Rowanmoor and Whitehall Group, two small self-administered scheme (Ssas) providers, are waiving transfer fees for James Hay clients.
The move comes in response to James Hay's decision in March to increase its administration charges for its Ssas.
From 31 July the provider has also no longer accepted new non-standard investments.
Robert Graves, head of pensions technical services at Rowanmoor, told FTAdviser that these recent changes by James Hay are a market opportunity for his firm.
He said: “If clients are dissatisfied with these changes, they might look for another provider.
“The change fees might be expensive, so we are waiving them.”
Clients can take advantage of this offer if they transfer their Ssas between 1 September 2017 and 1 March 2018.
Richard Mattison, director at Whitehall Group, is matching Rowanmoor’s offer and has waived initial fees until October.
James Hay is also waving their out fees for these transfers.
According to a spokesperson at James Hay, this decision was announced in a letter to investors following the announcement of the new pricing structure.
At the end of August, James Hay had 1,362 Ssas’, with an estimated value of assets under administration of £1.9bn.
The spokesperson added that the provider intends to continue to provide Ssas, as it is an important part of its business.
Rowanmoor was formed from a management buyout of the Ssas division of James Hay in September 2006.
In 2010, James Hay became part of the IFG Group, and one year latter it merged with IPS Partnership to create The James Hay Partnership, inheriting the Ssas books for the other companies.
Kusal Ariyawansa, a chartered financial planner at Manchester-based Appleton Gerrard, did not have knowledge about the Ssas providers waiving fees.
“I have not actually been sent any information from my team on this yet, so it means that this will not be applying to our clients,” he noted.
However, if Mr Ariyawansa said if he considered taking advantage of the fees cut, he would do a “full due diligence exercise”.
He said: “I would need to consider why the clients are in the Ssas in the first place, why are they with James Hay, what was the provider offering in the first place and what are they not offering now, how does that compare to what the client needs at this moment.
“And most important, what are the alternative options, the costs and what could go wrong.”
maria.espadinha@ft.com
