-platform assets
The value of off-platform assets can be added on to ARC. These will be aggregated with on-platform
assets to provide a total asset value for each client, which can be viewed online. We’ll take into account
the value of your client’s other eligible Aegon products that are shown on the platform under your client’s
profile when calculating the cumulative value of all product wrappers held. This could have the effect of
discounting the annual charge your client pays. See the ‘Charges’ section for more details. Any nonAegon assets or products won’t be included in the calculation of the annual charge
Range of investments
ARC lets your clients use different investment strategies to suit their savings needs. You can tailor
investments depending on their age, lifestyle and retirement strategy, as well as to suit their attitude to
risk and income needs.
The range of investments caters for the needs of clients as they grow their savings, and when they’re
taking an income in retirement.
Investing for growth
Clients who are some way off from retirement will want investments that help them grow their savings
over time while taking only as much risk as they’re comfortable with. With ARC, clients can use portfolios
we’ve designed to meet specific savings needs and risk appetites, or they can take advantage of our wide
range of investment options, building model or bespoke portfolios, or accessing DFMs.
Growth funds - Aegon’s Risk-Target portfolios
Developed with expert managers, our Risk-Target portfolios offer pension clients the reassurance and
simplicity that comes from holding sophisticated risk-managed solutions, conveniently packaged within
single funds. Aegon’s Risk-Target funds take care of asset allocation, fund selection, risk management
and ongoing governance in conjunction with independent and respected experts.
We offer three types of Risk-Target fund:
Aim
Long-term risk
management
Short-term downside
management
Mainly actively
managed
Core
Keep costs low
MI
Outperformance
Yes
Select
Reduce impact of
extreme falls
Yes
-
Yes
-
-
-
Yes
You can find out more about these funds here.
Yes
Investing in retirement
Following the recent changes in pensions regulation, a growing number of clients are likely to stay
invested in retirement. If they choose to do so – by opting for either secure of flexi-access drawdown –
ARC’s investment options can help them achieve the income they need.
Secure Retirement Income
Income security is important to a lot of clients. But so is having the flexibility to change their strategy if
circumstances change. SRI gives clients both.
You can find out more about SRI by reading our leaflet What is Secure Retirement Income?
Flexi-access drawdown investments
We offer high-quality funds for flexi-access drawdown investors – either for their whole savings pot, or
for discretionary income over and above their SRI savings. This includes a number of funds specifically
designed for retiring or retired clients.
The range includes:
Aegon High Income - This flexible multi-asset portfolio, aims to provide an attractive income 5%
income, plus 2-3% capital growth each year to counteract the impact of inflation.
Aegon Stability - Market falls can have a particular impact on retiring and retired savers, so this highly
diversified absolute return fund focusses on preserving existing savings even if markets fall.
Choose from a wider investment range
With over 4,000 investments to choose from, you can create comprehensive investment strategies to suit
your clients. The table below shows the investment types available and which products they’re available
under:
Allowable investment
Insured funds
Collectives
Hedge funds
ETFs
Quoted equities
Unit-linked guarantees
SIPP
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
You can find out more about the investments available on our website.
ISA
N
Y
N
Y
Y
N
GIA
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
N
Building portfolios
To help you make the most of our extensive investment range, ARC also offers support in building
investment portfolios. This helps you create and monitor strategies that meet client needs while making
sure your business processes remain efficient.
This includes:
 Online model portfolio building, so you can build efficient, scalable investment propositions
that only your clients can access
 Automated rebalancing, reducing the need for manual intervention
 Portfolio management and monitoring tools, so you can keep track of your portfolios easily
 Clients can hold up to 40 investments at once
Access to DFMs
Alternatively, you and your clients can outsource portfolio building to dedicated investment specialists.
Investment permissions are granted to the DFM at outset, so they’re able to provide timely investment
management without the need for client confirmation when they make a change.
You can access a number of DFMs on ARC, and our efficient online services – such as separate client
payments to advisers and DFMs – make administration easy and efficient.
Governing funds
We’re dedicated to making sure our insured funds are able to meet their commitments to you and your
clients. Rigorous governance is our highest priority, and is underpinned by our Funds Promise.
Our Funds Promise:




We
We
We
We
aim to offer high quality funds which meet their objectives.
monitor funds to check if they perform as expected.
take action if funds don’t meet expectations.
give you the facts you need to make decisions.
Our Fund Governance Group makes sure we meet our governance commitments. It monitors the funds in
our insured range regularly and makes changes to portfolios of fund ranges to make sure they continue
to meet your expectations.
You can find out more about how we govern our funds online at our funds governance section.
There’s no guarantee that fund objectives will be met. The value of an investment may go down as well
as up and investors may get back less than originally invested.
Functionality
Straight-through processing
Straight-through processing for applications and transactions reduces the potential for errors and gives
you and your clients a smooth and accurate service.
You can do most transactions online for your clients, including:






