How to Evaluate the best performing pension

SSTJCKel

I have a number of pensions which I am thinking about combining but I don't know the best place to put them all so how do I evaluate the performance of each pension so I can choose the best place to transfer them too please. I am 63 and can apparently retire at 67. I have the following pots :- 
Aviva - £104k
Fidelity - £2k
Nest - £0.5k
Scottish Widows - £2k
Scottish Widows - £8.5k - Current Employer

Thanks
Barry

cloud_dog

67 is likely your State retirement age; you could retire / draw on these pension pots now if you wished (assuming they are DC pensions).

What you should do is to find out the charges being applied on each of the accounts, to see which is cheapest.  You also need to understand how you are likely to withdraw (draw down) money from your pension pot(s), as some of them may not support the option you would like to implemented.  For example, flexi-access, uncrystalised, etc etc.

You could then look at whether one of the existing providers suits your purpose or whether you need to investigate using a different pension/SIPP provider?

MallyGirl

you also need to think differently. Pensions are just wrappers for the underlying investments. If all the above were invested in the same thing then they would all perform the same and the only difference would be fees. Chances are that they are all in the default fund for that pension when you joined it. You ought to do a bit of research on that.

Do you want to continue working to 67?

If you are 63 now you will qualify for your state pension at 66.
Have you obtained a state pension forecast?
https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

SSTJCKel

Thanks for the responses. Yes I have got a state pension forecast. It said 67. Financially I don't think I can afford to retire until state pension age. I have looked at the different funds although how to best compare there performance is not clear.

arnoldy

How to Evaluate the best performing pension

"Unit-ise" the pensions so you can track performance after allowing for money in or out and keep a record using spreadsheets. That will enable you to compare between your pensions to start with. 

Then compare the performance against a range of benchmarks - FTSE All Share, FTSE100, FTSE250 & FTSE Small Cap. Make sure you look at Total Return indexes as the FTSE range are Price indexes. Also look at a World index and lastly maybe a Vanguard LS80.

That should give you a fair feel for your performance - but make sure you look at longer term rather than 6 months or 1yr.

NannaH

Create a portfolio of all your funds on trustnet,  or even just stick them into a watchlist.
It will create all manner of data and charts for you to compare performance.
All in one place,  dead easy to understand. 

I created the one above in a couple of minutes using DH’s Aegon work pension funds. 

BritishInvestor

SSTJCKel said:

I have a number of pensions which I am thinking about combining but I don't know the best place to put them all so how do I evaluate the performance of each pension so I can choose the best place to transfer them too please. I am 63 and can apparently retire at 67. I have the following pots :- 
Aviva - £104k
Fidelity - £2k
Nest - £0.5k
Scottish Widows - £2k
Scottish Widows - £8.5k - Current Employer

Thanks
Barry

I think you'd need to dig a little deeper than merely looking at what has performed the best over the last ~five years. It might be worth understanding why they have performed as well as they have, what might cause them to stop performing, and whether you'd be happy with that.

Albermarle

SSTJCKel said:

I have a number of pensions which I am thinking about combining but I don't know the best place to put them all so how do I evaluate the performance of each pension so I can choose the best place to transfer them too please. I am 63 and can apparently retire at 67. I have the following pots :- 
Aviva - £104k
Fidelity - £2k
Nest - £0.5k
Scottish Widows - £2k
Scottish Widows - £8.5k - Current Employer

Thanks
Barry

You may find that the ones that performed best over the last few years , maybe the ones that will suffer the most if the market downturns . As is often said ' past performance is no guarantee of  future results' 

SSTJCKel

NannaH said:

Create a portfolio of all your funds on trustnet,  or even just stick them into a watchlist.
It will create all manner of data and charts for you to compare performance.
All in one place,  dead easy to understand. 

I created the one above in a couple of minutes using DH’s Aegon work pension funds. 

Thats very useful. Many thanks

p00hsticks

SSTJCKel said:

Thanks for the responses. Yes I have got a state pension forecast. It said 67.

If you are 63 now then your State Pension Age is definitely 66, not 67. You can check/ confirm that here

https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-age