What About Charges? There are two types of PRSA - a standard PRSA and a non-standard PRSA.  Both types of PRSA offer simplified charging structures - the entry charge (the amount you will pay out of each contribution in charges) and the annual management charge (an overall annual amount you will pay) must be expressed in simple terms - the entry charge as a percentage of each contribution, and the annual management charge as a percentage of the overall fund.  This simplicity is very welcome - you will know before you start contributions to a PRSA that the entry charge will be X% of each contribution you make and that there will be an annual charge of Y%.  There will be no awkward concepts like policy fees, bid/offer spreads, initial units or nil allocation periods.  However, there is a huge difference between standard PRSAs and non-standard PRSAs.  The charges on standard PRSAs are limited to an entry charge of no more than 5% of each contribution and an annual management charge of no more than 1%.  There will be no cap on charges on Non-Standard PRSAs. In other words, with a standard PRSA, you can be sure that at least 95% of each contribution you make is actually being invested in your pension fund, and the ongoing annual charge is no more than 1% of your fund.  With non-standard PRSA, the charges may be considerably higher. We market only Standard PRSAs, as we feel that the extra charges on Non-Standard PRSAs are difficult to justify, from a client's value-for-money perspective.  However, if for your own reasons you want to invest in a Non-Standard PRSA, we can accomodate this on request.