generating client-specific illustrations;
submitting online applications for new business;
online trading;
topping up existing wrappers;
recording off-platform assets and wrappers; and
setting up withdrawals.
Tax relief
Aegon reclaims tax relief from HMRC on behalf of your client in accordance with the application
instructions. Higher rate tax payers should reclaim any additional pension tax relief back from HMRC.
This information is based on our understanding of current legislation, taxation law HMRC practice, which
may change. The value of any tax relief depends on the individual circumstances of the investor.
Back office integration
We have the functionality to allow you to upload information from ARC into back office systems.
Information on adviser charges, client holdings and values can be set up to run regularly, allowing you to
keep your back office up to date with the business that you do through the platform.
Client reporting
ARC provides online access to valuations and transaction histories for clients. This is supported by all
clients receiving half-yearly statements and tax vouchers (post and online) and personalised illustrations.
Personal advisers can also prepare and issue client reports and suitability letters (editable word document
showing TER etc). Comprehensive valuation and transactions histories, editable client reports and
reasons why documents are also available online. Portfolio analysis output from the online tools such as
Portfolio Scanner and Portfolio Performance Reports can also be printed as PDF reports suitable for
clients.
MI reports
ARC also offers access to Report Zone, a comprehensive and extensive online based MI reporting tool.
This provides access to pre-defined reports covering adviser charging, distributions and rebates and client
valuations. You can find out about Report Zone in the Report Zone Guide.
In-specie transfers and re-registration of
investments
In-specie transfers and re-registration of investments in and out of the Aegon ISA and GIA wrappers are
available, with no charge for the service. A re-registration application is completed online to allow the
assets to be transferred.
Model portfolios
ARC offers the functionality for you to create your own model portfolios to match the investment
proposition offered to your clients:

Once established, asset allocations and investment composition can be changed at any time for one
or all model portfolios, providing excellent flexibility. Where changes are made to a model portfolio
the client’s holdings are realigned to reflect this.

If a model portfolio is selected at application stage then the online application form will be prepopulated with the appropriate mix of investments. There’s no additional charge for using the online
model portfolio functionality.
Rebalancing
You can set up rebalancing to automatically re-align the investments to the proportions that you
previously specified. Rebalancing can only be applied to aggregated investments that are daily priced:

FCA authorised funds and cash will be rebalanced free of charge.

ETFs that we have traded on an aggregated basis. Trading of these ETFs will incur equity trading
charges.
Rebalancing can be set up to run on a quarterly or annual basis. Portfolios will be rebalanced to the
original investment choice when the proportion of investments held have moved 0.01% or more from
that stated investment choice, and the dealing minimum for that investment has been reached in any
rebalancing that is necessary.
Rebalancing can be set up when the wrapper is opened, or at a future date, and rebalancing instructions
can be amended at any time. There is no additional charge applied for rebalancing.
Where your client holds SRI investments in an Aegon SIPP wrapper any rebalancing instruction held on
that wrapper will not apply to those investments.
Additional Tools
A number of online tools are available to help you understand your client’s investment needs. The tools
can be split into two groups:

Asset selection tools – designed to help research and select assets, including building model
portfolios and rebalancing. They can be used either as stand-alone research tools, during the
application process for topping up or adding a new wrapper, or as part of a review.

Lifetime planning tools – designed to help understand and forecast retirement income for
individual clients, and take appropriate steps.
Some of the tools available are pre-populated with client data although in most cases they can also be
used stand alone.
Tool
Fund charting
Asset selector
Model portfolio
evaluator
Full portfolio
build
Luxuries
calculator
Pension
calculator
Budget planner
Purpose
Helps to review and compare multiple funds against each
other and against a benchmark/index of your choice.
To help research, analyse and select the most appropriate
assets for a client’s needs.
Used to compare different model portfolios and assess
which is most suitable for a client.
Create a portfolio of assets from scratch, including risk
profiling and asset allocation.
Allows clients to assess weekly, monthly, annual
expenditure on luxury items to assess where greater
savings could be achieved.
The pension calculator allows your client to assess the level
of retirement income achievable on existing or proposed
contributions. And it provides a graphical outcome to reaffirm if contribution levels will meet their retirement
needs.
The budget planner allows your client to assess the level of
current expenditure and calculate how much can be
contributed to pension savings.
Access
Adviser and client
Adviser and client
Adviser
Adviser
Client
Client
Client
Support Services
Business Development Manager/Consultant
Business Development Managers/Consultants are there to advise on all aspects of the ARC proposition.
They’ll work with you to understand your business objectives and can offer business consultancy support
on how to transition your business to meet your goals.
Implementation Manager
The Implementation Managers are there to support you throughout the implementation of ARC into your
business. They’ll be on hand to ensure that transition plans are in place (and will project manage this
throughout). They’ll also provide system training and support with any technical questions.
Corporate Development Managers (CDMs) support
The CDMs are responsible for helping you to develop and deliver tenders to employees, and helping you
to make sure the scheme’s successfully set up on ARC.
Online support
In addition to ARC’s online help, there is a large amount of material available online to support your use
of ARC, including illustrations and reports, literature, user guides and MI. You can also visit
www.adviser.aegon.co.uk/arc to find out more about ARC.
Client Services team
For any questions that can’t be answered online, call the Client Services team on 0845 608 1680 or email
clientservices@online.aegon.co.uk The helpdesk is available Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
Complaints
We’ve a robust complaints process in place that records and monitors all complaints and adheres to
the FCA complaint handling procedures. All feedback is recorded to makes sure we capture all issues and
not only official complaints. If you have any complaints please contact the Client Services team.