Pension Pot with PensionBee

lala9

Hi.  In 2019 I paid in a lump sum to pensionbee of 19k using their tailored plan (safer investments as you get older).  It has sat there ever since underperforming with a low of -16.5% and is currently -6.11% down.  I am 48 and currently revisiting my pots, I have a workplace pension, and a couple of others.

However, I'm not too happy about the performance of the PB pot but totally aware world issues have had a significant impact on fund performance. 

So I'm now wondering what to do with it.  Should I just leave it or move it to another plan.  Any suggestions appreciated.

dunstonh

 It has sat there ever since underperforming with a low of -16.5% and is currently -6.11% down. 

Underperforming relative to what?

However, I'm not too happy about the performance of the PB pot but totally aware world issues have had a significant impact on fund performance. 

Maybe not what you think though.  Stockmarkets were mildly poor in 2022 but positive in 2020.2021, and 2023 YTD.    Its been the fixed interest securities that have suffered badly. In particular UK Gilts, which suffered their worst loss in over 100 years.

The more defensive your portfolio in 2022/23 the worse your losses were.  The more stockmarket you had, the lesser the losses (and better gains in 2023).

So I'm now wondering what to do with it.  Should I just leave it or move it to another plan.  

Changing the plan doesnt help in this respect.  i.e. put a FTSE100 tracker in 10 different plans and you still get FTSE100 performance in all 10.   Its the investments that matter and you can change the investments in your existing plan.

LHW99

A start would be to compare fees on this versus your workplace pension, and others, and look at the type of funds you have (what % stocks, bonds, UK versus US / Europe).

You may find some have done better than others, and you could see what differences there are. People here could help if you name the individual funds.

You might find one of your other pension has a better choice of funds, or lower charges so you could perhaps move the PB pension there, or just change what you have in PB to a fund that works better for you.

Bear in mind that funds with more stocks are likely to go up & down in value more than ones with a lot of bonds, although lately the ones with a lot of bonds have gone down more than would usually be expected.

Albermarle

lala9 said:

Hi.  In 2019 I paid in a lump sum to pensionbee of 19k using their tailored plan (safer investments as you get older).  It has sat there ever since underperforming with a low of -16.5% and is currently -6.11% down.  I am 48 and currently revisiting my pots, I have a workplace pension, and a couple of others.

However, I'm not too happy about the performance of the PB pot but totally aware world issues have had a significant impact on fund performance. 

So I'm now wondering what to do with it.  Should I just leave it or move it to another plan.  Any suggestions appreciated.

In the last couple of years 'safer' investments, like gilts and bonds, have performed very badly ( as already noted)  It is due to an unusual set of circumstances not normally seen ( going from ultra low interest rates to a more normal level)
A tailored or lifestyle plan will reduce % equity ( shares ) and increase bonds/gilts as you get nearer retirement.
What is a bit surprising is if this was happening already when you are only 48 ( 44 in fact when you made the lump sum payment) and in that case a drop of 6% since 2019 does seem unusually poor.

penners324

I opened a PensionBee account in early 2019. 

I've had the exact opposite. I'm in the high risk fund, so purely in stocks.

It's currently 26% up.

The low risk fund has a chunk in bonds. Bonds have crashed in value as interest rates have gone up.

lala9

Hi all, thanks for your comments/suggestions.  I've now set the wheels in motion to move the PensionBee pot to my current work place pension (Scottish Widows).  Once the dust settles I will review and look to change funds.

cloud_dog

lala9 said:

Hi all, thanks for your comments/suggestions.  I've now set the wheels in motion to move the PensionBee pot to my current work place pension (Scottish Widows).  Once the dust settles I will review and look to change funds.

Importantly, have you re-assessed the investment fund(s) that your workplace money / and or the PB money is invested in?  Otherwise you could simply be replacing PB with SW without changing the underlying investment allocation issue that you appear to have.