How can I stop my pension company losing my money?

dunstonh

Nelson1100 said:

elsien said:

Nelson1100 said:

elsien said:

Why is everything on here always a scam?

Is there not a choice of funds within the pension that you can choose to move to that might be less risky than the one you’re in at the moment? 

I guess it just seems strange to me that an "investment" company can't make money from investing, and when I asked them to stop wasting my money they tell me they won't.  But I don't know enough about funds and what is and isn't risky so I'm not best placed to advise them on what to do with my money, I would have thought if I'm paying them for a service they would chose the best option?  

Which is a bit strange, because you were quite au fait a year or so ago.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6418966/some-pension-advice-please/p1

The more research I did the less I understood - I did approach a couple of financial advisers but they said they didn't take clients with assets of less than a million pounds.

What sort of finanicial adviser were you approaching that has £1m minimum?

Nelson1100

Its a legal and general workplace pension. Looking at the paperwork I have 2 funds L&G PMC Fixed interest 3 (which is -14.76%) and L&G PMC Cash (which is at 6.41%)

But my general question has been answered in as much as it looks like there's nothing I can do to stop them losing my money other than just cashing out. 

MarkCarnage

Nelson1100 said:

Its a legal and general workplace pension. Looking at the paperwork I have 2 funds L&G PMC Fixed interest 3 (which is -14.76%) and L&G PMC Cash (which is at 6.41%)

But my general question has been answered in as much as it looks like there's nothing I can do to stop them losing my money other than just cashing out. 

As @d@dunstonh suggests, the fall in value is because you have a signficant part of it in fixed interest, which has performed poorly in recent years, 2022 in particular. The fund choice is yours, and this fund has probably been described as low risk, cautious, or 'lifestyle'. Which is fine if your intention is to buy an annuity, but maybe not otherwise. 
Therefore, it's not really L&G's problem as they have invested the fund in line with its remit. It will have recovered somewhat in the last year. How did you make the decision where to invest? 

joep2

Pension companies should take more responsibility and show due care where the client opts for a low risk strategy, perhaps by enforcing a floor of zero returns. Hopefully there’ll be a regulation one day to stop them from gambling away funds of clients who are not financially literate.

BTW I was in a similar position with my workplace pension at -5% this time last year. It was invested in a default fund chosen by the pension provider. I decided to move my pension from the default fund to asset class specific funds which matched my risk apettite. The strategy worked and my pension is now up 20% overall.

phynix_uk

It's quite obvious from this and the previous post you've made on here that you could do with some advice from an IFA. Any decent IFA will be able to provide the basics you need, the groundwork, the foundations of what a pension is, what a fund is, how to manage risk and the options available to you. You won't even need to pay for the advice, fees are only paid (in most circumstances) if you implement their advice and that is only viable if they recommend a transfer. As a bare minimum, speak to somebody, learn and reflect.

Right now, you're blaming thew wrong people and you can easily rectify it without spending hours posting on here. You will find the people that reply on here, myself included will become frustrated at the assumptions made. Speak to a professional.

Marcon

joep2 said:

Pension companies should take more responsibility and show due care where the client opts for a low risk strategy, perhaps by enforcing a floor of zero returns. Hopefully there’ll be a regulation one day to stop them from gambling away funds of clients who are not financially literate.

In other words you think they should underwrite markets even when these are collapsing in catastrophic fashion? No fund manager can achieve a positive return, or avoid a loss, when overall market conditions are falling.

joep2 said:

BTW I was in a similar position with my workplace pension at -5% this time last year. It was invested in a default fund chosen by the pension provider. 

The pension provider might offer a default fund, but it's up to you to decide if you want to use it. You were invested in a default fund because you didn't choose to move into other funds. 

joep2 said:

I decided to move my pension from the default fund to asset class specific funds which matched my risk apettite. The strategy worked and my pension is now up 20% overall.

Exactly.

Veteransaver

Nelson1100 said:

Its a legal and general workplace pension. Looking at the paperwork I have 2 funds L&G PMC Fixed interest 3 (which is -14.76%) and L&G PMC Cash (which is at 6.41%)

But my general question has been answered in as much as it looks like there's nothing I can do to stop them losing my money other than just cashing out. 

Did you choose those investments? I find it hard to believe that a workplace pension scheme would have invested in those 2 funds by default unless maybe if it's part of a very risk averse lifestyling as you approach retirement, but if you didn't opt for them then those choices do seem questionable and you have valid questions to ask the pension manager
Not so much the cash fund choice, but the fixed interest one looks a particularly awful choice

Bostonerimus1

joep2 said:

Pension companies should take more responsibility and show due care where the client opts for a low risk strategy, perhaps by enforcing a floor of zero returns. Hopefully there’ll be a regulation one day to stop them from gambling away funds of clients who are not financially literate.

BTW I was in a similar position with my workplace pension at -5% this time last year. It was invested in a default fund chosen by the pension provider. I decided to move my pension from the default fund to asset class specific funds which matched my risk apettite. The strategy worked and my pension is now up 20% overall.

Pension reforms have shifted responsibility...and risk...away from the money managers and employers. So people need to take personal responsibility. There are certainly changes that should be made and so people should organize and exert the required political pressure if they want to change things - failing that educate yourself and use the system to your advantage.

Bostonerimus1

Nelson1100 said:

Its a legal and general workplace pension. Looking at the paperwork I have 2 funds L&G PMC Fixed interest 3 (which is -14.76%) and L&G PMC Cash (which is at 6.41%)

But my general question has been answered in as much as it looks like there's nothing I can do to stop them losing my money other than just cashing out. 

There's your problem, really poor funds for the last few years. This is very defensive and has not worked well in the recent years of climbing interest rates. Educate yourself and adjust your portfolio.

Sarahspangles

Trying to help here…

In your thread last year, which I’ve now skimmed, you said you wanted to retire at 60, and posted a clear summary of your position as a 59 year old with a well paid job, own home, no dependents, low outgoings, a mosaic of deferred and current pensions and decent non-pension savings and assets. You also said you were highly risk averse.

I’m pretty sure your current grump about poor performance isn’t justified, as you’ve either told L&G that you’re risk averse and they’ve auto-assigned you very low volatility investments, or you’ve got a scheme that moves you onto those sorts of investments in the final years of your working life.
Maybe you were expecting some ‘good news’ with your current pension that would convince you that you could now retire. I suspect (like a significant number of us!) you’re at risk of dithering here because you’re risk averse and don’t feel secure stepping off the treadmill with what you’ve amassed.

Why not start a new thread with the updated overview and ask for a steer on how most cost-effectively to manage through to state pension age?

This is actually time-critical because if you retire during next year there are decisions you can make this month i.e.within this tax year, that can maximise your tax relief e.g. by moving savings into a SIPP.  Which would make up for those poor returns.
Otherwise I fear you’ll be in the same position this time next year, but a year older and grumpier.