Aviva to Nest?

bhouser

Hello. I'm a total ignoramus here, so am very much hoping for a steer! I have three private pension pots currently (that I know about). I have a pot at Mercer (around £25K) from an old employment scheme, into which I no longer pay; I have a relatively new Nest pension with my current employer (2 days a week - I also pay in an additional monthly sum to represent my freelance income); and I have my largest pension pot, with Aviva, of around £48K, into which I pay £100 each month (no other contributions). 

I know that this is not the best time to be checking a pension fund's value (!) - but still. I paid £1200 into my Aviva pension last year - and what with fees and losses, it only gained in value by about £150. Which, to me, feels like setting fire to my money; I'd have been better off putting it into a high interest savings account! Meanwhile, the Mercer pension, into which I paid nothing, gained about £112, which doesn't seem too bad to me, given how much smaller a pot it is in the first place.

Should I move my Aviva pension to my Nest fund (and move my monthly £100 there, too)? And what about my Mercer pension, which I can no longer add to?

Any and all advice welcome, thank you!

Brie

personally I'd suggest that the thing you should look at is the fees.  Share value aside does one offer better value.  I've been told (but have no evidence) that Nest has relatively high fees - I suspect due to the amount of admin dealing with people from smaller companies who are changing employers more frequently than very large corporations.  

And yes the market is relatively low so if you were simply moving shares or selling in one scheme and buying the same in another scheme it would all be at the same low price so shouldn't make much difference other than any fees you incur for the transfer/buy/sell.

dunstonh

I've been told (but have no evidence) that Nest has relatively high fees - I suspect due to the amount of admin dealing with people from smaller companies who are changing employers more frequently than very large corporations.  

The problem with Nest is not so much the charges but the dreadful selection of funds and the fact you cannot blend them.   The annual charges are good but Nest have a 1.8% initial charge which puts them in the same class as SJP in respect of initial charges.