Fidelity FutureWise Lifestyle Strategy pensions - adjustments?

El_Selb

Looking for some advice/suggestions please.
I have 2 x Fidelity pensions (current & past employer) that I've had at the back of my mind for some time (years) that I'm probably not maximising my investments with. I've heard it mentioned before that the returns tend to be unremarkable and you can up your returns significantly by getting a bit more proactive with it yourself. Is that correct, and it's worthwhile me looking into the (extensive) list of funds available to self-select from? If so, any recommendations on a simple strategy to follow or can I mot take any shortcuts here and I should really be going through them all 1 by 1? 
I see currently one is 71% in FutureWise Equity fund class 11, with the other 29% in Fidelity Diversified Markets Pension fund. Wondering if it's best to keep it at 2 or 3 funds or whether I can opt for a few more? 
FYI I'm 37 and one pot is around 25k and the other (old pension) around 40k. I would only make my adjustments to the old but larger pot in the first instance.
All thoughts welcome please! (at least, the constructive ones...)

dunstonh

I've heard it mentioned before that the returns tend to be unremarkable and you can up your returns significantly by getting a bit more proactive with it yourself. Is that correct, 

No its not necessarily correct.

If you know what you are doing then yes it is.  If you do not know what you are doing then you could make a mess of it.

and it's worthwhile me looking into the (extensive) list of funds available to self-select from? 

If you know what you are doing, then yes.

 If so, any recommendations on a simple strategy to follow or can I mot take any shortcuts here and I should really be going through them all 1 by 1? 

What type of investment strategy are you looking to follow?  Sector allocation, asset allocation, high yield portfolio etc etc

Once you decide on your strategy and data source (as you wont have the resources to pay for that data yourself) you then decide on the funds to use to match that strategy.   So, for that, you need to understand what the funds invest in and you would want to filter out funds that do not meet that criteria.  So, for example, if you used sector allocation and were looking for an Asia fund to fill your Asian allocation you may wish to filter funds that have less than 85% in Asian equities.  Or don't have at least 85% of their income derived in Asia.

I see currently one is 71% in FutureWise Equity fund class 11, with the other 29% in Fidelity Diversified Markets Pension fund. Wondering if it's best to keep it at 2 or 3 funds or whether I can opt for a few more? 

Again, it depends on what strategy is being followed.

If you dont know what you are doing, then you are nearly always better off sticking with multi-asset funds that handle all that within the fund itself.

kuratowski

Listen to dunston.

Also the total pot of 65k is not that large, for a 37 year old.  If you do have any scope to increase your pension contributions then do give it consideration.

Albermarle

If you dont know what you are doing, then you are nearly always better off sticking with multi-asset funds that handle all that within the fund itself.

If you go to the fidelity website and find the 'pathfinder ' tool ( its very basic)

Put in the info requested and it will give you a choice of an expensive managed fund and a low cost inexpensive multi asset fund .Go for the cheaper one. 

El_Selb

Thanks for the helpful comments. As is clear I haven't given any consideration to my pension up till now but it's now firmy on my radar. 

To your comment Dunston, in short I don't have an investment strategy. What's led me to look into my pension now is to try and take advantage of reduced stock price, although I've probably largely missed the boat on that one. 

I have a larger than average risk appetite, although don't wish to be continually checking my underlying funds' performance and allocation, so Albermarle's suggestion of tweaking the Pathfinder could be the best way forward. I can't see this option when I login so will call Fidelity to check it's available to me, and where. 

Kuratowski - very valuable advice. Upped my contribution by a couple of percent today and will need to consider how else I can up the pot in future. 

ffacoffipawb

kuratowski said:

Listen to dunston.

Also the total pot of 65k is not that large, for a 37 year old.  If you do have any scope to increase your pension contributions then do give it consideration.

dunstonh had a rule of thumb of £35k at age 35 and it seems well ahead of that.

AnotherJoe

El_Selb said:

Thanks for the helpful comments. As is clear I haven't given any consideration to my pension up till now but it's now firmly on my radar. 

To your comment Dunston, in short I don't have an investment strategy. What's led me to look into my pension now is to try and take advantage of reduced stock price, although I've probably largely missed the boat on that one. 

Not in the context of at least another 30+ years of investment you haven't. (and I'm not suggesting you dont retire until past 67 either)

Albermarle

I can't see this option when I login so will call Fidelity to check it's available to me, and where. 

It is available to Fidelity direct SIPP investors but maybe not if you have workplace pensions . It's not very sophisticated but here is a link anyway . It could be the fund it suggests is available in your pension.

https://www.fidelity.co.uk/planning-guidance/choosing-your-investments/

El_Selb

Albermarle said:

I can't see this option when I login so will call Fidelity to check it's available to me, and where. 

It is available to Fidelity direct SIPP investors but maybe not if you have workplace pensions . It's not very sophisticated but here is a link anyway . It could be the fund it suggests is available in your pension.

https://www.fidelity.co.uk/planning-guidance/choosing-your-investments/

I just got off the phone to them and sadly not for workplace pensions
Think I'll stick with what I'm getting from the plan at the moment but potentially looking into the individiual funds in the future if I get time (which is unlikely for a while with my first child coming along in a few months!)

si2winit

SP employee by any chance?