Customer's frequently asked questions

A platform, or investment platform, is an online service that enables investors to buy, sell, and hold a range of investments from various providers in one place. 

It acts as a central hub for managing investments in a tax-efficient way, providing a single location to track holdings, transactions and performance.

It is indeed new – and you’re getting exclusive early access to it because your financial adviser is one of our closest partners! 

We’ve made a multi-million pound investment to offer a modern, intuitive service, with a wide choice of products and investment options.

Having an online account allows you to view how your investments are performing at any time. While your adviser will still be actively involved in managing your portfolio, it gives you day to day visibility. 

Our customer portal is simple to use and allows you to view your transactions, statements, documents and letters we send you. You can also find out more about the products we offer, download forms and update your preferences.

And our ‘paperless’ option means you can access your information more quickly online, and be kinder to the environment in the process.

• Visit nucleusfinancial.com/platform-logins.
• Select the new Nucleus Platform and then Register for online access.
• We’ll then ask a few questions to enable us to find your account and send you a letter with a registration code.
• Once you have received this, go back to the above Register for online access link and enter the code to complete your registration.
• Your username is generated automatically and will appear on screen when you log back in – you should make a note of it somewhere safe.

If you have any difficulties, please call our team on 03455 212 414 and we’ll help you.

If you need to reset your password, you can do this yourself online. If you need to check your username, please call our Customer Service Centre team on 03455 212 414. 

Yes, it is. There’ll be the odd occasion in the future when we’re making updates to the platform, which may make it briefly unavailable, but typically you’ll be able to access it at any time.  

If the system is unavailable, you’ll see a message on the homepage.

We recommend speaking with your adviser in the first instance. We’re working very closely to support them in getting familiar with the new platform.

If they’re not available, feel free to contact our Customer Service Centre team on 03455 212 515. We can provide information but can’t give advice. 

Your privacy and the security of your personal information is extremely important. The privacy notice on our website outlines what we do with your information, how we secure it, how we collect it and from where, as well as your rights in relation to the information we hold about you.

We use two factor authentication to ensure your online account is secure. Each time you login to the platform, you’ll be asked to verify your identity via a one-time passcode which will be sent to your mobile phone as part of the two-step verification process.

Yes, you can – and we very much encourage it. You’ll be given the option to select this when you (or your adviser) set up your online account, though you can change this setting at any time should you wish to in the future. 

It’s worth noting that there are some documents that we’re required by our regulator to send you in paper form. However, all others will be saved to your online account document library, with an email notification sent to you to let you know when a new item has been added. 

A comprehensive range of products are available on the Nucleus Platform, these are:

• The Nucleus SIPP is our flagship self-invested personal pension product. Its tax-efficient structure and range of investment options make it a reliable long-term choice for retirement saving.
• The Nucleus ISA is our simple, smart individual savings account. This stocks and shares ISA offers flexible access and a wide choice of assets, giving you a secure savings product and tax-free withdrawals on demand.
• The Nucleus GIA is our versatile general investment account, offering a wide range of assets across the investment market and easy access to them through our platform. It’s an ideal companion to the Nucleus SIPP and ISA.
• The Nucleus Offshore Bond is an investment-linked policy of insurance. It’s provided by RL360 Insurance Company Limited (RL360), a third-party bond provider, and can be set up as a capital redemption or a whole of life assurance policy.
• The Flexi SIPP is our streamlined self-invested personal pension product. Its tax-efficient structure and focused range of investment choices provide a straightforward long-term retirement option.
• We also offer a Junior SIPP and Junior ISA for young investors/savers (under age 18).

Your first product must be set up via a financial adviser. After that, you can apply for most Nucleus products online if your adviser has arranged for you to have access to our customer portal and allowed you to have access to make simple applications without their help. 

The only exceptions to this are the Nucleus Offshore Bond and Flexi SIPP – they’re available on an advised-only basis.

We pre-populate data from your illustration into your online application to speed up the process. And you can sign and submit online using your digital signature.

There are a number of options for withdrawing funds from your pension after you’ve reached your normal minimum pension age (currently 55, rising to 57 in 2028):

• Regular flexi drawdown (phased) - phased drawdown is a method of setting up regular payments (known as ‘crystallisations’) to withdraw tax free cash (PCLS) and/or income from your pension. This can be used to better manage your financial needs than taking large lump sums.
• Flexi access drawdown - flexi-access drawdown gives you full flexibility over when and how much money you take.  
• Capped drawdown - a capped drawdown pension is a type of retirement income plan where the maximum amount you can withdraw from your pension fund each year is limited. This cap is based on a percentage of the Government Actuary's Department (GAD) rates. It was available until April 6, 2015, and those who still hold a capped drawdown pension can now convert this to flexi access drawdown if needed.
• Uncrystallised funds pension lump sum (UFPLS) - this is a way to take money from your pension as a lump sum without moving into drawdown or buying an annuity. It’s an alternative to drawdown, allowing you to withdraw funds directly from your pension pot without accessing a separate drawdown fund. You can take a UFPLS after reaching your normal minimum pension age, or if you’re eligible for early retirement.
• Drawdown transfers - a drawdown transfer allows an individual who has already accessed their pension at one provider to move to an alternative provider. The transfer can be either as cash or in-specie, the latter keeps assets invested through the transfer process. 

You can select any date between 1 - 28 of the month to receive payments.

If you haven’t already done so, we recommend you discuss with your adviser which option is most suitable for you.

Yes – we offer a Junior SIPP and Junior ISA. 

You can find out about them in detail on the Products and charges page. 

In the weeks before their 18th birthday we’ll write to both them and yourself to notify you that their junior product will transfer to a standard version when they turn 18.  

From their 18th birthday all related correspondence will be sent to them only and they’ll be invited to set up an online account of their own. 

Yes – we partner with Bondsmith, an FCA regulated third-party, to offer access to a diverse range of fixed term deposit and notice accounts with attractive interest rates from banks and building societies.

This is a useful option if you want to make your spare cash work harder. You can find out more on our cash deposit accounts page. 

Our active management of customer cash means we can credit you with interest on cash in your product bank accounts. 

We retain some of what’s earned so we can keep our charges down, as well as investing in our technology and propositions and in providing higher service levels. Our aim is to deliver excellent financial outcomes for you and ultimately help make your retirement more rewarding. 

Full details of our cash interest sharing policy are available on the Bank accounts page. 

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protection limit (currently £85,000) applies separately to each bank we use, to protect your money in the unlikely event of the failure of the bank. 

Please note that money held in fixed term deposit accounts from our SIPP Cash Panel are covered separately by the FSCS, but this limit does include any personal or joint accounts you hold with banks outside of your Nucleus products.

Please also note that cash held in the Offshore Bond is not covered by FSCS protection, as the product falls under the Isle of Man Compensation of Policyholders scheme.

You can read full details on our Bank accounts page. 

The FSCS also provides protection for specific types of non-cash investments. Details of any protection available will be included within the relevant investment literature and you should always check what protection is offered with an adviser or the investment provider as part of your selection process when considering any investment.

Select the single payment (or transfer if appropriate) instruction in your online account, then send the payment as directed on screen – the reference and bank details you need to use will be displayed. Either you or your adviser can arrange this – you’ll be asked to confirm the amount and where it’s to be invested.

For Offshore bonds there is a minimum amount (£5,000) and payments to this product need to be keyed onto the platform by the Nucleus team. This is because this product is provided by a third party. Contact our Customer Service Centre team on 03455 212 414 for this.

The James Hay Partnership acquired Nucleus in 2021 and the pension product we offer is still overseen by the James Hay Pension Trustees. So the bank account still reflects this name.