Pensionbee decimates my pension pot.

anonmoose

Please dont think anyone is thinking you are thick OP. I think coming on here was a clever move. We are not all finance experts on here, there are many other people like you including myself come here to get advice from the more experienced investors. The key is to listen to the answers as you have been given a wealth of knowledge here. 

People on here will always be here to help if you have questions.

I know I had questions about bonds not so long ago and many posters helped. It turned out I didn't know enough about bonds but I understand them more now.

Understanding your investments is not rocket science anyone can do it you just need to devote a bit of time to it now so that you don't get any more shocks in the future. If you are reaching retirement it is especially important. It is your hard earned money so take ownership of how it is invested. 

cloud_dog

@Krakkkers, I don't know if this is the sort of thing you might be interested in reading, but John Edwards book "DIY Pensions: A Simple Guide to Pensions, SIPPs & Retirement Planning", is quite useful.

steampowered

When you invest, some years you will make a profit and some years you will make a loss. You make a profit more years than you make a loss, so on average you make a profit.

That's how the economy works. Not every year is going to be a good year. 

I suspect that the Op already knows this, but just wants to have a good rant. Complaining, blaming others, never taking responsibility and slagging off politicians and institutions even when they do a good job seems to have become part of the British tradition.

TELLIT01

Rtayl306 said:

9 percent of my investment in PensionBee which evaluates to a lot of money to me, so I think I have the right to rant, seeing I'm close to retirement & I trusted these clowns.  So who's robbed my 9 percent, the idiots that invested it at PensionBee, simple.  

Even those in charge of investment are psychic.  My wife's pension pot isn't with PensionBee but it also fell by about 7% in the space of 3 months when the economy started to go bad.  That's life, and I don't work for an insurance company, I just understand that when told the value of investments can go down as well as up, that is what it means.

penners324

Weird, my PensionBee investments are up in 2022. Very happy with them

Tucosalamanca

Krakkkers said:

But I would expect a fund manager to change strategy.
We are going around in circles here though and are never going to agree on this.
I was not the OP here but I have an expectation that a professional should always outperform the market and others don't.

If you invested in a low/moderate risk fund and your fund manager decided to start taking greater risks, would you be happy?
If you want a fund that takes such risks (there are plenty) go and invest in them, they're described as high risk for a reason.
Pensions are long term investments, maybe 40yrs before and 30yrs after retirement. Looking at one or two year performance will never give a clear picture.
It shouldn't matter if it's down one year, as you should only be drawing a modest proportion during that time.
If you need immediate access to the money, I'd suggest that pensions/investments probably aren't the right place to be.

LV_426

steampowered said:

When you invest, some years you will make a profit and some years you will make a loss. You make a profit more years than you make a loss, so on average you make a profit.

That's how the economy works. Not every year is going to be a good year. 

I suspect that the Op already knows this, 

I suspect not.

Anonymous101

LV_426 said:

steampowered said:

When you invest, some years you will make a profit and some years you will make a loss. You make a profit more years than you make a loss, so on average you make a profit.

That's how the economy works. Not every year is going to be a good year. 

I suspect that the Op already knows this, 

I suspect not.

I'd agree. It seems to me that the fund managers statement that they "aim for investment return of 4% pa" has been interpreted as "will make 4% each year".

4% may well turn out to be the long term average but the volatility of those returns is clearly not understood.

Its not a criticism of the OP directly. Certainly not a case of people assuming they are "thick". Its more a case that this is a clear example of a very common issue. That of misunderstanding of how investments work, what risks are inherent in all assets and what we should expect in the way of returns.

Its a huge issue. Even the official wordings "high risk", "low risk" etc are extremely misleading. Its little wonder that cases such as this crop up every time there's any general downward movement in equity or bond values.

dunstonh

Its not a criticism of the OP directly. Certainly not a case of people assuming they are "thick". Its more a case that this is a clear example of a very common issue. That of misunderstanding of how investments work, what risks are inherent in all assets and what we should expect in the way of returns.

Although the Op is doing themselves no favours by doubling down on it despite the number of responses trying to explain how it works.

[Deleted User]

LV_426 said:

Deleted_User said:

TadleyBaggie said:

bostonerimus said:
This whole thread is an excellent argument for annuities...

...for people who don't understand investments and are too tight to afford to pay an IFA for on going advice. Which is why I don't begrudge my IFA for 0.5% annual fee, he makes way better choices than I ever could.

How do you know its good advice? Would you begrudge generously paying for bad investment advice? 

Here's how I judge my financial adviser: I start by approaching someone through a trusted recommendation. I then listen to what they say in their 'sales pitch'. I do my own research so I'm in a better position to judge what they are telling me. Then I make a decision on whether they can reliably advise me.
Fortunately I managed to find someone who fulfils my expectation. His initial recommendation was to do nothing with my investments currently. I respect his honesty, and will definitely ask for, and pay for his advice in the future.

That’s great but if you did “your own research” then surely you already know that “do nothing” is the right approach?  Not a very complex concept, right?  

Here is the problem… Ongoing investment advice is only worth paying for if you know nothing and the advisor is good. And neither is assured.  And to properly evaluate advice so that you can reasonably act on it, you need to learn about investments. Because its your money and your family’s financial security and the interests are not aligned.