Pension Fund Transfer

TA63

Hi All,

I have recently retired so naturally have stopped paying into my pension fund, I have no plans to touch the fund but the performance is very poor so I am looking to transfer into an alternative fund to try and get some growth.

Any ideas?

thanks   

dunstonh

 I have no plans to touch the fund but the performance is very poor so I am looking to transfer into an alternative fund to try and get some growth.

has the performance been very poor or is it that you are looking at it when the asset classes it was invested in went down in value and would be the same whether its with provider A or provider B?

i.e. most asset classes were negative in 2022.   Some had the heaviest losses in over 100 years.   So, provider A and provider B would both have suffered similar/same losses if you invested the same way.

I once had someone come to me boasting how their change of pension provider had made them so much more money.   They showed me the paperwork and it turned out that both the original provider and the new provider were invested in the same fund (FTSE100 tracker).    The newer provider had higher charges though.   The difference in performance was because the original provider when through a negative period and the new provider went through the recovery period that followed.   Because of the difference in charges, he would have been better off sticking with the original provider.

Modern pensions are frequently whole of market.  i.e. they all have the same funds.  So, changing provider because of the funds doesn't make any sense.    

Any ideas?

We need more details.   
What are you invested in currently?   
What is the alternative investments that you are considering?
Are the investments underperforming relative to their asset class or you are mistaking a negative return during a negative year for being underperformance?

Albermarle

TA63 said:

Hi All,

I have recently retired so naturally have stopped paying into my pension fund, I have no plans to touch the fund but the performance is very poor so I am looking to transfer into an alternative fund to try and get some growth.

Any ideas?

thanks   

What do you mean by poor?
Do you have just one fund within your pension, or many ?

Many similar threads on the same theme.eg  Are there rules for providers to keep pension values honest? — MoneySavingExpert Forum
There is not a simple answer, other than you need to understand about pensions and investing better before making any changes.

Exodi

So we're clear, are you talking about changing pension provider, or just the funds you are invested in?

You say funds, but the use of the word 'transfer' suggests the latter.

dunstonh's comment is pretty much right on the money, and I'd say that a lot of people have come to this forum lately during this period of economic downturn with the same reaction. The unfortunate truth is that we're all in this together.