How to transfer from HL to ii
Want to know more about how your transfer will work? Here's your step-by-step guide to transferring your SIPP from Hargreaves Lansdown to interactive investor.
Important information: A SIPP is for those wanting to make their own investment decisions when saving for retirement. As investment values can go down as well as up, the amount you retire with could be worth less than you invested. Usually, you won’t be able to withdraw your money until age 55 (57 from 2028). Before transferring your pension, check if you’ll be charged any exit fees and make sure you don't lose any valuable benefits such as, guaranteed annuity rates, lower protected pension age or matching employer contributions. If you’re unsure about opening a SIPP or transferring your pension(s), please speak to an authorised financial adviser.
Join the thousands transferring from HL to ii
You're not the only one thinking of transferring your pension pot from Hargreaves Lansdown to interactive investor. Every year we help thousands of others make the move to our Which? Recommended SIPP. Let's help you too.
What's stopping you?
The barriers which may have stopped you moving your pension in the past are gone. It's now easier than ever to transfer your SIPP to the provider that best serves you and your retirement goals.
- It's completely free - there are no charges to transfer your SIPP, either with us or HL.
- Quick & easy to instruct - complete the online form in minutes and you don't need to tell HL (we'll do this).
- Keep your investments - if we offer your investments, you wont need to sell them before transferring.
Three steps to your simple flat-fee SIPP
There are three main steps in the process of transferring your HL SIPP to us. You'll need to do 1&2 but we'll step in for 3.
2.
Start your transfer
Quick, easy and online. Just tell us how to transfer your SIPP:
- Fully or partially
- As cash and/or investments
- Non-drawdown or drawdown
3.
Leave the rest to us
We'll work with HL to complete your transfer seamlessly.
You’ll get regular updates on how your transfer is progressing and we’ll confirm once it’s completed.
Things to consider before you start your transfer
Check that you won’t lose any safeguarded benefits if you transfer. This could include guaranteed annuity rates or lower protected pension age than the normal minimum pension age (rising from 55 to 57 in 2028).
If you plan to hold both drawdown and non-drawdown pots in your ii SIPP, you cannot allocate specific investments to each pot separately. This means that the value of each pot will change in line with the overall performance of all the investments held in your SIPP.
Before transferring, we recommend seeking advice from a suitably qualified financial adviser or free, impartial pension guidance from MoneyHelper or (if you're 50 or over) Pension Wise.
Over 50? Get free Pension Wise guidance
If you're 50 or over, before you complete your transfer request you'll be shown some information on Pension Wise and given the opportunity to book a free appointment with them, if you haven't already. Pension Wise is an impartial pensions guidance service provided by the government and is available to anyone age 50 or over.
Think carefully about whether you'd benefit from a call with Pension Wise before transferring to ii. They can help you decide the best option for you and your retirement plan.
What you need to get started
You’ll be able to find most of these details when logged into the HL app/website or on your SIPP letters and statements. If you’re not able to find them there, contact the Hargreaves Lansdown team, who should be able to help you.
Starting your transfer
Once you've opened your ii SIPP, you'll be able to start your transfer. You'll need to answer a few questions about your HL SIPP so we have everything we need to complete your transfer.
In case you need some help in answering the questions, we'll take you through each of them below.
Tell us about your SIPP
- Who is your existing pension provider? This one’s easy. It’s Hargreaves Lansdown.
- What’s the name of your existing pension scheme? It's just HL SIPP
- What’s the reference number of your pension? This’ll be your HL SIPP Client Number.
- What type of scheme is being transferred? SIPP
- Does the pension you are transferring have defined benefits or safeguarded benefits? Not usually - in most cases SIPPs should not have defined or safeguarded benefits. But do contact HL to check if you're not absolutely sure.
- Is your investment service being provided by a separate broker or online platform? No - HL provides its own investment service, just as we do.
Tell us how to transfer your SIPP
Some answers to these questions may be pre-filled. Please check them carefully and change your answer if needed.
- Transfer type - Tell us if you want to transfer all of your HL SIPP (a 'full' transfer) or only some of it (a 'partial' transfer).
- Is the pension in drawdown? Tell us if all or part of your HL SIPP held in a drawdown pot.
- Estimated value of your HL SIPP – You can find this in your HL app, on SIPP statements or account letters.
- How do you intend to transfer your SIPP (cash and/or investments)? Note, if you're partially transferring your SIPP, you'll need to specify the investments and cash value you want to transfer.
Submitting your transfer
After completing your transfer details and before submitting them, you'll have the opportunity to review your ‘transfer summary’, to check everything you've entered is correct and nothing is missing.
If everything looks good, your final step is to carefully read the transfer declaration and authority, and confirm you accept it. Then you can submit your transfer request to our team and they’ll take over.
Transferring a SIPP in drawdown?
If you’ve moved all or some of your HL SIPP into drawdown (after taking a tax-free lump sum), you'll also need to complete and return our Drawdown investment strategy form. This form helps you plan how to use your drawdown pot and what that might mean for how your SIPP is invested with ii.
Once you’ve completed the form, you can send it back to us in the post or by logging into your ii account and attaching a copy of it to a secure message.
What happens next?
With your details submitted, we'll work as quickly as possible to complete your transfer.
Your transfer details will be reviewed by our transfers team to make sure we have everything we need. If we need any more information from you, we'll be in touch.
After the review is complete, your transfer instruction will be sent to HL to make them aware of your intention to transfer your SIPP.
How long will it take to complete?
Though we can't tell you exactly how long it'll take to complete your transfer specifically, we can give you an estimate based on HL transfer averages.
| Transfer type | Time to complete |
| Cash only | 2-6 weeks |
| Investments | 8-12 weeks |
HL to ii SIPP transfer FAQs
Frequently asked questions about transferring a SIPP from Hargreaves Lansdown to ii.
How can Pension Wise help?
If you have a defined contribution pension scheme and are 50 or over, then you can access free, impartial guidance on your pension options by booking a face to face or telephone appointment with Pension Wise, a service from MoneyHelper.
If you are under 50, you can still access free, impartial help and information about your pensions from MoneyHelper.
