Currently the Irish Pension Market alone has a value in the region of €78 billion. Having been aware that monies are lying in Banks, Building Societies, Insurance Companies and other Financial Institutions, Hegarty Financial Management undertook an exercise for existing pension clients and as a result, unearthed almost a €1,000,000. It must be remembered that all pension funds are held in Trust for its members. Some typical examples are:

• Where scheme members had left employment with more than 2 years’ service and did not leave up to date forwarding addresses.
• Members who left employment in their 30's and did not appreciate that their funds continued to be invested.
• People returning from the UK may have left benefits behind which can be recovered.

• Further confusion can be caused by the change of name and amalgamation of some of the providers, for example Insurance Corporation Life/Prudential Life is now Irish Life, Shield Life/Eagle Star is now Zurich, Norwich Union/CGU/Hibernian is now Aviva and Abbey Life is now Canada Life.

• A widow of a Company Director unaware that Life Cover remained in place despite premiums not being paid. On examination, we pointed out that a unit linked Fund had been established, the fund would have continued to pay the premiums and as a result the insurance Company paid almost €50,000 tax free.

As a result of these and similar experiences, Hegarty Financial Management has recently established a Pension Tracing service to help others. We will undertake this exercise on your behalf and also provide continuous monitoring on an annual basis if required.

Anyone finding old family Financial Papers should have them checked out instead of chucked out. With funds of €78 billion, who knows, you may be lucky!

If you have more than 2 years service with a previous employer then it is possible that you have contributed to a company pension during your employment. If you believe you have contributed to a pension and would like us at Hegarty Financial Management to try and trace the details and determine if you have any funds available to you then please fill out the form below and we will investigate on your behalf