Moving DC pension but don’t know where is best

kazzyb123

I have an old small DC pension. In 2012 it was £4200 and in 2025 it was less than 8K. It has gone up by £3600 in 13 years. I am going to move it but how do I find out where is best? I have another old DC pension which is doing better so I could move it to there. I am not working because of illness so won’t be contributing more at the moment.
How do I compare providers and policies? 

Thanks

El_Torro

When looking at performance it doesn't matter too much which pension platform you go with. More important is the fund(s) that the money is invested in. Higher returns generally come with higher volatility, i.e. more risk. 

There are websites you can go to that specialise in comparing fund performance. For example Trustnet or Morningstar.

OldScientist

A comparison of the different platforms can be found at https://monevator.com/compare-uk-cheapest-online-brokers/

However, before you move it, I note that your pension has gone up from £4200 to £7800 since 2012, in other words by about 85% (i.e., a factor of 1.85 or nearly double).

Over the same periods,
A world index (i.e., 100% equities) went up by about 4 times
A global bond index (i.e., 100% bonds) went up by a factor of about 1.3.
Vanguard lifestrategy 40% equity went up by a factor of 2.1
Vanguard lifestrategy 20% equity went up by a factor of 1.8 (i.e., close to the performance your investments achieved)

In other words, what you were invested in (and the fees paid) over the last 13-14 years really mattered.

So, what were you invested in and did you make any contributions since 2012?

Albermarle

I guess you probably never actually chose any investments for your pension, as most people do not.
In that case your money goes into a default fund, which is a kind of middle of the road type fund.
Probably in your other pension you are also invested in their default fund.

It could be that one of the pensions default fund has performed better than the other, as it is invested more aggressively.
On the other hand if there is a market crash, the more aggressive fund will probably drop more.

redpete

kazzyb123 said:

I have an old small DC pension. In 2012 it was £4200 and in 2025 it was less than 8K. It has gone up by £3600 in 13 years. I am going to move it but how do I find out where is best? I have another old DC pension which is doing better so I could move it to there. I am not working because of illness so won’t be contributing more at the moment.
How do I compare providers and policies? 

Thanks

There is a simple comparison here - https://www.boringmoney.co.uk/pensions/pensions/ . You put in how much you have in your SIPP and you can see the costs, pros and cons of different platforms. It is worth considering the totality of your DC pensions - it might be worth moving both to the same platform.  In your case I would assume that it is the regular platform fee that is important - dealing fees can also factor in but I suspect you would not be moving money between funds very often.

As others have pointed out, it is not the platform that determines performance but the funds in which the pension is invested.

kazzyb123

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81826108#Comment_81826108

thanks for the reply, I have no idea what it is invested in, it was set up by by old workplace and is managed by them, I don’t even get a statement from them and have to call if I want to know how much it is worth. It is a very low value, only 7K in total.

I have called Aviva and it can’t be consolidated with my other old pension with them but they can put it into a SIPP. I will take a look at the comparison sites and decide where to put it. I just really wanted some more transparency so I can see what is happening to it, what fees are etc even though it’s a small amount. I have 14 years to retirement so it might grow a bit

Marcon

If this is a DC pension you are normally entitled to an annual statement, sent automatically. Maybe ask the scheme why they aren't providing this?

Sam_666

For such small pension, go with platform that charge by % fee.

Yorkie1

Just thinking out loud for others to comment - if the value is less than £10K, is there any merit in keeping it separate (somewhere) with a view to later taking it [edit: deleted 'all tax free'] under a small pots rule?

coyrls

The small pots rule doesn't allow you to take it all tax free.

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81874511#Comment_81874511

When you make a small pots pension withdrawal , 25% is tax free and 75% is taxed at 20%. Your own personal tax position will determine whether the amount taxed is correct or not.

The advantages of withdrawing under the Small Pots Rule, are that you do not trigger the MPAA ( useful if you intend to keep contributing to a pension in future) and the 25% tax free does not contribute to the Lump Sum allowance ( only useful if you have/or will have a Million Pound plus pot.)