I am looking to set up a Sipp by transferring from a Private Pension (not protected Rights, this is allowable in October). I am looking for some "Do's and Dont's from peoples "hands on experiences". Thought I would ask on here first before trawling through available info in the public domain.

Main points I require are;

1. I want to actively and frequently trade shares in an execution only account?
2. I want to Draw down as much as possible as tax efficiently as possible?
3. Is It better to do the drawdown before setting up the Sipp?

I understand that there are other specifics that relate to one's personal tax position, so as I say I'm just looking for some Do's and Dont's.

I also know that it's a two part thing IE; Trustee/Sponsor and actual dealing account.

Ed: I'm looking at these:

1. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/cheap-sipps
2. http://www.h-l.co.uk/pensions . Thanks gorwell22.
3. http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/Specialist_Pension_Arrangements/SIPP/
Malcolm Maclane I think Is with these who is very good on pensions from memory.

Not impressed with proposed changes at Barclays Stockbrokers detailed in the pack received last week. Looks like those with relatively large ISAs containing long term holdings will pay a lot more. If it ain't broke....With the likes of Vantage coming in aggressively, I can see many long standing Barclays customers leaving before the end of August.

I took my 25% tax free lump sum 3 years ago through AJ Bell. It was paid almost immediately and went through very smoothly. Anyone got any thoughts on my query in post 15? Thanks H

My wife and I both currently hold our SIPP's with TD Direct Investing as a throw back to when TD bought out the SIPP part of Etrade's business which was white-labled through Saxo.

I've never been that excited with them as I found their execution not as good as Hargreaves Landsdown, but I couldn't be bothered to do anything about it.

I now find myself in the fortuitous situation that TD are parting company with their scheme operator and will let me transfer out for free.

Any recommendations guys? I'm more concerned about good execution rather than the annual fee.

I only hold UK equities in my SIPP, I tend to trade in lumps of around £10k, sometimes half that, occasionally double that and only do a couple of trades a month.
I don't do funds as I'm happy to spread my own risk. I don't do dividend reinvestment and I don't require multi-currency. I will probably consider bonds as I get a little older and start to cut my risk profile.

My current options are:
Stay with TD. Annual fee £120. £12.50 a trade
Move to AJ Bell. Annual fee £120. £8.95 a trade. First year annual fee waived
Move to HL. Annual fee £240. £11.95 a trade.
Move to any other provider for free

I'm comfortable with HL but the deal from AJ Bell does look attractive. There's also something about not holding all my assets with HL.

Does anyone use AJ Bell? Any other thoughts?